Please note, we have also released a Customer Success Manager vacancy alongside this Head of Customer Success role. Please apply for the role that best fits your experience and skill level. For the successful candidate with the right level of customer success experience, we can provide extensive higher education training.
This is an exceptional opportunity for an experienced Head of Customer Success to take the next step in their career and join Vepple at a pivotal stage in the company’s growth journey.
Vepple is an enterprise SaaS platform operating within the Higher Education sector, helping universities to recruit students through personalised virtual experiences, guided tours, interactive maps and events. The platform plays a central role in our university partners’ recruitment strategies and is regarded by many institutions as an essential student engagement tool (see video).
With a focus on experiential storytelling and digital engagement, Vepple enables prospective students to experience the atmosphere and culture of a university from anywhere in the world and at any stage of the recruitment journey. By creating emotional connection, increasing engagement and supporting informed decision-making, Vepple helps universities strengthen recruitment performance and improve student conversion outcomes.
We are looking for a commercially minded and relationship-driven Head of Customer Success (HoCS) to lead our Customer Success function. Customer Success currently sits with our CEO, and this role exists to take it on: to run the department day to day, build it as we grow, and be accountable for retention, renewals and expansion across our university portfolio. You will report to the CEO.
This is a hands-on leadership role. You will be accountable for the commercial performance of the function, leading renewal and expansion negotiations and maintaining accurate forecasting, while building genuine, trusted relationships with senior university stakeholders. We are looking for someone commercially astute enough to run a disciplined upgrade pipeline in HubSpot, from opportunity through to delivery, combined with the emotional intelligence to grow accounts through partnership rather than a sales-led approach. Universities respond to people who help them reach their recruitment goals, not to pressure, and we want someone who instils that approach across the team.
You will manage our Customer Success Coordinator, who handles the administrative backbone of the function including quoting, invoicing, renewal reminders and scheduling. As the business grows, you will recruit, onboard and develop a Customer Success Manager, progressively transitioning from a hands-on player-coach role towards broader strategic leadership and team development. To begin with, while we recruit the CSM, you will carry a larger book of accounts directly alongside the CEO. As the team grows, your direct account load will reduce, freeing you to focus on the strategy, processes and partnerships that will define Customer Success at Vepple.
This role would suit an ambitious and highly organised Customer Success professional who combines commercial awareness with exceptional relationship-building skills and a passion for digital innovation, customer outcomes and Higher Education.
We are a team of 20 people operating as specialists at the top of our game. We take our work seriously, but never take ourselves too seriously. Our culture, values and focus on sustainable growth have been central to our success and to the strong relationships we build with our university customers.
The Board is keen to provide employees with the flexibility to choose working patterns and locations that support work-life balance while maintaining strong collaboration and connection.
This role has a requirement to be in the office at key times throughout the year, with increased frequency during event planning and attendance periods, as well as the flexibility to attend more frequently if preferred. Our office space provides workstations, collaborative / break-out space, formal meeting rooms and quick access to Leeds train and bus infrastructure.
The feedback we receive from our team suggests that this is an unusual policy for such a business, hence the mention here in the job spec. This is from Tom, our CEO: “You will get paid for any extra hours that you work, or you will be given the time back.” Quite simply, you will never be asked to work more hours than contracted, without receiving that time back in lieu or being paid overtime. We have a formalised process and each person has a Google sheet to log extra hours worked. This extends to attending evening events and travelling to and from meetings. If you’re doing something outside of your normal hours that is to the benefit of the business, you need to take that time back.
Please note: the week described below reflects the role we are building towards, an established Head of Customer Success leading a small team and a portfolio of strategic accounts. In reality it will take time to get there. To begin with, while we recruit the Customer Success Manager, you will be far more hands-on, handling approximately 35 accounts in conjunction with our CEO. Once the CSM is in place, no later than the end of 2026, we would expect your day-to-day account involvement to reduce significantly, to perhaps 10 accounts, freeing up the space to work as described here. Even then, you will continue to lead commercial negotiations and attend annual strategic reviews across the full portfolio, including your team’s accounts, in partnership with the CSM who manages the day-to-day relationship. This is the vision, and getting there is a core part of the role.
