Customer Success Manager - Procurement Technology (m/f/d)

akiro is Esperanto and means “procurement”. Just as the origin of our name indicates, we strive to become the platform for connecting people with different backgrounds, cultures and languages to change businesses for the better forever through procurement strategies with purpose and sustainable business value. akirolabs is an AI-augmented collaboration platform for strategic procurement/category management. In our labs we are developing the future of ProcureTech.

In fact, globally leading procurement professionals and thought leaders are confirming akirolabs’ uniqueness and innovation power. Dr. Elouise Epstein, one of the world’s preeminent experts in procurement, considers akirolabs a “significant development” and “breakthrough innovation”. Gartner’s globally leading analyst, Koray Köse, has named akirolabs a Gartner® COOL VENDOR™ in November 2022.

Better Procurement

• Elevating procurement from a tactical function to a strategic value driver
• Bringing procurement closer to the core business, the overarching business strategy and broader company purpose 
• Guiding procurement beyond efficiency, savings and profit towards total sustainable business value
• Maximizing the value to the business, to the planet and our society

Better Product

• Combining procurement thought leadership with leading edge technology
• Addressing the most challenging, demanding, inspiring discipline in business: strategy
• Enabling diversity and collaboration as the key driver of innovation and disruption
• Driving business insight & business foresight
• Filling a white space in ProcureTech, building upon an award-winning innovation
• Pushing the boundaries in ProcureTech continuously into the future

Better People

• Attracting the best talent
• Proving the most rewarding business and technology challenges
• Living the BRAVE akirolabs culture and values:
  • BOLD: entrepreneurial, failing forward  
  • RESPECTFUL: diverse & inclusive
  • ACCOUNTABLE: responsible and with integrity
  • VERSATILE:  adaptive & flexible, working from anywhere & remote-first
  • EMPOWERING:  non-hierarchical & inspiring team collaboration and events

We are looking for disruptive thinkers with hands-on mentality and the desire to build and break things 
 

As a Customer Success Manager, you’ll play a critical role in ensuring that our customers are successful and getting value out of the akirolabs platform. You’ll manage a portfolio of customers as they embark on their akirolabs journey and ramping up spend and developing procurement strategies. In this role, you’ll be responsible for increasing user adoption, measuring success and addressing roadblocks if they come up. Being a people person is a necessity for this position as much as speaking the procurement language. You’ll work closely with our customers and the CS team. 

• As an expert you will be expected to advise our customers throughout the strategy development and execution process and to facilitate the cross-functional and cross-border collaboration.  Your ability to bring strategic procurement excellence, avid curiosity and creative problem solving skills will be critical.  

• Finally, as part of our customer-facing team, you will be expected to roll up your sleeves and collaborate with & support your peers in creating an organizational culture we are proud of, managing expert and executive relationships at our Fortune-500 customers, and be an evangelist who advocates for continuous improvement programs that keep transforming akirolabs and our customers to become world-class. 

Responsibilities

• Build and strengthen client relationships by developing success plans and executing those plans in a timely and organized manner. 

• Track KPIs for clients assigned to ensure full knowledge of your customers and be proactive on addressing any adoption issues identified through these KPIs. Ensure customer delight and reduce churn to the minimum. 

• Proactively and regularly monitoring the relationship between akirolabs and its customers, in order to anticipate and deal with any reason for dissatisfaction and best possibly prevent and fix any kind of issue. 

• Manage client expectations and desired outcomes using strong procurement subject matter expertise, leadership skills, project management and presentation skills, as well as business acumen. 

• Act as the client advocate ensuring key decision-makers understand the value of akirolabs. Play an active role in our regular Customer Advisory Board (CAB) meetings, representing your customers’ business needs in design sessions with other clients. 

• Pick-up customer requirements and work with the product team to increase product/market-fit continuously  

• Proactively help the client meet their business objectives by becoming a true partner who can help educate and guide the client through business transformations and ensure the clients receive the value they are expecting. 

• Coordinate and manage regularly scheduled meetings with clients to ensure day-to-day operations run as expected and that special projects and product implementations run smoothly. 

• Report client status to the leadership team as well as the tech, sales and operations teams using both qualitative and quantitative measures. 

• Your personality will make the difference: commitment, involvement, autonomy, strength of proposal, organizational capacity, analytical and synthesis spirit 

• Bachelor’s degree in business or STEM, advanced degree preferred (MS, MBA) 

• Experience of 2+ years in a procurement excellence role, as a procurement consultant or in a corporate procurement role AND/OR 

• Experience of 2+ years in Customer Success in a SaaS company 

• Very organized and rigorous, you are anxious to keep the commitments that you have agreed with the customers and to inform them regularly of the progress of their requests when it is necessary. 

• Ability to drive continuous improvement of Client Services across the company by helping to create a culture focused on customer success (Marketing, Product, Sales, Finance, Executive) 

Soft Skills: 

• Fluent in English (must-have) and German (nice-to-have) 

• People Person and Relationship Builder 

• Master Communicator 

• Problem-Solver 

• Person of High Integrity 

• Exceptional attention to details, accuracy and precision 

• Calm manner, even and specifically under pressure  

• Ability to cope with rapidly change demands and priorities 

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation: We offer a competitive compensation to reward your contribution.
• Professional Growth: Joining us at an early stage means you'll have ample opportunities for career growth and advancement as the company expands. Work closely with experienced (a former CEO & Senior Partner at Roland Berger & KPMG) and successful entrepreneurs that support your development through mentoring.
• Innovative Culture: Be part of a dynamic and innovative team dedicated to revolutionizing procurement processes.
• Training and Development: Access to ongoing training and development resources to enhance your skills and stay ahead in the industry.
• Impactful Work: Contribute to the success of our clients by helping them improve their procurement operations leading to value creation and more sustainable supply chains

If you are passionate about sales, have a keen interest in technology, and want to be part of a fast-growing startup, we encourage you to apply for the Enterprise Account Executive position at akirolabs.

Equal Opportunities
akirolabs is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind: akirolabs is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at akirolabs are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, […], family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. akirolabs will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. We encourage applicants of all ages.