Retention Project Manager

The Customer Retention & Renewal Manager plays a critical role in driving loyalty, reducing churn, and securing on-time renewals for our Medium Product stack. This strategic leader designs and executes innovative retention strategies, leverages data-driven insights, and fosters strong customer relationships to maximize Annual Licence Fee (ALF) retention rates and accelerate ARR growth.

As a highly collaborative and dynamic self-starter, you will lead and inspire a high-performing team, oversee proactive engagement initiatives, and manage the end-to-end renewal process with customers, business partners, and distributors. Your mission is simple yet powerful: keep our customers happy, loyal, and growing with us—while ensuring operational excellence and measurable business impact.

Location - 3 days per week out of our Johannesburg office.

Retention Strategy & Customer Experience

Design and implement innovative, data-led strategies to boost customer loyalty and retention.

Anticipate churn risks and act proactively to resolve concerns, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and maintain strong business relationships.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure strategies are aligned with business objectives and market trends.

Partner with sales to develop targeted upsell, cross-sell, and migration offers addressing customer pain points.

Operational Excellence & Process Leadership

Oversee proactive renewal campaigns, ensuring timely contract negotiations with customers, BPs, and distributors.

Monitor and analyse retention metrics, churn trends, and customer behaviour to refine strategies.

Manage projects related to system and process enhancements for Payroll and Accounting products.

Develop and manage processes for early churn detection, customer engagement, and structured offboarding where necessary.

Team Leadership & Performance Management

Lead the retention & renewal team with clear goals, measurable KPIs, and a culture of high accountability.

Provide coaching, feedback, and mentorship to elevate team performance.

Ensure meetings with customers, BPs, and distributors are conducted at a high professional standard.

Foster a high-performance culture built on integrity, collaboration, and customer-first values.

Reporting & Forecasting

Accurately forecast renewals and retention rates, managing expectations with the Payroll ALF team.

Produce clear, actionable reports on customer behaviour, churn analysis, and team performance.

Translate insights into actionable plans for continuous improvement.

Risk & Contingency Planning

Identify potential challenges in the renewal process and implement proactive mitigation strategies.

Ensure renewal processes run smoothly despite unforeseen obstacles.

Skills & Competencies
Must-Have

Minimum 5 years’ experience in a similar customer retention/renewals leadership role.

Proven ability to transform customer conversations into high-value relationships while prioritizing customer goals.

Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire, influence, and drive change.

Strategic thinker with strong commercial acumen and a continuous improvement mindset.

Advanced knowledge of churn reduction tactics and experience applying them successfully.

Exceptional communication, stakeholder management, and report writing skills.

Strong analytical and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects.

High emotional intelligence, resilience, and the ability to work under pressure.

Preferred

Experience working with internal systems and identifying opportunities for process optimisation.

Background in retention, sales, implementation, or support of Sage Solutions.

Experience working with distributors, channel partners, and business partners.

Relevant professional training or certifications in customer success, retention, or leadership.

Why This Role Matters
In this role, you are the difference between a customer staying or walking away. You will not only protect revenue but actively grow it by building lasting partnerships, championing the customer’s voice, and ensuring every renewal is a success story. If you thrive in a high-energy environment, love solving problems before they arise, and are passionate about customer success—this is your opportunity to make a measurable impact.

#LI-ML1

Sales

South Africa

Johannesburg

Hybrid

Working at Sage means you’re supporting millions of small and medium sized businesses globally with technology to work faster and smarter. We leverage the future of AI, meaning business owners spend less time doing routine tasks, like entering invoices and generating reports, and more time pursuing their ambitions.

Our colleagues are the best of the best. It’s why we were awarded 2024 Best Places to Work by Glassdoor. Because to achieve extraordinary outcomes, we need extraordinary teams. This means infusing Sage with people who knock down barriers, continuously innovate, and want to experience their potential.
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We celebrate individuality and welcome you to join us if you embrace all backgrounds, identities, beliefs, and ways of working. If you need support applying, reach out at [email protected].
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