Monday
The week begins with an all-hands team meeting. This virtual call is a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and get a high-level overview of everyone’s plans for the week.
Afterwards, you turn to the portfolio. You review customer health across your book, the renewal and expansion forecast, and the upgrade pipeline you manage in HubSpot, checking that every opportunity is at the right stage and that nothing is drifting. You are preparing the numbers and the narrative for Wednesday, when you present retention and expansion forecasting, and any churn risk, to the leadership team. Tomorrow you have an in-person meeting with the University of X to lead their annual strategic review, so you spend time analysing their dashboard, shaping the strategic recommendations you will take into the room, and identifying the module opportunities that genuinely support their recruitment goals.
You also have a quick 1:1 with the Customer Success Coordinator to run through the week’s quoting, invoicing and renewal reminders, making sure the administrative backend is on track and that the coordinator has what they need from you.
Tuesday
Today is all about the University of X meeting. It is a two hour journey, so you take the train. It is an important strategic relationship and you lead the review, presenting the data, demonstrating the ROI Vepple has delivered, and steering the conversation towards their goals for the next recruitment cycle. One opportunity is ripe, so you open and lead the expansion conversation directly, positioning the upgrade around the outcomes they care about rather than as a sell. A deeply technical question comes up that is better answered precisely than off the cuff, so you note it and commit to a fast follow-up via our Solution Engineer.
After the meeting you have lunch with everyone who attended before heading back. This is a great way to get a little more face time, and useful things are always raised in the informal setting. Once home, you update HubSpot with your notes and next steps, move the expansion opportunity to the right stage, email the customer to thank them, and set clear expectations on timings.
Wednesday
The day starts with an internal meeting with the wider Vepple team. You then present the CS forecast to the leadership team: retention, Net Revenue Retention, the expansion pipeline and any accounts at risk, along with the actions you are taking. This is the picture the CEO used to have to assemble, and it now sits with you.
You spend part of the day embedding the pipeline discipline you want across the function, making sure every upgrade opportunity is tracked in HubSpot from first identification through to delivery, and coaching the Customer Success Manager and Coordinator on the parts of that process they each own. You also celebrate wins, such as a customer thrilled with Vepple’s impact on their lead capture who has agreed to a testimonial, and you introduce them to the Product Marketing Manager to follow up.
Thursday
Exciting news. The Chief Commercial Officer has won a new Vepple customer. You meet with her and the onboarding team to understand the chosen module combination and strategic aims, and you plan the transition from New Business through Onboarding into Customer Success.
You also spend time leading the team. You catch up with your Customer Success Manager, reviewing their accounts, coaching them through a tricky renewal and agreeing how you will jointly approach the upcoming strategic review for one of their universities, where they will run the relationship and you will lead the commercial conversation. Then you review the wider portfolio, identify an account approaching renewal that may be at risk, and schedule a call to address concerns and lead the renewal conversation yourself.
Friday
You review an email from the Solutions Engineer with detailed answers to the University of X’s technical questions, schedule a quick call to make sure you fully understand the detail, and draft a clear, friendly follow-up to the customer.
To close out the week, you analyse progress against your retention and expansion targets, the numbers you are accountable for. You identify the accounts that need focus next week and plan accordingly. You decide to finish the week by reviewing the slides our Event Marketing Manager has prepared for next week’s Vepple In Person (VIP) event in Leeds, feeding back your input on the parts you’ll be presenting (video of last year’s event is here).
To achieve the upper level of the salary range, you must provide evidence that you have substantial experience across the remits below. If you don’t yet have depth in a particular area, this will be reflected in the salary offered and the support given throughout your onboarding and future development.
