Senior Director, Customer Support

About Starburst

Starburst is the data platform for analytics, applications, and AI, unifying data across clouds and on-premises to accelerate AI innovation. Organizations—from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises in 60+ countries—rely on Starburst for fast data access, seamless collaboration, and enterprise-grade governance on an open hybrid data lakehouse. Wherever data lives, Starburst unlocks its full potential, powering data and AI from development to deployment. By future-proofing data architecture, Starburst helps businesses fuel innovation with AI.

About the Role:

We’re seeking a strategic, empathetic, and technically proficient Senior Director of Customer Support to lead our global support organization. This individual will play a critical role in scaling our customer support function, delivering world-class service, and building deep relationships with both customers and internal teams.

The Senior Director will lead a globally distributed team, including 3 direct Manager-level reports and a high-performing group of technical support professionals. They will shape support delivery models for various customer tiers, ensure 24/7 global coverage, and advise on support monetization and billing strategy. In this role, you’ll partner cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success to ensure our customers’ voices are heard and their issues resolved efficiently.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead a globally distributed team of support professionals, including 3 direct Manager-level reports.
• Foster a high-performing, inclusive team culture centered around accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Drive career development and technical growth for support engineers.
  
  

Strategic Planning & Execution

• Design and evolve customer support delivery models tailored to different tiers (e.g., standard vs. premium).
• Develop and maintain a 24/7 global support strategy aligned with SLAs and customer expectations.
• Advise on and support implementation of support billing and monetization strategies.
  
  

Customer Advocacy & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Act as a senior customer advocate internally, partnering closely with Sales, Strategic Accounts, Product, and Engineering.
• Collaborate to identify trends and feedback loops that improve product quality and customer experience.

Operational Excellence & Metrics

• Define and track KPIs for support efficiency, CSAT, resolution times, and customer outcomes.
• Drive automation, tooling improvements, and scalable processes to support growth.
• Maintain high standards for support quality and adherence to service levels.

 

• Monetization Strategy: Collaborate with Finance and Product to develop pricing models for support offerings and advise on billing structures.
  
  
• Technical Enablement: Create an environment that supports continuous technical learning, certification, and skill development for team members.
  
  

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in Business, Engineering, or related field preferred.
  
  
• 10+ years of experience in customer support or customer success, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
  
  
• Proven track record of managing global support teams, including people management across time zones and cultures.
  
  
• Experience supporting technical products or services, ideally in the B2B SaaS or technology industry.
  
  
• Demonstrated ability to plan strategically and execute tactically in fast-paced environments.
  
  
• Strong financial acumen, including experience advising on or creating support billing/pricing models.
  
  
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build relationships with customers, executives, and internal stakeholders.
  
  
• Passion for customer satisfaction and a drive to create scalable, sustainable support models.
  
  
• Proficient with support tools and platforms (e.g., Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, Intercom).
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading tiered or premium support offerings.
  
  
• Familiarity with ITIL or other service management frameworks.
  
  
• Prior involvement in post-sales customer experience or success roles.
  
  
• Background in technical support for infrastructure, developer tools, APIs, or comple