Customer Success Manager

Description WaterOne.AI is hiring its founding Customer Success Manager (CSM) - a remote (US) role owning a portfolio of Fortune 500 and enterprise customers, reporting directly to the CEO. You will drive onboarding, adoption, retention, renewals and expansion across enterprise accounts, and use AI tools daily to build the workflows behind it. This role is not only for career CS people. It fits experienced customer success managers - and equally management consultants, forward-deployed engineers, solutions consultants, technical account managers, and former product managers who want deep customer ownership at an early-stage AI company. About WaterOne.AI WaterOne.AI builds AI-powered market intelligence and workflow solutions for infrastructure-focused companies. Customers include Fortune 500 businesses, private-equity-backed operators, and specialized enterprises across water, engineering, and industrial technology. The company helps commercial teams understand complex markets, identify opportunities, and improve go-to-market execution through tailored research, data, and AI-enabled workflows. The opportunity As the first dedicated Customer Success hire, you will own a portfolio of more than a dozen enterprise accounts, become their primary point of contact, and build the customer success function from the ground up. This is not a conventional relationship-management role. You will work directly with senior enterprise stakeholders, unpack complex commercial and technical questions, lead research and advisory projects, and improve customer and internal workflows using AI tools such as Claude and ChatGPT. You will report to the CEO with real scope to shape how WaterOne.AI delivers onboarding, adoption, customer health, renewals, and expansion. What you'll do Own a portfolio of enterprise SaaS accounts - clear visibility of customer goals, commitments, adoption, risks, and next steps Lead weekly check-ins and QBR-style reviews; coordinate responsive support between meetings Onboard new customers and expanded user groups so WaterOne.AI becomes embedded in their working processes Drive customer retention, renewals, and expansion revenue; contribute to sales conversations, pilot design, and success criteria Deliver focused research and advisory projects that sharpen customers' go-to-market decisions Use AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, and similar) to build, test, and refine workflows through natural-language instructions - traditional coding experience is not required Build the customer success operating system: account plans, customer health tracking, onboarding standards, renewal processes, and a repeatable playbook Role mix: about 50% customer success and consulting, 25% AI workflow development, 15% renewals, expansion and sales support, 10% building the function. Your first 90 days Build a strong understanding of the platform, customer base, data, and operating model Take ownership of the existing portfolio and weekly engagement rhythm Improve onboarding, action tracking, and renewal visibility Identify practical wins in customer research, reporting, and AI-enabled workflows Deliver an initial customer success playbook and recommendations for scaling the function Location, travel, and progression Remote within the US with substantial Pacific Time overlap. California-based candidates preferred but not required - the team has a presence in Fresno and Palo Alto, with in-person collaboration in California roughly every 1–2 months. Customer travel is limited. As the founding CS hire you can grow toward customer success leadership, solutions consulting, enterprise sales, or product strategy. Requirements About you You are an organized, commercially curious and highly credible customer-facing operator. You can earn trust with senior enterprise stakeholders, move comfortably between strategic conversations and practical execution, and bring sound judgment to ambiguous, fast-changing environments. Essential experience Bachelor's degree and approximately five or more years of relevant professional experience. Strong customer success, account management, consulting or other customer-facing experience, ideally with enterprise customers. Excellent communication, stakeholder management, research and analytical problem-solving skills. Demonstrated ability to use AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) through natural-language instructions to create and improve workflows. Curiosity and confidence in learning unfamiliar industries, products and engineering-related challenges. Strong ownership, organization, judgment, and follow-through. Ability to work with substantial Pacific Time overlap and travel to California approximately once every one to two months. Authorization to work in the United States. Particularly valuable Experience in an early-stage startup, enterprise SaaS customer success, account management, sales, consulting, market research, engineering, infrastructure or industrial technology. Experience working with senior enterprise stakeholders or designing Al-enabled workflow automations. An advanced degree in management, engineering, science, technology or a related field. Benefits Location, travel and progression This is a primarily remote US role. California-based candidates are preferred, though not required. WaterOne.Al has a presence in Fresno and Palo Alto, and the team collaborates in person in California approximately every one to two months. Customer travel is expected to be limited. As the first Customer Success Manager, you will have meaningful scope to shape the function and grow towards customer success leadership, solutions consulting, enterprise sales, product strategy or adjacent areas as the company evolves. Compensation and benefits Competitive early-stage base salary plus meaningful early-stage equity and benefits. Apply If you are excited by enterprise customer success, consultative problem-solving, and using AI to make complex work simpler and more effective, we would like to hear from you. Submit your CV along with a short note on a workflow you have built or improved with AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT.