Director, Client Retention Americas

Job Description:

About the Role:

Reporting to the Head of Client Retention, the Client Retention Director will assume responsibility for managing a team of Client Engagement Specialists (CES), with a strategic focus on retaining and nurturing Dow Jones’ professional business across the Americas within key Dow Jones Risk product verticals (Risk & Compliance + Knowledge & Insights).

This role is paramount for driving a robust retention strategy, mitigating churn, and ensuring consistently high levels of customer satisfaction across diverse client profiles, sizes, and geographical locations. The successful candidate must possess a strong understanding of the customer subscription lifecycle, client portfolio planning, and risk mitigation to underpin retention initiatives, complemented by excellent leadership and people management capabilities essential for fostering team member success.

In this capacity, the Client Retention Director will be tasked with developing and implementing advanced client retention strategies, providing clear direction and mentorship to the CES group to maximize customer satisfaction and loyalty, thereby sustaining business growth and profitability.  Furthermore, the Director will collaborate closely with the product, operations, sales, and marketing teams on various initiatives critical to Dow Jones and its clientele. 

The successful candidate must seamlessly integrate leadership acumen with strategic insights and will function as an integral part of the broader global retention team. This role requires ensuring the team consistently meets or surpasses retention targets and business objectives through the implementation of a layered client-centric approach.

You Will:

• Team Leadership: Guide and support the CES team, establishing clear objectives and managing performance to achieve defined retention targets and onboarding/migration objectives. Serve as the primary escalation point for client issues, ensuring prompt and effective resolution. Ability to oversee a multi-layered organizational structure, leading managers and their teams to deliver against company goals.

• Strategy: Design and execute region-specific retention strategies in alignment with the overarching global strategy, company goals, and client satisfaction imperatives. Structure long-term resource and personnel planning to ensure optimal client support and retention, concurrently building collaborative strategies with partners across Dow Jones in Operations, Product, Sales, and Marketing.

• Collaboration: Work in close partnership with the team, Account Managers, Operations, and Product teams to ensure successful client engagement, onboarding, migration, and retention within the assigned remit. Foster inter-departmental collaboration to develop ongoing retention strategies and maximize customer satisfaction.

• Customer Relationship Management: Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with strategic clients to reinforce Dow Jones’ value proposition, addressing their unique business requirements and industry challenges.

• Data-Driven Insights: Utilize advanced analytics to evaluate team performance, identify retention risks, and refine retention strategies. Leverage insights to support cross-sell initiatives and enhance revenue opportunities.

• Sales Support, Growth & Collaboration: Offer strategic insight and support for new sales pursuits within existing client accounts, collaborating with Account Executives and Regional Sales Leaders to maximize customer Return on Investment (ROI) and expand revenue streams.

• People Management: Provide effective management of the team, encompassing resource and personnel allocation across portfolios, territories, and accounts. Ensure continuous professional development and skills enhancement within the team, while also managing day-to-day People/HR matters in a positive and constructive environment.

• Performance & Incentive Tracking: Ensure accurate performance calculation and documentation for CES during each quarterly retention audit process, and coordinate the execution of Sales Performance Incentive Funds (SPIFs) and local incentives to drive high performance.

You Have:

• Experience: A minimum of 12 years of experience in client retention, customer success, or account management, with prior experience in large, matrix-structured organizations strongly preferred.

• Leadership: Demonstrated prior experience in a leadership or supervisory capacity, with a strong emphasis on coaching, mentoring, and