Director, Customer Success

Firsthand has built the first AI-powered Brand Agent platform, transforming the way marketers and publishers engage consumers through their own AI agents, anywhere online.

While most AI applications in marketing and advertising focus on back-office automation, the Firsthand Brand Agent Platform™ powers front-line consumer engagement. Operating across both owned properties and paid media, Firsthand's Brand Agents make a company’s expertise accessible in real time, adapting to consumers’ interests and guiding them towards the information they need to take action. Central to the platform is Lakebed™, the company’s AI-first data and knowledge rights management system that ensures brands retain full ownership and control of their expertise.

Firsthand is led by Jon Heller, Michael Rubenstein, and Wei Wei, whose previous ventures helped build the foundations of modern digital advertising. Backed by Radical Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Aperiam Ventures, and Crossbeam Venture Partners, Firsthand is shaping the future of AI-driven consumer engagement.

Firsthand is headquartered in NYC, with team members working together in-office three days a week.

We are seeking a Director of Customer Success to build and lead our customer success function from the ground up.

As part of our team, you'll own the strategic and operational delivery of our most critical customer relationships across agencies, direct marketers, and strategic publisher partners. You'll be the "CEO of the customer delivery relationship," ensuring flawless delivery on initial engagements while systematically driving the expansion and renewal motions that fuel our growth. This is a high-impact, cross-functional role that blends executive-level relationship management, operational delivery excellence, and function-building leadership. You'll shape how Firsthand delivers customer value at scale, both by influencing our product’s development, and as an innovator of new AI-focused engagement models for forward-thinking Brands.

Strategic Account Ownership & Delivery

• Own post-sale delivery and operational relationships for Marketer & Agency customers (agencies and direct marketers), acting as their primary point of contact and strategic advisor

• Provide executive-level customer success management for our most critical accounts, coordinating complex implementations that require hands-on stakeholder managementPartner with Sales during the proposal creation process, providing input on feasibility, scoping, and delivery approach to ensure we set customers up for success

• Own customer onboarding and coordinate cross-functional delivery teams (Solutions Consulting, Product, Engineering) to ensure on-time, high-quality launches

• Run strategic planning sessions, Quarterly Business Reviews, and executive touchpoints that demonstrate value and deepen relationships

• Act as the accountable party to ensure that customers are achieving demonstrable value and are in a constant state of forward commercial momentum, always pacing toward renewals and expansions

Function Building & Operational Excellence

• Design and implement the customer success practice from scratch—creating playbooks, defining processes, establishing success metrics, and building the infrastructure for a scalable CS function

• Establish systematic expansion and renewal processes that turn initial engagements into long-term, growing partnerships

• Define customer health scoring, retention metrics, and early warning systems that enable proactive intervention

• Create customer-facing materials (onboarding guides, success frameworks, case studies) in partnership with Marketing, RevOps, Product and Solutions Consulting teams

• Surface customer insights and feedback to inform Product roadmap, Marketing positioning, and Sales strategy

Cross-Functional Coordination & Delivery Management

• Operate with autonomy once engagements and campaigns are scoped, coordinating with internal teams to ensure delivery excellence

• Work in very close coordination with Product on both strategy and execution for bringing new, emergent products to the market in a way that benefits both the customer and Firsthand

• Accountable for coordinating and managing outcomes of the cross-functional team required for delivery, particularly for complex implementations and programs that engage multiple internal and external stakeholders

• Partner with Marketing and RevOps to translate customer insights into refined messaging, case studies, and demand generation materials

• Act as the voice of the customer internally, ensuring their needs inform how we build, package, and deliver our products

• You have 10+ years of experience in B2B customer success, account management, or customer operations, ideally in digital marketing, ad tech, or SaaS

• You have a proven track record of driving Net Revenue Retention >120% through systematic expansion motions

• You're equally comfortable operating at the executive level (engaging with VP/C-suite stakeholders) and in the operational details (coordinating delivery teams, troubleshooting implementations)

• You have experience building customer success functions from scratch: you don't need a playbook handed to you, you create the playbook

• You understand how to navigate ambiguity, particularly when working with new products or pioneering use cases where best practices don't yet exist

• You're commercially savvy and understand how to identify expansion opportunities and articulate value in terms that matter to customers

• You thrive in cross-functional environments and can build trust quickly with Sales, Product, Solutions Consulting, and Marketing teams

• You have strong project management skills and can coordinate complex, multi-stakeholder implementations

• You have previously been directly accountable for the successful delivery of complex, cross-functional customer programs, even if you were not executing every component yourself

• You have demonstrable knowledge of the digital advertising, marketing technology, and AI/ML product environments

• You'll build the customer success function from the ground up at a well-funded, fast-growing AI company

• You'll own relationships with leading brands and agencies who are pioneering new AI-powered engagement models

• You'll work directly with our executive team and have significant influence on company strategy and product direction

• You'll shape how an emerging category (AI Brand Agents) delivers customer value at scale

• You'll partner with a cross-functional team that values experimentation, customer feedback, and operational excellence

• A rare opportunity to help introduce and guide deep and fundamental change to a fast-moving and innovative industry

• You'll play an integral role in shaping our company and culture

• You'll join an open, inclusive and professional culture and work environment

If you are ready to embark on an exhilarating journey at the forefront of AI, seize this incredible opportunity and apply here. We eagerly anticipate hearing from you!

Note: Compensation and equity will be market-competitive for well-capitalized, early stage startups and will be discussed during the interview process.