Sr Director, Client Lifecycle Management

WHO WE ARE

Illumia is an industry leader in bringing the best integrated technology solutions to education, healthcare, and business campuses worldwide. Illumia was built on the collective expertise of two legacy cultures, and brings together people, technology, and insight to pioneer the art of the experience across the communities we serve. Be a part of this exciting organization and improving the lives of people doing mission-critical work.

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS

Today, client experience quality is split across every service line — Implementation, Managed Services, Database Services, and Education each set their own standards, and each business-line director carries client experience as one of many competing priorities alongside their P&L. The result shows up in the data: satisfaction and escalation patterns vary by business line, handoffs between sales, implementation, and ongoing support aren't consistent, and no single owner is accountable for the client's experience across the full relationship.

The Senior Director, Client Lifecycle Management closes that gap. This role owns the client journey end to end — from signed contract through implementation handoff, steady-state delivery, and renewal — and is accountable for making that journey consistent no matter which product, business line, or team the client happens to touch. At the senior director level, this role also builds and leads the organization responsible for that journey, and drives adoption across functions it does not directly manage.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Job Summary / Purpose

The Senior Director, Client Lifecycle Management defines and governs the standard client journey across Illumia's service organization, and is accountable for the consistency, quality, and measurable outcomes of that journey across every business line. This role sets shared standards and SOPs for functional teams — Implementation, Managed Services, Database Services, and Education — and owns the metrics that indicate whether clients are genuinely being taken care of, not just whether work got completed. As a senior director, this role carries both people leadership of a growing lifecycle organization and the cross-functional influence needed to embed one standard across teams that report elsewhere.

Who you'll work with

• Implementation, Managed Services, Database Services, and Education Services leadership
• Sales and Account Management, particularly around deal handoff and renewal
• Product Management and Support, to close the loop on client feedback
• PMO and Operations, on delivery standards, tooling, and reporting
• Executive leadership, as the voice of the client in planning and QBR forums

People & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Builds and leads the team. Hires, coaches, and manages performance for a growing lifecycle organization — including managers — and builds the bench strength to scale the function over time.
• Manages through influence. Drives adoption of shared standards across Implementation, Managed Services, Database Services, Education, Sales, and Product — functions that do not report to this role — using data, relationships, and credibility rather than direct authority.
• Owns process, not just people. Designs and governs the operating processes that connect functional teams across the client journey, and holds those teams accountable to a shared way of working.
• Operates as a peer to functional leadership. Partners with other directors and senior leaders as a collaborator embedding lifecycle standards into their teams' operating rhythm, not a competitor for their headcount or budget.
• Represents the function at the leadership table. Speaks for the client lifecycle function in cross-departmental and executive forums, and is accountable for its outcomes the way a P&L owner is accountable for theirs.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Standardize the client journey. Define one client lifecycle model — implementation handoff, onboarding, steady-state managed services, escalation, and renewal/expansion — applied consistently regardless of business line or product.
• Govern service standards. Set and maintain shared SOPs and playbooks across Implementation, Managed Services, Database Services, and Education, replacing line-by-line variation with a single Illumia standard.
• Own lifecycle metrics. Track and drive CSAT, first response time, first-contact resolution, escalation-to-surprise ratio, and renewal/expansion rate, and hold functional leaders accountable to them.
• Resolve cross-functional escalations. Act as the escalation point for client issues that span more than one service line, ensuring warm handoffs instead of dropped batons.
• Strengthen the sales-to-service handoff. Partner with Sales to ensure contracts and scopes reflect operational reality before signature, extending structured handoff practices already piloted in the field.
• Build lifecycle reporting. Stand up account health monitoring and risk flagging so declining relationships are visible before they become churn or escalations.
• Represent the client. Bring lifecycle data and client sentiment into leadership and QBR forums, and translate it into action across the organization.

HOW SUCCESS IS MEASURED

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years leading client-facing service, delivery, or customer success functions, including direct people leadership of managers and accountability for a multi-team organization.
• Demonstrated success designing or standardizing service delivery models across multiple teams, products, or business lines.
• Track record of owning and moving customer experience metrics (CSAT/NPS, retention, escalation trends).
• Proven ability to manage through influence — driving alignment, adoption, and accountability across cross-functional and matrixed teams without direct authority over all of them.
• Experience building, developing, and retaining people managers, with a track record of creating leadership bench strength.
• Strong cross-functional influence — able to align Implementation, Managed Services, Sales, and Product as a peer, not a gatekeeper.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; comfortable presenting to executive leadership and the board, as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in SaaS or technology services for higher education, healthcare, or complex multi-site clients.
• Background spanning both delivery/operations and customer success disciplines.
• Prior experience managing a function through a reorganization or operating model change.
• Familiarity with PSA/PSM tooling (e.g., Kantata) and service metrics reporting.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE JOB

The duties and responsibilities described in this job description are intended to represent the essential functions of the position as defined under applicable federal, state, and local labor laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These functions are the fundamental job duties required for successful performance. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions unless such accommodations impose an undue hardship on the organization.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities. Duties may be added, removed, or modified at any time in accordance with business needs and applicable law.

WHAT IS GOOD TO KNOW

This role may require occasional travel to client sites, regional team events, or leadership meetings. Additional onsite attendance may be required in accordance with the company's in-office work policy.

COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIORS

• Sets one standard for the client journey and holds functional leaders accountable to it.
• Resolves cross-functional escalations decisively, without waiting for perfect information.
• Builds trust across teams that don't report to this role, and influences through data and relationships.
• Builds and develops managers beneath them, creating leadership bench strength across the lifecycle function.
• Operates effectively in a matrixed organization, driving outcomes through influence as much as formal authority.
• Represents the client's voice credibly in executive and cross-departmental forums.

Humble: The right leaders for Illumia don't need to own the spotlight — they share credit, define success collectively, and are quick to elevate the contributions of others.

Hungry: We are looking for leaders who are restless about what's possible, self-motivated to close the gap between where we are today and where we need to be.

Smart: At Illumia, our leaders must operate across a complex, distributed organization spanning multiple product lines, two legacy cultures, and thousands of customers with competing priorities. The ability to read a room, build trust across functions, and bring people along is what separates a great leader from one who burns the organization out.

This position is classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and applicable state wage-and-hour laws.

WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU JOIN OUR TEAM

• Flexible time off to include paid holidays and volunteer time.
• Robust health, dental, and vision insurance plans on your first day of employment.
• Comprehensive employee assistance program (EAP).
• Employer-paid life insurance/AD&D/short- and long-term disability insurance.
• Flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA).
• Matched 401(k).
• Employee stock purchase plan.

Base salary offers for this position may vary based on factors such as location, skills, and relevant experience. Some positions may include additional compensation in the form of bonus, equity, or commissions.

Your personal information will be handled in accordance with Illumia's Candidate Privacy Notice

Illumia is an equal employment opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, gender, age, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, protected military/veteran status, or any other protected factor.