Director, Implement To Renew

Director, Implement To Renew

The Director, Implement to Renew Value Stream is a transformation executive accountable for how Blackbaud delivers customer value after the sale. This leader owns the end-to-end I2R value stream—from implementation through renewal—and is responsible for moving the organization from reactive, fragmented post-sale engagement to a unified, signal-driven customer engagement system that drives adoption, retention, and growth at scale.

The leader is the business owner and architect of the I2R layer of Blackbaud’s operating model—accountable for defining outcomes, governing the agentic systems that power post-sale engagement, and continuously expanding automation coverage across the full customer lifecycle. The role participates directly in Lean Portfolio Management governance, shaping investment sequencing and capacity allocation for the I2R value stream alongside C2M and A2R peers.

The role spans Implementation, Onboarding, Customer Success, Support, Professional Services, and Renewals, and requires deep partnership with Product, Finance, Engineering, and the AI/Data platform to accelerate time-to-value, reduce churn, and scale digital self-service across the full customer base. We are an AI-first organization. Every leader is expected to understand, govern, and expand AI powered systems—not just use them.

What you’ll do:

Operating Model Leadership

• Own the I2R value stream within Blackbaud’s three-value-stream operating model, with full accountability for flow, outcomes, and structural health of the post-sale customer journey.

• Participate in Lean Portfolio Management governance—shaping investment prioritization, capacity allocation, and ART coordination for the I2R value stream in partnership with C2M and A2R value stream owners.

• Serve as the primary peer to the Awareness to Revenue and Concept to Market value stream owners, maintaining the formal feedback loops and handoff quality the operating model depends on.

• Own the formal I2R→C2M feedback loop—ensuring customer health signals, adoption gaps, and churn drivers translate into C2M roadmap inputs through the LPM governance process, not informal partnership.

Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute the long-term vision for the I2R value stream, anchored in the transformation from fragmented, reactive post-sale engagement to a unified, signal-driven customer engagement system.

• Own the Churn Improvement Program and Agents for Good transformation initiatives, driving measurable progress against defined outcomes across adoption, retention, and renewal.

• Serve as a critical business partner to Customer Success and Finance, analytically evaluating retention performance, identifying strategic growth opportunities, and proactively flagging risks to net revenue retention objectives.

• Identify, scope, and lead cross-functional strategic initiatives that improve time-to-value, reduce churn, and expand customer relationships.

• Embed customer value methodologies into the post-sale playbook for alignment across all customer segments and regions.

AI & Agentic Systems Ownership

• Serve as the business owner of the I2R agentic platform—defining outcomes, governing agent performance, and setting expansion priorities across renewal automation, proactive success engagement, support deflection, and release adoption.

• Drive the shift from AI as a process tool to AI as operating infrastructure— embedding intelligent, signal-driven systems into the core of every post-sale motion.

• Partner with the AI/Data platform team to ensure customer intelligence flows cleanly through the post-sale stack, producing actionable signals at the right moments in the customer journey.

• Establish governance and performance measurement frameworks for agentic systems, ensuring business outcomes—not just deployment metrics—drive continued investment.

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Lead collaboration across Implementation, Onboarding, Customer Success, Support, Professional Services, Renewals, Product, and Finance to unify ownership and eliminate handoff friction across the post-sale journey.

• Partner with the CIO, CFO, Chief Commercial Officer, and senior leadership on strategic decision-making, resource allocation, and prioritization across the value stream.

• Feed adoption patterns, customer health signals, and churn data to the C2M value stream as a structural input—ensuring Blackbaud builds the right capabilities at the right time.

Process & Operational Excellence

• Replace one-size-fits-all playbooks with a segmented engagement model serving digital-only, digital-led, and human-led customer segments appropriately.

• Build and implement scalable operational systems, workflows, and governance structures to shift engagement from reactive—triggered by problems—to 2 proactive—triggered by signals.

• Apply SAFe and Lean flow principles to continuously improve throughput, reduce friction, and eliminate waste across the post-sale value stream.

Data & Business Outcomes

• Own business outcomes including gross revenue retention (GRR), net revenue retention (NRR), and time-to-value, using predictive churn detection and customer health signals as core leading indicators.

• Set and track KPIs across the full post-sale journey, translating data into clear direction for Customer Success, Renewals, Support, and Product teams.

• Integrate customer feedback, health trends, and usage patterns into actionable recommendations that improve the post-sale experience and inform C2M priorities.

Financial Accountability

• Collaborate with Customer Success leadership and Finance to develop retention and renewal forecasts, ensuring precise and timely reporting.

• Provide direct input to ARR modeling and scenario planning for retention risk, engaging the CFO’s office proactively on churn trends and mitigation strategies.

• Own financial accountability for post-sale investment sequencing within the LPM portfolio, ensuring I2R resource allocation reflects strategic priorities.

What you’ll bring:

• 15+ years in customer success, professional services, or post-sale operations, with deep domain expertise in enterprise customer lifecycle management and post-sale transformation.

• Demonstrated experience operating within or architecting a value-stream aligned or product-centric operating model—not just implementing agile practices within a functional structure.

• Proven track record owning and driving large-scale transformation programs in complex, fast-growing organizations—with measurable improvement in retention, churn reduction, or time-to-value.

• Deep understanding of segmented customer engagement models and the operational differences between digital self-service, scaled customer success, and high-touch enterprise motions.

• Experience governing AI-powered or agentic systems as a business owner— defining outcomes, measuring performance, and driving expansion—not just deploying tools.

• Expertise in SAFe, Lean Portfolio Management, or equivalent portfolio governance in a scaled agile environment.

• Strong executive-level systems thinking—ability to design the operating model for a value stream, not just manage within one.

• Demonstrated change leadership at scale—culturally unifying fragmented teams and functions around shared outcomes and new ways of working.

• Strong focus on data-informed decision making, with the ability to translate customer health signals and retention metrics into strategic priorities.

• Ability to drive technical decisions that meet required standards of quality, security, and operability.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the nonprofit sector, donor-advised funds, or gift management.

• Familiarity with SAFe Release Train structures and ART coordination at the portfolio level.

• Experience leading within a multi-value-stream operating model with formal LPM governance.

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Blackbaud powers social impact through purpose‑driven technology and responsible AI. Guided by our Intelligence for Good® vision, we’re building a culture where innovation, trust, and human expertise come together to help organizations make a greater difference in the world.

Blackbaud is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive work environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, or veteran status or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law.

Benefits Include:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Remote-flexible workforce

• Wellness Programs

• 401(k) program with employer match

• Flexible paid time off

• Generous Parental Leave

• Donations for Doers

• Pet insurance, legal and identity protection

• Tuition reimbursement program