Job Summary

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.

Roles and Responsibility (list in order of importance)

• 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

Required Qualifications

Years of Experience in Related Field: Experienced domain expert 10+ years of experience in accounting/auditing and/or in accounting/auditing/financial industry software solutions.

Education: Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Economics or Business Administration Masters of Business Administration or equivalent

Technical/Specialized Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• 6 Years in a customer facing role and a minimum 5 years of BlackLine experience or equivalent
• CPA, CIA or related professional accounting certification recommended
• Skilled in Visio or other process flow mapping software
• Knowledge of Gainsight, Salesforce CRM, etc.

Other:

• 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

Working Conditions

Work is primarily sedentary in nature; no special demands required. This role is a remote position and does not require office space.