German Speaking Senior Engagement Manager

Job Title: Senior Engagement Manager

Job Description:

Zendesk Professional Services is focused on maximising the impact and value of Zendesk software for both existing and new customers. 

The Professional Services team works on projects across EMEA with customers of all sizes, from Commercial to Enterprise. Engagements range from new customer implementations, focused on delivering Zendesk at scale and transforming existing CX operations, to working with existing customers to further customise and enhance their use of Zendesk. 

A Senior Engagement Manager at Zendesk plays a pivotal role in driving the success of our most complex and high-value customer implementation projects. The role involves leading complex, large-scale implementation programmes across EMEA, from mobilisation through to go-live and transition. 

The role requires a strong balance of leadership, excellent communication skills and advanced project and programme management capabilities. You will lead distributed, cross-functional teams, influence senior customer stakeholders and steer complex engagements towards agreed customer outcomes. You should be a strong problem solver, able to manage competing priorities, make sound decisions and maintain momentum in ambiguous and time-sensitive situations. 

You will also need strong technical fluency across CX and AI solutions, with the ability to use this understanding to shape delivery plans, minimise risks, challenge assumptions and understand the solution being delivered. 

Part of the role will focus on improving our delivery methodologies as Zendesk’s product evolves, helping us deliver customer value more consistently, efficiently and at scale.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead large, complex and commercially significant implementation programmes for Zendesk’s customers from mobilisation through to go-live
• Deliver to agreed customer outcomes, milestones and commercial commitments 
• Translate customer business objectives into measurable delivery outcomes to ensure projects focus on adoption, operational readiness and value realisation, beyond just technical implementation and project commercials 
• Apply strong technical fluency, to understand SaaS products, CX and AI solutions, integrations, data migration, voice, reporting and analytics, technical dependencies, custom applications and configuration. Use this understanding, not to deliver those project components, but to shape delivery plans, identify risks, challenge assumptions and support sound customer decisions.
• Coordinate multiple workstreams, cross-functional delivery teams, internal specialists, partners and subcontractors, ensuring roles, capacity, responsibilities and dependencies are clear and actively managed 
• Establish appropriate programme governance, including delivery cadence, executive reporting, RAID management, decision tracking and escalation paths. Anticipate delivery risks and lead a solution-oriented approach to resolving them quickly 
• Act as the senior delivery connector across Professional Services, Pre-sales, Sales, Customer Success, Product and other internal teams, ensuring that commitments made during the sales process translate into deliverable plans and successful customer outcomes
• Manage and influence stakeholders at all levels, from system administrators and SMEs to C-suite leaders, including customers, internal teams and delivery partners 
• Take ownership of escalations and associated recovery plans 
• Shape delivery standards to continually improve Professional Services operations at Zendesk 
• Operate with a high degree of autonomy and be able to make sound recommendations and decisions in ambiguous situations 
• Maintain strong commercial control of assigned engagements, including budget, margin, forecasting, scope, assumptions, change control and revenue performance 
• Identify opportunities to extend or expand services engagements and partner with Sales and Customer Success on appropriate follow-on work, while managing scope, assumptions and change requests 
• Occasionally support pre-sales teams in scoping and shaping future services projects and sharing previous successful engagement experiences 
• Coach and support less experienced team members, contributing to capability development, delivery quality and a culture of continuous improvement 
• Be proactive about expanding your knowledge of Zendesk’s product and latest releases 
• Maintain a strong understanding of CX and AI trends, customer operating models and Zendesk’s product direction
• Maintain accurate project, resource, financial and forecasting information in Zendesk’s Professional Services systems, including resource management, budget control and billing

Qualifications:

• Professional fluency in both English and German, with the ability to lead and deliver work confidently in both languages interchangeably 
• 7+ years’ experience in project or programme management, including demonstrable experience leading complex technology or SaaS implementation programmes 
• Experience in customer-facing roles, ideally in a technology company or Professional Services environment 
• Demonstrated ability to lead large, complex programmes while managing multiple engagements, competing priorities and senior stakeholders
• Ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders without direct authority 
• Highly organised, structured and proactive, with strong attention to detail 
• Strong strategic and analytical thinking, with the ability to make sound recommendations and decisions in ambiguous situations 
• Clear and confident communication skills, with the ability to explain complex information to technical and non-technical audiences and collaborate effectively with customers and internal teams
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience

• Previous commercial experience within Professional Services, including Statements of Work (SOWs), Fixed Fee and Time and Materials engagements, and an understanding of how contract models affect delivery approach and profitability 
• Relevant certifications in project management (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2, Scrum, Agile Practitioner and SAFe) are highly desirable
• Experience using project management, professional services automation, resource planning or financial management tools. Experience with Asana and Certinia is advantageous 
• Experience of Employee Services implementations as well as CX 

Other Requirements: 

• Ability and willingness to travel periodically to customer sites, up to 20% (typically once per quarter)
  • Travel is typically ocassional to deliver services on-site and in person with Zendesk’s customers 
• Hybrid role with an expectation to work from the office two days per week in line with Zendesk’s hybrid policies
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