Senior Startup Growth & Solutions Manager - Military veterans preferred

Location: San Francisco, California, United States of America

Requisition ID: R32671

Position_Type: Full time

Job Description

About Zendesk for Startups:

Zendesk for Startups empowers startups to scale and thrive by delivering best-in-class customer experience solutions. With over 160,000 customers globally, we’ve supported trailblazing companies such as Slack, Uber, Instacart, Canva, Nubank, Limebike, and Deliveroo from their earliest stages. Our mission is to drive sustainable startup growth through strategic partnerships, vibrant community engagement, and innovative go-to-market programs.

About the Role:
To support this mission, we are seeking a visionary and results-driven Senior Startup Growth & Solutions Manager to lead the transformation and expansion of our flagship Zendesk for Startups (Z4S) program.

This pivotal, global, role will own end-to-end program strategy, redesign, and execution — from fund allocation and benefits development to ecosystem engagement and market positioning. You will spearhead innovative, data-driven initiatives tailored to startups at every stage of their journey, unlocking new growth engines and reinforcing Zendesk’s position as the premier partner for scaling startups globally.

You will work cross-functionally with Marketing, Product, Engineering, Corporate Development, and Ventures teams — as well as external partners, investors, and community leaders — to build a differentiated, scalable, and impact-driven startup program that startups will never outgrow. We seek candidates with deep expertise in startup investments and credit and/or trial-based funding models, who thrive in ambiguous environments, and have demonstrated experience launching and scaling global programs from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end redesign of the Zendesk for Startups program to best support startups at every stage of their journey. Architect a comprehensive portfolio of startup-centric benefits, combining both digital and in-person offerings, alongside go-to-market products and solutions that leverage Zendesk’s AI-powered tools.

• Develop compelling product marketing messaging, targeted campaigns, and launch materials to drive program awareness, engagement, and adoption across diverse startup segments.

• Define detailed startup personas, create unified customer journey maps, and design tailored engagement touchpoints that proactively address founders’ pain points and growth opportunities.

• Track, analyze, and continuously iterate on key program KPIs—including startup retention, growth, engagement, ROI, and product adoption—to optimize and scale the program’s impact.

• Serve as a passionate ambassador for Zendesk within startup ecosystems by representing the company at community events, industry conferences, and partner forums to elevate brand awareness, cultivate strategic relationships, and foster mutual growth.

Requirements:

• Minimum 6+ years of experience managing startup programs, innovation ecosystems, or growth initiatives—preferably in SaaS, enterprise software, or venture-backed startup environments.

• Demonstrated experience driving growth and scaling membership or community programs based on creating sticky benefits and solutions that drive user acquisition, engagement, retention, and activation. Proven experience in product marketing or product management, with strong skills in messaging, go-to-market strategy, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Deep understanding of startup funding cycles, investment landscapes, and founder needs across various stages of maturity, with prior experience managing and designing credit-based funding or milestone-driven grant programs aligned with startup growth.

• Demonstrated success designing, launching, and scaling complex, multi-stakeholder global programs from the ground up, ideally involving credit allocation, mentorship, or go-to-market initiatives.

• Strong analytical skills with experience tracking key performance metrics and using data insights to drive program optimization and business outcomes.

• Proven ability to work effectively across product, marketing, engineering, corporate development, and external partners including investors and ecosystem leaders.

• Excellent storytelling and interpersonal skills with ability to influence and build rapport across executive leadership, startups, partners, and internal teams.

• Comfortable navigating fast-changing, ambiguous environments and making decisions with incomplete information.

• Familiarity with AI-powered tools, SaaS products, and digital engagement platforms; ability to work closely with technical teams to build relevant solutions.

Nice to Haves:

• Experience as a founder, at an accelerator or in venture capital.

• Experience working directly with venture capital firms, accelerators, or startup incubators.

• Hands-on experience with Zendesk products, CRM tools (Salesforce, Airtable), or startup-focused GTM motions.

• Exposure to global markets and cultural nuances within startup ecosystems across different regions.

#LI-WO1

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $158,000.00-$236,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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