Jennifer Clayton

CEO

Raleigh, North Carolina, United States30 yrs 2 mos experience
Highly Stable

Key Highlights

  • Delivered GRR +5% and NRR +7% higher than baseline.
  • Introduced cost-reducing approach for SMB accounts.
  • Led a department of 70+ focused on digital customer experience.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a SaaS Customer Success leader with expertise in technical architecture and operational excellence.

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Skills

Other Skills

Supplier EnablementSaaScXMLProcess ImprovementEnterprise SoftwareIntegrationSoftware Project ManagementAgile MethodologiesSoftware ImplementationBusiness AnalysisRequirements AnalysisSQLSDLCData WarehousingCross-functional Team Leadership

About

My journey into tech started in a chemistry lab. I quickly learned that the detail, documentation, and organization required for running these experiments were the exact ingredients needed to excel in Project Management and Technical Leadership. Today, I lead at the intersection of Technical Architecture and Revenue Strategy. As Senior Director of Customer Success Engineering at Confluent, I lead a 60+ person organization focused on the most strategic accounts in AMER. Customer Success is not simply a support function - it drives a critical recurring revenue engine. Recent Career Highlights πŸ“ˆ Driving Retention & Expansion: Delivered GRR +5% and NRR +7% higher than the baseline. πŸš€ Scaling for Growth: Introduced an approach on SMB accounts (15% account load; 4% ARR), reducing cost by 60%. βš™οΈ Operational Excellence: Led a department of 70+ at SAS (Engineers, DevOps, UX, Data Stewards) responsible for the digital customer experience and commerce journey. I enjoy building teams and improving processes to make them sustainable as organizations grow. I am skilled at taking a wide variety of initiatives and focusing them into a singular, high-impact strategy that aligns technical delivery with corporate OKRs. I have a proven history of leadership & delivery and enjoy working with teams that are highly accountable, work hard and also know how to have fun! Specialties: Post-Sales Strategy, Consumption-Based Growth, Org Design, GRR/NRR Optimization, and Cross-Functional Leadership.

Experience

30 yrs 2 mos
Total Experience
6 yrs 7 mos
Average Tenure
3 yrs 6 mos
Current Experience

Confluent

3 roles

Senior Director, Customer Success Engineering

Promoted

Sep 2025 – Present Β· 7 mos

Director, Customer Success Engineering

Promoted

Mar 2024 – Sep 2025 Β· 1 yr 6 mos

  • Lead the AMER Technical Architects in Confluent’s Customer Success division. Our job is to provide thought leadership & consultative guidance to ensure customers are achieving the goals of their technical roadmap and maximizing the value of their investment in Confluent.

Senior Manager, Customer Success Engineering

Oct 2022 – Mar 2024 Β· 1 yr 5 mos

  • Led a team of Customer Success Technical Architects focused on the organization's largest & most strategic customers.

Sas

5 roles

Senior Director, Cloud & Information Services

Promoted

Feb 2019 – Sep 2022 Β· 3 yrs 7 mos

  • Led the Customer Technologies department within Cloud & Information Services, which is responsible for providing frictionless digital technology experiences to SAS customers and website visitors. This includes Web Content Management via Adobe AEM, SAS' Digital Commerce Platform, Self-Service Customer Support & Partner Experiences, SAS Profile (identity) as well as enterprise integrations and data connections to back office systems.

IT Director, Applications & Data Management

Promoted

Jan 2016 – Jan 2019 Β· 3 yrs

  • Led the Applications & Data Management department within IT, which focused on Software Development, Master Data Management, Database Administration, Business Analysis and Enterprise Architecture. In addition to project delivery & operational support, the department had a strong focus on setting & maintaining technology standards, championing compliance requirements (e.g. GDPR, PCI, export) and digitally transforming our business via consolidation, self-service and automation capabilities (e.g. IAM, ERP, Search, Order & Fulfillment, etc.)

Senior IT Manager

Promoted

Jan 2013 – Jan 2016 Β· 3 yrs

  • Led both Software Development and Database Administration teams through project and operational deliveries based on business and technology priorities. This included a focus on modernization, consolidation and globalization of systems and technologies. The teams expanded responsibilities with no additional staff by pushing for internal efficiencies through reduction of technical debt, cross-training of staff and automatable services wherever possible.

IT Manager

Jan 2008 – Jan 2013 Β· 5 yrs

  • Led a newly formed MDM (Master Data Management) team through the creation of MDM solutions for customers, employees & products. Consolidated existing siloed solutions into the MDM hubs and retired legacy applications and data marts. This improved data quality, reporting & CX while at the same time reducing risk around security, data privacy and technical debt.

Senior IT Project Manager

Jan 2006 – Jan 2008 Β· 2 yrs

  • Provided software development project management and business analysis functions for SAS’ IT organization. This included oversight of the entire project lifecycle and SDLC including the creation of functional requirements and design. Implemented enterprise systems with global teams and a global customer base.

Jaggaer

2 roles

Head of Supplier Enablement

Jan 2004 – Jan 2006 Β· 2 yrs

  • Led the team responsible for implementing B2C integrations for over 50 customers and hundreds of suppliers, generating millions in ARR for SciQuest. This included partnering with Marketing & Business Development to increase the number of suppliers with offerings in the SciQuest supplier marketplace via print campaigns, white papers, case studies, trade shows and focus groups. Additionally, performed analysis and consumer research in collaboration with Product Management to bring new products to market (e.g. evolution of a normalized data catalog to punchouts and electronic invoicing).

Supplier Enablement Project Manager

Jan 2003 – Jan 2004 Β· 1 yr

  • Managed B2C projects from kickoff through go-live; responsible for the full project lifecycle and all artifacts. Provided suppliers with technical guidance on data & integration requirements; configured cXML integration points.

Metagenix

2 roles

Director of Product Engineering

Jan 2001 – Jan 2003 Β· 2 yrs Β· Durham, NC

  • Led the R&D organization in the design, creation, deployment & enhancement of the Data Quality product suite. Successfully met product release schedules, budgets and scope goals for a significant OEM product delivery. Responsible for overall OEM contractual relationship including SOW, quotes, and change orders.

Senior Solutions Engineer

Jan 1999 – Jan 2001 Β· 2 yrs Β· Durham, NC

  • Provided Pre-Sales support including product demos, data analysis, report development, POCs, client proposals. Conducted onsite product installations and customer training; created user manuals and training guides. Performed QA before new products/releases went to market including integration tests with industry ETL tools.

Tritech acquires tiburon

Project Manager

Jan 1996 – Jan 1999 Β· 3 yrs Β· Columbia, Maryland, United States

  • Provided traditional project management services, including upsell opportunities, for customized Emergency 911 Computer Aided Dispatch implementations for major metropolitan areas (e.g. Baltimore, Buffalo, NYC MTA, etc.)

Education

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Jan 1992 – Jan 1996

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