Role Guide
Net revenue retention is the cheapest growth you have. We hire customer success managers, renewals specialists and CS leaders who own a number, not just a relationship.
Key Facts
£60k–£80k base
$110k–$135k base
Typical enterprise CSM ARR under management
From kick-off, every engagement
The market has split. Some CS teams are adoption and support functions; others own renewal, expansion and a quota. Hiring for the wrong one is the most common mistake we see, and it shows up nine months later as flat NRR.
We define which model you are running first, then map candidates who have carried that exact accountability at your ACV and segment.
Customer success manager, enterprise CSM and strategic account director. Renewals manager and renewals lead. Technical account manager and implementation consultant. Director and VP of customer success.
For technical products we usually run CS and pre-sales searches in parallel, because the strongest candidates for each often surface in the other pool.
We ask for gross retention, net retention, book size and expansion attainment, and we check them. A CSM who inherited a healthy book and held it is a different hire from one who turned around a churning portfolio, and both are valid, but you should know which one you are getting.
2026 pay benchmarks
| Role | UK | US | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-market AE | £70k–£85k base · £140k–£170k OTE | $120k–$140k base · $240k–$280k OTE | 50/50 split standard, quota 4–5x OTE |
| Customer Success Manager | £60k–£80k base · £70k–£95k OTE | $110k–$135k base · $130k–$165k OTE | Renewal-owning CSMs carry a larger variable |
Full dataset: 2026 GTM salary and hiring benchmarks. Model the cost of a vacant seat with the quota loss calculator.
FAQ
If they own renewal or expansion, yes. Variable pay of 15% to 25% aligned to net retention is the current norm and it changes the candidate pool: quota-carrying CS roles attract sellers, adoption-focused roles attract product and support backgrounds. Decide before you write the job spec.
In the UK, £60k to £80k base with £70k to £95k OTE. In the US, $110k to $135k base with $130k to $165k OTE. Renewal-owning CSMs carry a larger variable component and sit at the top of both ranges.
Contingent searches are charged as a percentage of first-year base salary, payable only on placement. Retained and RPO engagements are staged or fixed-fee and work out lower per hire at volume. We quote before any work starts, with no fee for the market map.
You receive a shortlist within 14 days of kick-off. Median time from kick-off to signed offer across our 2025 to 2026 searches is under six weeks, with the interview process itself the usual bottleneck rather than pipeline.
Contingent suits one-off or opportunistic hires. Retained suits leadership and confidential searches where you need guaranteed focus. RPO suits teams hiring five or more revenue seats in a year and wanting a single embedded partner.
Related Guides
A short intro call is usually enough to tell whether we're the right partner for the search.
