Senior Manager - Customer Support

MEET DEEPL DeepL is a global AI product and research company focused on building secure, intelligent solutions to complex business problems. Over 200,000 business customers and millions of individuals across 228 global markets today trust DeepL's Language AI platform for human-like translation, improved writing and real-time voice translation. Building on a history of innovation, quality and security, DeepL continues to expand its offerings beyond the field of Language, including DeepL Agent - an autonomous AI assistant designed to transform the way businesses and knowledge workers get work done. Founded in 2017 by CEO Jarek Kutylowski, DeepL now has over 1,000 passionate employees and is supported by world-renowned investors including Benchmark, IVP, and Index Ventures. Our goal is to become the global leader in trusted, intelligent AI technology, building products that drive better communication, foster connections, and create a meaningful impact. To achieve this, we need talented people like you to join our journey. If you’re ready to shape the future of AI and grow your career in a fast-moving, purpose-driven environment, DeepL is your next destination. WHAT SETS US APART What sets us apart is our blend of cutting-edge AI technology, meaningful work, and a culture where people truly thrive. We’re a team of innovators, researchers, and creators driven by a shared purpose to unlock human potential by making work simpler, smarter, and more connected. When we share what it’s like to work at DeepL, the reactions are overwhelmingly positive. This might be because of our technology that helps millions of people and businesses communicate and work better every day, or because of the trust, curiosity, and care that shape our culture. What we know for sure is this: being part of DeepL means joining a team dedicated to innovation, growth, and well-being. Discover more about life at DeepL onLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/deepl/,Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deepl_official/, and our Blog https://www.deepl.com/en/blog. MEET THE TEAM At DeepL, we are on an exciting journey to expand our operations in line with our ambitious growth plans. Our Customer team is a cornerstone of DeepL's commitment to outstanding user experience and customer satisfaction. Our mission is to build and develop high-performing customer teams that embody DeepL's innovative spirit and drive for excellence. Working in close partnership with Product, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing, you will collaborate to address customer needs and feedback effectively. WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING AT DEEPL? As Senior Manager, Customer Support for Japan and APAC, you will be both an architect and an operator — defining regional strategy while staying close to day-to-day execution. This is a senior leadership role within DeepL's fast-growing Asia Support function, reporting into the global Customer Support leadership team. You will lead a team of team leaders and specialists, drive regional performance, and partner cross-functionally to deliver a world-class customer experience across the region. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES - Drive the regional vision: Act as the architect for Japan and APAC Customer Support, translating global goals into a regional strategy. Define what "world-class" looks like for customers in this region and build the roadmap to get there. - Own regional performance: Own Customer Support outcomes across Japan and APAC — including CSAT, quality, responsiveness, resolution rates, backlog health, and escalation effectiveness — while ensuring critical regional programs land on time with real impact. - Lead leaders: Coach and develop a team of team leaders and managers, strengthening their ability to lead through change and empowering them to build high-performing, resilient teams of their own. - Evolve the Customer Support craft: Champion a culture of continuous upskilling and professional development. Identify where deeper technical expertise and sharper customer-facing skills will have the greatest impact, moving the team toward higher-value customer interactions. - Refine the engine: Uncover operational inefficiencies and evolve more mature, scalable workflows — from targeted fixes to larger improvement programs — so specialists spend less time navigating complexity and more time solving what matters to customers. - Standardize excellence through data: Mature how success is measured in Japan and APAC, moving beyond basic KPIs. Turn insights into action, use data to guide regional priorities, and feed learnings back into the global strategy. - Enable customer outcomes: Partner with Sales, Customer Success, and Professional Services to support customers throughout their journey, deliver a differentiated premium support offering, and build trusted relationships that strengthen long-term partnership. - Drive product and experience improvements: Partner with Product and Engineering to identify patterns behind customer pain, turn them into clear opportunities, and help drive improvements that remove friction at the source. - Lead through evolution: In a fast-changing environment, bring clarity and steadiness. Guide teams through product launches, organizational shifts, and new support methodologies. Foster an inclusive, high-accountability culture where default-to-action is the standard. - Represent Japan and APAC globally: Serve as the regional voice on the global Support leadership team — providing performance updates, regional context, and strategic input that shapes global direction. WHAT WE LOOK FOR - Leadership maturity: Significant leadership experience in Customer Support or CX, with a track record of managing managers in high-growth tech environments, building high-performing teams, and leading through change. - Experience evolving support models: A track record of modernizing support through specialization, premium service design, workflow optimization, and the thoughtful adoption of automation and AI. - Stakeholder mastery: Proven ability to build trust and influence cross-functional peers across Sales, Customer Success, Professional Services, Product, Engineering, and Operations, as well as senior stakeholders. - Multilingual communication: Strong communication skills in Japanese and English (written and verbal) are required. Additional language skills are a plus. - Organizational design and talent development: Experience designing and evolving team structures, developing leaders and specialists, and creating clear growth paths that unlock capability and maximize impact. - Operational excellence: Ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on problem-solving. Comfortable using modern support platforms (e.g. Zendesk, Salesforce) and analytics to understand performance and guide priorities. - Customer-first, outcome-driven mindset: You consistently start from the customer perspective and take ownership of outcomes, not just activity. You use customer insights and operational signals to prioritize what matters most. - Adaptability: You thrive in ambiguity and embrace change. A proactive, solution-oriented nature helps you master uncertainty and drive progress. WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER You are welcome at DeepL for who you are—we appreciate authenticity here. Our product is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all succeed, contribute, and think forward! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our diversity that we will find the power to break down language barriers in the world.