Principal Customer Success Manager

Get to Know Us:
It's fun to work in a company where people truly believe in what they're doing!
At BlackLine, we're committed to bringing passion and customer focus to the business of enterprise applications.
Since being founded in 2001, BlackLine has become a leading provider of cloud software that automates and controls the entire financial close process. Our vision is to modernize the finance and accounting function to enable greater operational effectiveness and agility, and we are committed to delivering innovative solutions and services to empower accounting and finance leaders around the world to achieve Modern Finance.
Being a best-in-class SaaS Company, we understand that bringing in new ideas and innovative technology is mission critical. At BlackLine we are always working with new, cutting edge technology that encourages our teams to learn something new and expand their creativity and technical skillset that will accelerate their careers.
Work, Play and Grow at BlackLine!
Make Your Mark:
The Principal Success Manager leverages deep product, business, and industry knowledge to partner with customers and guide them to accelerate the business value they receive and return from their investment with BlackLine. They are aligned at key stakeholder level, building and fostering strong relationships to help customers progress on their digital transformation journey. Principal Success Managers are working directly with customers that can vary in their market segment, size, solution complexity and life cycle, depending on the customer's needs. The Principal Success Manager delivers post-sales efforts to customers via a Customer Success program strategy specifically associated with BlackLine customer Digital Transformation Engagement. This program strategy encompasses the activities, resources, and relationships necessary to optimize customers' adoption of subscribed licenses and products, prevent attrition and churn, and continually enhance customer health and satisfaction. The Principal Success Manager proposes recommendations and designs innovative solutions to help optimize customers' adoption and expansion of BlackLine automation capabilities, prevent attrition and churn, and continually enrich the customer experience. Most importantly, the Principal Success Manager must be confident in the unknown as many customers require assistance in understanding their own processes before considering optimization with BlackLine.
You'll Get To:

• Assess current state process, architect potential solutions, and deliver optimized process transformations using the customer's data to show the art of the possible adopting the full platform and to help customers unlock accelerated value from BlackLine solutions.
• Design original, innovative solutions for complex customer challenges where no standard solution currently exists. • Partner with customers stakeholders to understand their goals, assess their capabilities and provide recommendations to help them accelerate achievement of their digital transformation journey with BlackLine.
• Demonstrate practical hands-on BlackLine product knowledge by applying best practices of features and functions to customer business processes
• Proactively identify risks to the customer achieving their stated business goals and work with the account team to build a risk mitigation plan
• Produce, execute, and track a comprehensive success path for the customer showing the current state, target future state with timeline, and an underlying enablement and or implementation plan.
• Deliver business value and innovation to a customer's business by understanding our customers' key business challenges and potential for growth
• Build and foster executive level relationships with the customer's Accounting, IT and business executive leadership, sponsors, and decision makers to solidify our partnership and commitment to the customer business & stakeholders
• Perform Success Planning activities for onboarded clients to ensure BlackLine understands their corporate goals and objectives and any challenges to deliver relevant and pertinent demonstrations, coaching and/or referrals to other Customer Teams
• Work as a team with sales executives and other departments on strategic account planning focused on account expansion, reduction of license and product adoption whitespace, increased customer sentiment, and reduced churn risk
• Deliver actionable advice and expertise to customers regarding the features and usage of BlackLine's solutions to attain product and license expansion and adoption optimization goals
• Perform effective customer demonstrations, Success Reviews, Executive Business Reviews, customer advocacy, coaching activities and other adoption deliverables via webcasts, teleconferences and/or onsite visits
• Address assigned client activities' impact on their BlackLine instance and provide best practices solutions. Including, but not limited to organizational changes, global rollout, and ERP changes. Understands the art of the possible with the BlackLine platform. Acts as a functionality based SME for six BlackLine solutions.
• Have a thorough understanding of the 9 foundational accounting categories and how clients can maximize them by using BlackLine solutions and best practice recommendations.
• Provide feedback to Product Management team related to new functionality requests and specifications
• Provide coverage, education, and application expertise by attending and participating in Learning and Sharing Events, BlackLine User Groups, Client Roundtables, Customer Success
• Labs, conferences, and other events
• Show passion for BlackLine application and desire to enhance customer satisfaction
• Monitor and escalate high priority customer support needs through resolution
• Log client communication and document relevant activities within internal customer relationship management software and other tools as assigned.
• Travel may be required
• Other duties as assigned

What You'll Bring:

• 10+ years of experience in accounting/auditing and/or in accounting/auditing/financial industry software solutions.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Economics or Business Administration Masters of Business Administration or equivalent
• 6 Years in a customer facing role and a minimum 5 years of BlackLine experience or equivalent
• Skilled in Visio or other process flow mapping software
• Knowledge of Gainsight, Salesforce CRM, etc.
• Strong interpersonal and consultative skills and proven results building relationships working as a Trusted Advisor to drive business value for customers.
• Ability to deal with changing priorities and high-pressure situations with poise and diplomacy
• Ability to drive effective and influencing conversations at the C-level; facilitate difficult discussions and adept at handling objections
• Highly process-oriented mindset, with a love of telling stories with data
• Business process mapping or business process engineering skills
• Excellent listening and empathy skills
• Strong verbal and written professional communication skills
• Demonstrate and strong presentation skills with a natural comfortable passion for presenting
• Prioritization and time management skills
• Self-motivated, proactive team player with a natural curiosity and passion for learning
• Updated knowledge of current accounting practices and changes in the industry

We're Even More Excited If You Have:
CPA, CIA or related professional accounting certification recommended
Thrive at BlackLine Because You Are Joining:

• A technology-based company with a sense of adventure and a vision for the future. Every door at BlackLine is open. Just bring your brains, your problem-solving skills, and be part of a winning team at the world's most trusted name in Finance Automation!
• A culture that is kind, open, and accepting. It's a place where people can embrace what makes them unique, and the mix of cultural backgrounds and varying interests cultivates diverse thought and perspectives.
• A culture where BlackLiner's continued growth and learning is empowered. BlackLine offers a wide variety of professional development seminars and inclusive affinity groups to celebrate and support our diversity.

BlackLine is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity or expression, race, age, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, ancestry, color, marital status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, medical condition, genetic information, or any other protected class or category recognized by applicable equal employment opportunity or other similar laws.
BlackLine recognizes that the ways we work and the workplace itself has shifted. We innovate in a workplace that optimizes a combination of virtual and in-person interactions to maximize collaboration and nurture our culture. Candidates who live within a reasonable commute to one of our offices will work in the office at least 2 days a week.
Salary Range:
USD $134,000.00 - USD $179,000.00
Pay Transparency Statement:
Placement within this range depends upon several factors, including the applicant's prior relevant job experience, skill set, and geographic location. In addition to base pay, BlackLine also offers short-term and long-term incentive programs, based on eligibility, along with a robust offering of benefit and wellness plans.