Austin, Texas

Chad
Gardner

Customer Success Engineering leader with 15+ years across enterprise SaaS, scaling teams and delivering measurable impact at the intersection of technical depth and client outcomes.

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Profile

About Me

I'm a Customer Success Engineering leader with about 15 years of experience across enterprise SaaS, spanning pre-sales, post-sales, solutions engineering, and team leadership. My work lives at the intersection of technical depth and customer impact.

I've had the chance to do that across some great companies, including Salesforce, Quantum Metric, and Affinity, building teams, leading enterprise integrations, and partnering with clients to drive adoption and long-term retention.

JavaScript SQL HTML / CSS Team Leadership Enterprise Integrations Pre-Sales Engineering HIPAA Compliance CRM Platforms
15+
Years in SaaS
40+
Engineers Led
150+
Clients Managed
$40M+
Revenue Overseen

Career

Experience

Freshpaint
Apr 2024 — Present
Austin, TX (Remote)
Enterprise Customer Success Engineer
  • Led onboarding for healthcare clients, ensuring efficient implementation of HIPAA-compliant solutions.
  • Drove high customer satisfaction and feature adoption, collaborating with Account Management to align product offerings with client objectives.
  • Used Freshpaint's platform to monitor key performance indicators and deliver insights that optimize client data strategies.
  • Communicated complex technical concepts effectively to marketers, engineers, and senior executives.
  • Built and maintained strong client relationships as a trusted advisor and advocate for client needs.
  • Collaborated cross-functionally to resolve technical issues, suggest product improvements, and contribute to scalable client success strategies.
Affinity
Jul 2023 — Apr 2024
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Vice President, Solutions Engineering
  • Led the professional services team to develop and implement custom API integrations with IPaaS systems, enhancing compatibility with diverse technology stacks.
  • Oversaw technical pre-sales engineering, providing critical support and conducting product demonstrations to advance sales opportunities.
  • Championed information security and data privacy, addressing concerns through RFI/RFP processes and engagements with C-level executives.
  • Directed proof-of-concept designs, streamlining the support of complex solutions for successful pre-sales implementations.
  • Crafted comprehensive RFP response documents and integration plans, aligning technical solutions with client requirements to facilitate sales qualification and strategy.
Quantum Metric
Aug 2022 — Aug 2023
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Director, CS Engineering
  • Oversaw a team of 20+ post-sale engineers responsible for the success of 150 clients and approximately $40MM in revenue.
  • Scaled operations by establishing and managing an internal implementation team of 6 specializing in complex configurations and improving time-to-value.
  • Managed a portfolio of 10 clients with approximately $6MM ARR, including the largest enterprise account.
  • Played a critical role in vetting, building, and documenting the most requested integrations.
  • Supported the pre-sales team by joining engagements to outline the Customer Success process, work through contract blockers, and instill confidence in QM's ability to meet required use cases.
  • Recorded and reported on CSE team KPIs and goals mapped to company OKRs.
Oct 2019 — Aug 2022
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Manager, CS Engineering
  • Oversaw a team of 10 CS engineers responsible for 50+ clients and ~$20MM in recurring revenue, while scaling operations to support double the client volume.
  • Balanced a personal portfolio of 18 accounts contributing ~$5MM in recurring revenue.
  • Streamlined, implemented, and documented priority integrations to enhance operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
  • Created workflows and processes to ensure the effective onboarding and success of CSEs across all regions.
  • Focused on strategic initiatives to improve efficiencies across all teams, driving significant improvements in performance and customer satisfaction.
Maropost
Apr 2019 — Oct 2019
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Solutions Engineer
  • Partnered with sales and account teams to lead the discovery and technical requirements phase for new opportunities.
  • Developed and delivered customized product demonstrations and proof-of-concepts for new prospects and existing clients.
  • Documented conceptual frameworks and technical approaches to solutions.
  • Scoped and implemented integrations with customer CRM, e-commerce, and marketing platforms.
  • Built custom, bi-directional data workflows aligned to client use cases.
Salesforce
Jan 2018 — Apr 2019
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Solutions Architect (Datorama)
  • Led technical consultative engagements with enterprise customers.
  • Reviewed and assessed client technology stacks and data structures to scope and plan implementation projects.
  • Engaged with technical and functional stakeholders to produce statements of work, implementation plans, and customer enablement plans.
  • Streamlined documentation and workflows around scaling the scoping and onboarding processes.
Signal
Jan 2018 — Jan 2019
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Director, Product Solutions
  • Architected scalable, repeatable product solutions using internal components and features to meet client use cases.
  • Created internal solution design documentation to support pre-sales engineers and solutions consultants.
  • Partnered with product managers and engineers to build new features to support the future state of the platform.
  • Served as technical lead on structuring, engineering, and maintaining the Signal Identity Network.
Feb 2017 — Jan 2018
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Director, Implementation Delivery
  • Oversaw a team of global implementation consultants to standardize new client solutions.
  • Partnered with solutions consultants to develop the pre-sales to post-sales handoff process.
  • Partnered with product to share client feedback for product roadmap development.
  • Disseminated technical requirements internally across all departments to ensure operational success.
Apr 2014 — Jan 2017
Chicago, IL (Remote)
Solutions Consultant
  • Partnered with account and sales teams to lead the discovery and technical requirements phase for new opportunities.
  • Developed and delivered customized product demonstrations and proofs of concept for new prospects and existing clients.
  • Educated customers and partners on the benefits of Signal's products and identified new product functionality opportunities.
Performics
Jul 2013 — Mar 2014
Chicago, IL
Technical Account Manager, Strategy & Analytics
  • Provided technical support and training to implement tracking solutions with SEM and ad serving technology platforms across all channels.
  • Worked closely with account teams, partners, and clients to identify appropriate strategy, created tracking tags, and QA'd integrations.
  • Partnered with business intelligence and analytics teams to integrate data into the Performics data warehouse.
Oct 2010 — Dec 2013
Chicago, IL
Sr. Operations Account Manager, Local Search
  • Built, launched, and managed industry-leading, customized local paid search campaigns.
  • Focused on creating and refining efficiencies to increase scalability and effectiveness across accounts.
  • Managed 125+ advertisers and 350+ campaigns concurrently as the technical lead and launch manager for the Local Search team.

Recognition

Awards

★
Maropost Value Award
August 2019
★
Signal Amplifier Award — Innovation Winner
2017
★
Performics Vanguard Award
2012

Background

Education

Iowa State University
Bachelor of Arts, Advertising
Ames, Iowa
2001 — 2005
Let's Connect

Get in Touch

Open to new opportunities and conversations. The best way to reach me is via email or LinkedIn.

cg@chadgardner.me LinkedIn chadgardner.me