Support Academy Program Manager

Company Overview For over 30 years, ECI Software Solutions has been providing industry-specific, cloud-based business management software and services to small and medium-sized businesses. Our solutions span across manufacturing, wholesale/retail distribution, building and construction, and field service, integrating into every aspect of our customers' businesses to help them operate more efficiently and focus on what matters most. Who is ECI? At ECI, Our Mission Is To Empower Small And Medium-sized Business Owners. We Offer Not Only Top-tier Software Solutions But Also An Award-winning Company Culture. Benefits Competitive benefits focused on employee well-being, including paid volunteer time off. Recognized by Achievers as one of the 50 Most Engaged Companies To Work For, five years running. Certified as a Great Place to Work for six consecutive years. Over a dozen International Business Awards (Stevie®) for our culture of creativity, innovation, and leadership. We are industry experts supporting the entrepreneurial spirit and profitable growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. Join our global team, known for its positive culture, professional development, and collaboration. Position Support Academy Program Manager Reporting to Senior Director or Director of Customer Support Location ECI Office location or Remote Overview ECI is building a more consistent, scalable, and high-quality customer support experience—and our biggest gap today is structured learning for our people. We need one leader to design and run a Support Academy that ensures every support professional can onboard faster, support customers confidently across products, and continuously level up through clearly defined learning paths. This is a “builder” role: you will create new-hire onboarding paths, cross-skilling paths across products, and a certification program that makes skill mastery visible, measurable, and repeatable. You will not be expected to be the subject matter expert on every product—your superpower is creating high-quality adult-learning experiences and leveraging SMEs effectively. This role is designed to accomplish enablement and training goals with one dedicated owner by using scalable methods: SME-powered content, repeatable templates, blended learning (self-paced + live), and a certification framework that reduces reliance on ad-hoc shadowing. Key Focus Areas Learning Path Strategy & Program Ownership: Build and own end-to-end onboarding and ongoing enablement for Support, including product learning paths and role-based proficiency expectations. Adult Learning Design & Certification Architecture: Create structured learning experiences grounded in adult learning principles and design measurable certifications that map to support performance. SME Enablement Model (Train-the-Trainer): Identify, organize, and equip SMEs to deliver high-impact training while ensuring consistency, quality, and learning outcomes. Cross-Skilling & Product Readiness: Develop cross-skilling paths that expand coverage without sacrificing customer experience, driving a more agile support organization. Operational Rigor & Measurement: Track adoption, time-to-proficiency, certification attainment, and quality outcomes (e.g., case handling consistency, reduced escalations, improved documentation). Daily Responsibilities Design and maintain new hire training paths (role-based onboarding) that blend product fundamentals, customer experience standards, support tools/processes, and “day-in-the-life” readiness. Build cross-skilling paths by product and/or workflow (ex: foundational → intermediate → advanced), enabling Support to expand coverage safely and predictably. Create and run a Support Certification Program, including: Certification levels (ex: Bronze/Silver/Gold or Level 1–3) Required assessments (knowledge checks, scenario-based evaluations, live troubleshooting demonstrations) Recertification / refresh cadence for major releases Develop an SME delivery model: Partner with Support leaders to identify SMEs Create reusable lesson plan templates and facilitation guides Coach SMEs on delivery and ensure consistent outcomes across trainers Establish a repeatable content engine: Standardize training assets (job aids, troubleshooting playbooks, guided labs, simulations, knowledge checks) Implement an update workflow tied to product releases and top case drivers Partner with Division Enablement Teams/ Customer Success Trainers & Support Leadership to align learning paths to: Case drivers, escalation themes, QA findings, and customer pain points Swarm/pod models and product coverage needs Define and track key enablement metrics (time-to-proficiency, certification rates, SME throughput, onboarding satisfaction, and downstream impact signals). Facilitate and/or coordinate live sessions, onboarding cohorts, and certification reviews (as needed). Minimum Requirements 5+ years of experience in one or more of the following: Support enablement / customer support training Learning & development (L&D) / instructional design in a SaaS or technical environment Support operations with a significant training/program component Demonstrated ability to build structured learning paths (new hire + ongoing development) that scale beyond 1:1 shadowing. Practical experience using adult learning principles to design effective training (not just “presentations”). Proven ability to partner with SMEs and leaders to extract knowledge, convert it into teachable content, and drive adoption. Strong program management skills: prioritize, roadmap, execute, measure, iterate. Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to simplify complex product concepts for different audiences. Desired Skills/Experience Experience designing certification programs or competency frameworks (rubrics, assessments, and skill validation). Experience supporting or training within a multi-product SaaS portfolio (ERP, field service, manufacturing/wholesale/distribution platforms a plus). Familiarity with common enablement and training practices used in modern product organizations (learning paths and certifications are widely used in major ecosystems—e.g., structured paths like vendor academies and certification models similar to those found in enterprise platforms (ServiceNow University, HubSpot Academy Learning Paths)). Comfort working with help desk/support tooling, knowledge bases, and content platforms (LMS experience is a plus). Experience with QA/rubrics, coaching frameworks, and tying learning outcomes to performance indicators. Additional ECI Eco-System Classification What Success Looks Like (First 6–12 Months) New hires have a clearly defined Day 1 → Day 30 → Day 60 → Day 90 onboarding path, with measurable milestones and manager visibility. Cross-skilling paths exist for priority products, enabling faster coverage of expansion without increased escalations. Certifications are live and trusted: leaders use them for readiness decisions, staffing, and career development. SME training is organized and scalable: SMEs deliver content using your standards; you own quality, consistency, and outcomes. Improved time-to-proficiency and stronger case handling consistency (supported by learning metrics + support performance indicators). Why This Role Works With One Person (Design Intent) Using SMEs as instructors/content sources (you provide structure, design, and governance) Creating reusable templates, certification rubrics, and modular learning objects Prioritizing the highest-impact paths first (go forward products + top case drivers) Establishing a sustainable update cycle tied to releases and support insights #J-18808-Ljbffr