Scaled Customer Success Manager, Startups

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Your job is to make that ecosystem work at scale.
You’ll own the startup customer journey from program approval and onboarding through activation, retention, expansion, and Enterprise readiness. You’ll also own day-to-day program operations and communications across the OpenRouter for Startups ecosystem, while helping launch new initiatives, workflows, and partner programs over time.

Own the scaled success motion for OpenRouter’s startup and scaled customer portfolio.
Partner cross-functionally to iterate and refine the operating system for startup activation, retention, growth, and Enterprise conversion.
Create and refine the workflows, dashboards, alerts, and playbooks that help the team understand which startups need attention, why they need it, and what action should happen next.
Turn manual customer success and program operations work into repeatable systems.

Own the start-up inbox, day-to-day program communications, and portfolio health across the startup segment.
Build scaled intervention workflows for customers showing risk signals.
Create activation paths that help startups reach first value quickly and understand how to use OpenRouter effectively.

Build practical systems that make scaled customer success possible.
Use AI-native tools and automation to reduce manual work across onboarding, follow-up, risk detection, expansion identification, reporting, and feedback capture.

Help evolve OpenRouter’s startup program into a scalable growth engine.
Improve the application, approval, onboarding, activation, communication, and follow-up experience.
Ensure approved startups get value quickly and have clear paths to scale.

Turn startup customer, founder, and partner interactions into structured product signal.
Build feedback loops that improve the experience for the entire startup ecosystem, not just one account at a time.

You have managed a scaled customer portfolio, startup program operations, developer ecosystem, PLG customer base, or technical customer segment.
You are comfortable working with technical founders and developer-facing products.
You understand API-first businesses and can speak credibly about usage, latency, reliability, cost, integrations, and production adoption.
You are fluent in customer data and can use usage trends, support signals, product analytics, and revenue data to drive action.
You operate with a builder mindset and take ownership beyond your job description.
You do not default to manual touch points. You default to systems, repeatability, and leverage.

You have experience in AI infrastructure, developer tools, API platforms, technical SaaS, or high-growth GenAI products.
You have worked with startup customers, founders, or startup programs.
You have experience with tools like HubSpot, Customer.io, Intercom, Zendesk, Linear, Retool, Zapier, Clay, Census, Hightouch, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or similar GTM / workflow / analytics platforms.
You can build your own agents, write SQL, build lightweight internal tools, create automations, or use AI-assisted workflows to move faster.
You have partnered with Sales on expansion, renewal, or Enterprise conversion motions.
You have built customer health dashboards, scaled onboarding journeys, portfolio review cadences, lifecycle programs, or product feedback loops.
You have strong instincts for which startups are likely to grow, which are likely to churn, and which need intervention.

Within your first 2 weeks, you will understand the startup customer journey, map the current lifecycle, identify the highest-leverage activation and retention gaps, and define the first version of the startup health model.
Within your first 4 weeks, you will launch initial workflows.
Within your first 6 weeks, you will have built the first version of the scaled startup success operating system.
Longer term, success means higher startup activation, stronger retention, faster time-to-value.

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