Customer Support Manager

Join us at Gradient, where our purpose is to revolutionize home comfort while championing environmental sustainability. Our mission is to combat the escalating challenge of climate change by redefining how homes are heated and cooled. Today, the environmental impact of heating and cooling systems surpasses that of the entire transportation sector, and without intervention, this trend is set to escalate drastically. At Gradient, we believe that ensuring comfortable living spaces shouldn’t come at the cost of our planet. We envision a future where every individual can enjoy the luxury of a comfortable home without contributing to carbon emissions. Our high-efficiency, low-carbon heat pump is just the beginning of our journey toward fully decarbonizing buildings. By joining Gradient, you’ll be at the forefront of a movement to make sustainable living accessible to all, ensuring healthier communities and a brighter, greener future.

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Customer Support Manager with deep expertise in Zendesk to lead our customer support team and scale a high-quality, efficient support operation. This role owns the day-to-day management of customer support agents while designing and executing a support strategy that leverages Zendesk to deliver exceptional customer experiences—without adding unnecessary headcount.

This role requires a hands-on leader who understands how to translate customer needs and business growth into scalable processes, automation, and reporting within Zendesk.

This person will ideally live somewhere near our San Francisco Headquarters, though we are for US based remote work for the right person. 

The estimated base salary for this role is $110,000 – $130,000 USD per year + equity. An individual's compensation will vary on a number of factors including but not limited to geography, skills, education, experience and unique qualifications where applicable.

Responsibilities

• Define and enforce quality standards for customer interactions across all support channels.
• Implement quality assurance processes, including ticket reviews and coaching based on Zendesk data and insights.
• Identify recurring customer issues and collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams to drive root-cause solutions.
• Act as a customer advocate by sharing insights and trends derived from Zendesk reporting.

• Develop and execute a customer support strategy that scales efficiently with business growth.
• Use automation, self-service, and knowledge management to reduce ticket volume and improve first-contact resolution.
• Optimize staffing models, schedules, and ticket routing to meet demand while minimizing the need for additional headcount.
• Own and track key support metrics such as CSAT, NPS, first response time, resolution time, and deflection rate.

Team Leadership & People Management

• Lead, coach, and manage a team of customer support agents, ensuring consistent performance and engagement.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and coaching sessions with a focus on quality, efficiency, and professional growth.
• Set clear expectations, KPIs, and workflows for individual contributors using Zendesk as the primary system of record.
• Build a culture of customer empathy, ownership, and continuous improvement.

• Serve as the primary owner and administrator of Zendesk, including configuration, workflows, triggers, automations, macros, views, SLAs, and roles.
• Design and maintain scalable Zendesk workflows that improve response times, resolution quality, and agent productivity.
• Leverage Zendesk Explore to create dashboards and reports that provide visibility into team performance, customer trends, and operational bottlenecks.
• Continuously evaluate and implement Zendesk features, integrations, and best practices to support growth without increasing headcount.

Desired Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in customer support or customer operations.
• 2+ years of experience managing customer support agents or similar individual contributors.
• Deep, hands-on experience administering and optimizing Zendesk in a production environment.
• Proven experience building scalable workflows, automations, and reporting within Zendesk.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into operational improvements.
• Excellent communication, coaching, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Nice to Have

• Background in hardware and/or software support roles. 
• Experience with Zendesk Guide, Explore, and advanced automations.
• Experience integrating Zendesk with CRM, product, or analytics tools.
• Background in SaaS or high-growth environments.
• Experience leveraging automation or AI to improve support efficiency.

Benefits 

• Equity
• Medical/vision/dental/life/disability insurance
• 401k
• Paid parental leave
• Professional Development Stipend
• Commuter benefits
• Flexible PTO 

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive company. We seek to create a culture where everyone can belong because we believe that people do their best work when they can show up every day as their authentic selves. We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives.

Gradient is an equal opportunity employer. We do not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law.