Client Success Managing Director

Thought Machine’s mission is bold – to properly and permanently rid the world’s banks of legacy technology. To achieve this, we have developed the foundations of modern banking through core and payments technology which run natively in the cloud. What we are attempting is hard and means we need great people working together to build great technology.

We have grown rapidly in the past few years – growing our team to more than 550 individuals across offices in London, New York, Singapore and Sydney. We have raised more than $500m in funding and are now valued at $2.7bn. Our investors include Molten Ventures, Eurazeo, Intesa Sanpaolo, Temasek, Nyca Partners, JPMorgan Chase Strategic Investments, Standard Chartered Ventures, and more.

We have created a culture that enables our team to produce the best work in the industry while ensuring we have fun along the way. We're regularly cited as having a fantastic workplace culture and have been recognised by Sifted magazine as having one of the highest Glassdoor ratings for a UK fintech company and the industry's most generous employee share package. Named one of the world’s most innovative fintechs byGlobal Finance Magazine, we were also recognised by theFinancial Times as one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies for two consecutive years—and a UK Best Employer for 2026.

The Regional Client Success Managing Director is accountable for the overall success, services profitability, and health of all Client relationships within their region, up to and including delivery of contracted volumes, milestones, and outcomes.

This role leads and manages the regional Client Success function, with direct line management of Client Success Directors (CSDs). The CSMD holds full P&L responsibility for Client Success within the region, including services revenue, cost control, and margin performance.

As the senior executive owner of Client outcomes, the Regional Client Success MD acts as the executive escalation point, represents the company at client steering committees, QBR’s and executive forums, and ensures alignment across Client Success, Support, Engineering, and Commercial to deliver on Client commitments.

This role does not own sales targets for new scope outside existing contracts but is a critical partner to Sales and Account Management leadership in enabling sustainable account growth.

Key Responsibilities

Regional Leadership & P&L Ownership

• Own the regional Client Success P&L, including:

  • Services revenue

  • Delivery costs and utilisation

  • Margin and profitability

  • Regional Client Success investment decisions (e.g. preventing churn risk, increasing client satisfaction, confidence and trust)

• Leverage advanced analytics to provide predictive insights into regional performance and customer health,

• Define and drive Agentic AI frameworks to drive autonomous, augmented delivery services that proactively mitigate delivery risk

• Proactively identify and drive operational efficiencies across the regional Client Success function through the strategic deployment and use of AI tools and automation.

• Work with the CCO to set and execute the global/regional Client Success strategy in line with company objectives,

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of Client Success Directors,

• Ensure consistent operating standards, governance, and performance management across the region.

Client Outcomes & Relationship Ownership

• Be accountable for successful delivery of all contracted Client outcomes within the region,

• Ensure Clients reach contracted account volumes within agreed milestones, timelines, and budgets,

• Own the overall Client relationship for contracted scope, acting as the senior executive sponsor,

• Intervene directly in at-risk accounts to restore delivery confidence and momentum.

• Be accountable for the successful execution of the Annual Regional Client Summit for their region.

Executive Engagement & Escalation

• Act as the executive escalation point for critical client issues across delivery, support, or governance,

• Represent the company at executive steering committees, boards, and senior client forums,

• Manage complex, high-stakes client situations with authority, credibility, and composure,

• Align internal executives (Engineering, Product, Support, Commercial) around Client priorities.

Governance, Risk & Performance Management

• Establish and enforce robust governance across regional accounts,

• Own regional views of delivery risk, customer satisfaction, account health, and renewal readiness,

• Ensure consistent execution of QBRs, steering committees, and executive reporting,

• Drive continuous improvement in delivery predictability, quality, and Client satisfaction.

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Partner closely with:

  • Sales leadership and other stakeholders ensuring all software deals adopt the appropriate governance (product ‘shape fit’ and Deal Desk sign off etc.).

  • Account Directors on expansion readiness and renewals,

  • Support leadership on platform stability and incident management,

  • Engineering and Product on delivery dependencies and roadmap impacts, specifically including Forward Deployment Engineering Leadership to strategise and execute against required actions to achieve client success,

  • Services Partners Leadership team to ensure the right partner model and partner governance is utilised with the client

  • Expert Services division to ensure world class services are provided to our clients at the appropriate time.

• Ensure Client Success commitments are realistic, deliverable, and well-governed,

• Resolve conflicts between delivery and commercial priorities in the best interest of long-term Client value.

Talent, Capability & Culture

• Coach and mentor CSDs,

• Set clear accountability and performance expectations,

• Build a culture of ownership, transparency, and Client-first decision-making,

• Ensure succession planning and capability development across the region.

• Champion the adoption of AI and advanced analytics across the regional team, driving a culture of continuous learning and competence in leveraging these tools for efficiency and insight.

• Oversee and ensure the provision of necessary training and resources to staff to effectively use AI/ML and Agentic AI capabilities in their daily work.

Required Experience & Skills

Essential

• Senior leadership experience in Client Success, Services, Support or Delivery within enterprise software,

• Proven P&L ownership at regional or business-unit level,

• Deep experience with complex, multi-year Client engagements,

• Strong executive presence with the ability to operate credibly at C-level and board level,

• Demonstrated experience managing escalations and turning around at-risk accounts.

• Demonstrated experience with AI/ML tools for reporting, predictive analytics, or process automation in a Client success or services environment.

Desirable

• Background in core banking, cloud, fintech, payments or regulated financial services platforms,

• Experience working alongside enterprise sales and account management teams,

• Exposure to global or multi-region operating models.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary

• Pension plan (match up to 5%)

• Life insurance - three times annual salary

• Competitive maternity (six months fully paid) and paternity leave (four weeks fully paid)

• Shared parental leave (matched to our maternity leave for the same point in time)

• 25 days holiday and bank holidays

• Flexible working hours

• Cycle-to-work scheme

• Electric car scheme

• Season ticket loan

• Access to outstanding learning materials and courses

• Sports and hobby clubs, subsidised by Thought Machine

• All the latest tech you need

• Start the day properly with fresh fruit and cereals

• Huge range of healthy (and not-so-healthy) snacks, smoothies and drinks

• A talented and experienced team as your colleagues

• An environment where we encourage learning and progress

• Two charity days a year

• Weekly food pop-up

We actively hire candidates who demonstrate technical excellence in their field and welcome people of all ages and backgrounds, providing everyone with equal access to professional development. You are encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't accurately match the job description. We also encourage applications from those with different abilities, including candidates with ADHD, autism, dyslexia or dyspraxia.