Customer Success & Operations Leader

Customer Success & Operations Leader

Union City, CA

Third Wave Automation is a rapidly growing startup that has demonstrated its core technology components, proven its market fit, and just closed its Series C funding. If you are excited about cutting edge machine learning, robotics that affects the real world, and want to join a company where your skills can have a huge impact, you'll fit right in.

Third Wave Automation is applying modern machine learning to materials handlingdelivering site-specific forklift navigation and infrastructure-free pallet handling that continuously adapts to changing floor configuration and warehouse demand.

The Mission: Driving ROI & Operational Excellence for Physical AI

At Third Wave Automation, we are applying modern machine learning to materials handlingdeploying Level 4 autonomous, 3,000 lbs reach trucks that deliver infrastructure-free pallet handling in the world's most chaotic warehouse environments.

We are looking for a highly strategic Customer Success & Operations Leader to take over core operational oversight from our executive team. You will own the long-term ROI of our deployed robotic fleets, acting as the definitive bridge between the concrete warehouse floor, our customers' executive boardrooms, and our internal product roadmap. You will oversee the activities of our Field Engineering team, guide our Tier-1 OEM operational engagement, and ensure that our physical deployments consistently translate into business value for our

How You Can Make an Impact

• Executive Engagement & Trust Building: You are the face of TWA to our customers' executive leadership. You will earn trust through frequent, transparent communication, keeping them apprised of our progress toward their specific operational objectives and the overarching vision of our company.
• QBRs & ROI Ownership: You will lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) with VP-level and C-suite customer executives, translating fleet telemetry and operational data into clear business outcomes.
• Field Engineering Oversight: You will oversee the strategic activities of the Field Engineering team. When we introduce new software changes, hardware updates, or operational experiments in the field, you will drive the alignment and change management required with the customer to ensure smooth execution.
• Tier-1 OEM Operational Engagement: You will run point on the operational and CS aspects of our Tier-1 OEM engagement, ensuring that as we scale, the customer onboarding, deployment standards, and knowledge-sharing pipelines are world-class.
• Data & Metrics Architecture: You don't just read dashboards; you define them. You will deeply understand the throughput and efficiency metrics our customers actually care about, write the proposals for how TWA should measure them, and partner directly with the Data team to build those metrics into our platform.

What You'll Do (Your First 90 Days and Beyond)

• The Voice of the Customer: You will own the internal Customer Success operating rhythm. Through weekly documentation and cross-functional meetings, you will synthesize the voice of the customer and the reality of the Field Engineering team, forcing visibility across the organization.
• Navigate Product Tradeoffs: You will sit at the intersection of customer demands and engineering reality. You will actively discuss and negotiate the tradeoffs between immediate customer needs and our long-term product roadmap, ensuring we build what scales.
• Design the Scale Blueprint: Codify our deployment and success best practices, building the foundational knowledge-transfer pipeline that will eventually empower our OEM partner's dealer network to support autonomous vehicles.

Qualifications

• 10+ Years of High-Stakes Leadership: Proven experience in Customer Success, Technical Account Management, or Field Operations within the robotics, industrial automation, or complex hardware/software space.
• The "Technologist-Communicator": You possess the technical credibility to understand localization, perception, and autonomy concepts, and the executive polish to present ROI metrics to a Fortune 500 Board of Directors.
• Cross-Functional Influence: A strong track record of managing internal mechanisms and forcing alignment between Field Operations, Product, Engineering, and Data teams.
• Change Management Expert: You know how to drive adoption in traditional, heavy-industry environments, bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI and legacy supply chain operations.
• Operational Grit: This role requires up to 50% travel. You are at your best when you are on-site, and walking the warehouse floor to truly understand the customer's physical operations and pain points before stepping into the boardroom.

Preferred

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Deep experience with supply chain logistics, robotics and automation, WMS integration, and high-volume warehouse environments.
• Outstanding customer relationship management and interpersonal communication skills in high-pressure scenarios

The pay range for this position is $166,000 - $249,000/yr+ benefits+equity; however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Base pay information is based on market location.

More About Working Here

Our Core Values:

• Safety. We consider safety in everything we do.
• People. We care about our teammates as people.
• Encouragement. We encourage teaching, asking questions, and sharing opinions.
• Transparency. We are transparent and sincere in our actions.

A robust set of benefits and perks:

• Comprehensive benefits. Health, Dental, Vision, and a 401k matching program, to boot!
• Flexible working schedule. Be productive when you work best.
• Show & Tell. We love to learn from one another, and see the cool stuff everyone is working on!
• Meals are covered. Lunch is provided every day, and dinner for those evenings that run long.
• Stacks of snacks. Donuts are a main food group, and the snack shelf is always stocked with a wide variety of items.
• Great teammates. One of the best parts of working here!

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We value each person's expertise and experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

All qualified applicants able to work in the United States are encouraged to apply. We are unable to sponsor H-1 visas subject to fees required by the 'Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers' Presidential Proclamation dated September 21, 2025.