We are looking for someone who can deliver the following core remits:
| Remit | Detail |
|---|---|
| Lead the CS function | Take operational ownership of the Customer Success function, running it day to day and reducing the need for CEO involvement in delivery, while working closely with the CEO and leadership who retain overall strategic oversight |
| CS strategic planning | Develop and execute the Customer Success strategy to maximise platform adoption, customer satisfaction, retention and long-term partner value |
| Commercial accountability | Be accountable to leadership for retention and Net Revenue Retention (NRR) performance across the university portfolio |
| Renewals & negotiations | Lead renewal and expansion negotiations across the portfolio, end to end, carrying the commercial conversation through to close |
| Expansion pipeline | Run the upgrade pipeline in HubSpot, from identifying an upgrade opportunity through to upgrade delivered, with disciplined stage management, forecasting and CRM hygiene |
| Embed pipeline culture | Instil and embed disciplined pipeline and account-management practices across the Customer Success function as it grows, setting the standard the team works to |
| Forecasting & commercial insight | Maintain accurate renewal, churn risk and expansion forecasting, presenting regular commercial insight to the senior leadership team |
| Maintain strategic relationships | Develop and maintain strategic relationships with university marketing, recruitment and admissions stakeholders, building genuine trust and partnership rather than a sales-led dynamic |
| Account Management | Manage the end-to-end university customer lifecycle, including post-onboarding, adoption, retention, renewal, advocacy and account growth. Demonstrate measurable customer ROI through analytics, reporting, insight and customer performance reviews |
| Success Metrics & Reporting | Report on Customer Success KPIs, including retention, NRR, customer health, platform adoption, engagement and NPS |
| Team leadership & line management | Line manage the Customer Success Coordinator and recruit, onboard and develop a Customer Success Manager as the business grows, building a high-performing and customer-centric team |
| Build & scale the function | Lead and evolve the Customer Success function, shaping account management and customer support processes, and scaling the team in line with portfolio growth |
| Manage the CS backend | Oversee the Customer Success Coordinator’s delivery of the administrative backend, including quoting, invoicing, renewal reminders and scheduling, ensuring it runs accurately and on time |
| Customer Support Desk | Accountability for the Customer Support Desk and the resolution of all issues and problems raised within. Set KPIs and ensure it delivers on the KPIs |
| Communicate customer requirements | Act as the voice of the customer within the business, influencing product roadmap, UX improvements and platform innovation |
| Internal collaboration to deliver commercial goals | Collaborate closely with Product, Sales and Marketing teams to align customer strategy with commercial and platform objectives |
| External company representation | Represent the business externally through sector engagement, thought leadership, conferences and university partnership development |
| Support the Marketing team | Build customer advocacy initiatives, including case studies, testimonials, advisory groups, referrals and sector partnerships |
| Support the Product team | Requesting customer support in testing new features and trialling new functionality |
| Customer Events | Attend, present and support the Marketing and events team in the delivery of customer events |
What success looks like in this role:
To be considered for this role, you will need to meet all of the “Essential” items listed. To achieve the upper level of the salary range, you must provide evidence that you exceed all of the “Essential” items and meet or exceed a number of the ”Desirable” items listed below.
These values are a key consideration when hiring a new team member; we need to feel each team member shares these values:
See the top of this job spec for the application deadline.
Send your email to: working@vepple.com
Your application must include the following information:
Please note: the successful candidate must, by the start of their employment, have permission to work in the UK.
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No recruitment agencies – thank you.
Leeds (Hybrid). Our office address is: Consort House, 12 South Parade, Leeds, LS1 5QS.
We offer a flexible hybrid working approach, allowing a balance between home and office-based work. For this role, you’ll be required to attend the Leeds office approx. 2 days per month (more during the first few weeks for onboarding and so you can get to know the team!)
This role requires regular in-person meetings and event attendance. Broadly speaking, we would suggest the requirement will be to have in the region of 3 to 4 nights away per month.
