Head of Client Operations – Cold Email, Client Success & Startup Operations

Position Type: Full-Time, Remote
Working Hours: Flexible with U.S. Time Zone Collaboration

About the Role

At Pavago, one of our clients is hiring a Head of Client Operations to own client delivery, cold email campaign performance, retention, and operational execution inside a fast-growing startup.

This is not a traditional project management or client support role.

You’ll take direct ownership of:

• Client relationships and satisfaction
• Cold email campaign performance
• Retention and churn prevention
• Deliverability and campaign infrastructure
• Client delivery systems
• Operational processes and scalability

You’ll work directly with the founder, developers, outreach teams, and operations to ensure campaigns produce measurable results while improving the systems required to support rapid growth.

If you’ve worked inside a cold email agency, lead generation company, outbound growth business, or fast-growing startup and can personally troubleshoot campaigns rather than simply coordinate others, this role is a strong fit.

What You’ll Own

Client Relationships & Retention

• Own relationships across 20–30 active client accounts
• Serve as the primary point of contact throughout the client lifecycle
• Lead:
• Client check-ins
• Strategic conversations
• Performance discussions
• Ongoing communication
• Set and manage client expectations proactively
• Identify churn risks before they become problems
• Build trusted, long-term relationships with clients
• Ensure clients remain informed, supported, and confident in delivery
• Take direct accountability for client satisfaction and retention

Cold Email Campaign Performance

• Review campaign performance across active client accounts
• Diagnose and improve:
• Underperforming campaigns
• Low reply rates
• Poor meeting conversion
• Deliverability problems
• Inbox placement issues
• Weak messaging
• Quality-check campaigns before launch
• Ensure campaigns are technically and strategically ready to send
• Review and optimize:
• Copy
• Targeting
• Lists
• Sending infrastructure
• Campaign setup
• Personally step into campaigns when execution or troubleshooting is required

Deliverability & Email Infrastructure

• Own campaign execution quality across:
• Inbox warm-up
• Domain health
• Deliverability
• List quality
• Sending infrastructure
• Diagnose spam placement and inboxing problems
• Understand and troubleshoot:
• DNS configurations
• SPF / DKIM / DMARC
• API issues
• Integration failures
• Automation breakdowns
• Partner with developers on technical issues while remaining capable of diagnosing problems independently
• Improve campaign reliability and deliverability standards across accounts

Processes, Systems & Operational Scalability

• Build and improve operational playbooks
• Create repeatable systems for:
• Client onboarding
• Campaign launches
• Campaign QA
• Client communication
• Performance reviews
• Escalations
• Track:
• SLAs
• Client health
• Delivery performance
• Campaign metrics
• Operational bottlenecks
• Identify inefficient or unreliable workflows and improve them
• Build enough structure to support growth without slowing execution

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Coordinate closely with:
• Developers
• Outreach specialists
• Operations teams
• Leadership
• Report directly to the founder on:
• Client health
• Churn risks
• Campaign performance
• Delivery issues
• Operational priorities
• Ensure teams remain aligned on client outcomes and delivery expectations
• Drive issues through resolution rather than simply escalating them

AI & Automation

• Use AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude in day-to-day operations
• Apply AI to:
• Campaign analysis
• Copywriting
• Client communication
• Research
• Documentation
• Workflow improvement
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive operational processes
• Combine AI, APIs, and automation systems to improve delivery efficiency

Requirements

Must-Have

• Experience leading:
• Client Operations
• Client Success
• Account Ownership
• Delivery Operations
• Experience inside a fast-growing startup, agency, or similarly high-ownership environment
• Strong professional background in:
• Cold email
• Lead generation
• Outbound operations
• Hands-on expertise with:
• Email deliverability
• Inbox placement
• Domain warm-up
• Campaign optimization
• Cold email copywriting
• Ability to personally diagnose and troubleshoot campaign problems
• Strong understanding of:
• APIs
• Automations
• Workflows
• Operational systems
• Practical day-to-day experience using AI tools such as:
• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Similar AI workflow tools
• Strong written and verbal English communication
• Confidence communicating directly with founders, executives, and clients
• Ability to operate independently in a rapidly changing environment

Nice to Have

• Experience with platforms such as:
• Instantly
• Smartlead
• Clay
• Apollo
• HubSpot
• Experience managing high-volume outbound campaigns
• Strong familiarity with:
• DNS
• SPF
• DKIM
• DMARC
• Email infrastructure
• Experience scaling client delivery inside an agency or startup
• Experience building client health or churn-prevention systems
• Technical familiarity with integrations and automation infrastructure

What Makes You a Strong Fit

You:

• Think like an operator rather than a coordinator
• Understand cold email beyond surface-level campaign management
• Can personally diagnose why a campaign isn’t performing
• Take ownership of client outcomes instead of waiting for direction
• Communicate confidently with clients, founders, and technical teams
• Stay effective when priorities change quickly
• Build processes without becoming overly dependent on process
• Are comfortable making decisions with imperfect information
• Focus on execution, measurable outcomes, and retention
• Thrive in high-accountability startup environments

What a Typical Day Looks Like

You may:

• Review client health and campaign performance
• Identify accounts at risk of churn
• Diagnose deliverability or inbox placement problems
• Review campaign copy and targeting
• Meet with clients and communicate performance updates
• Troubleshoot campaign infrastructure
• Coordinate technical fixes with developers
• Review lists, domains, and sending infrastructure
• Improve onboarding or campaign QA processes
• Update operational playbooks
• Report risks and priorities directly to the founder

In short: you ensure clients stay happy, campaigns perform, problems get solved quickly, and delivery operations become more scalable as the company grows.

Key Metrics for Success

• Client retention and churn reduction
• Campaign performance improvement
• Reply and positive response rates
• Meeting conversion performance
• Deliverability and inbox placement health
• Client satisfaction
• SLA adherence
• Speed of issue resolution
• Operational consistency and scalability
• Leadership confidence in client delivery

Why This Role Stands Out

• Direct ownership of client success and delivery
• Work closely with the founder and leadership
• High autonomy and decision-making responsibility
• Opportunity to shape:
• Client delivery systems
• Operational processes
• Campaign standards
• Retention strategies
• Deep exposure to:
• Cold email infrastructure
• AI workflows
• Automation
• Startup scaling
• Opportunity to grow into broader client operations or company leadership

Interview Process

1. Initial Screening
2. Founder Interview
3. Final Discussion
4. Offer & Onboarding

Apply Now

If you:

• Have deep cold email and outbound experience
• Have owned client relationships and retention
• Can troubleshoot campaigns yourself
• Thrive in fast-moving startup environments
• Enjoy building systems while solving operational problems
• Want direct ownership over client outcomes and campaign performance

We’d love to hear from you.

Apply today and help build a client delivery operation that performs, retains customers, and scales.

Important: Spark Hire Video Interview

As part of our application process, qualified candidates will be invited to complete a one-way video interview through Spark Hire.

This is your opportunity to introduce yourself and highlight your experience with cold email, client success, deliverability, campaign optimization, retention, startup operations, and scaling client delivery systems.

Please complete your Spark Hire interview promptly after receiving the invitation. Candidates who do not complete the video interview may not move forward in the hiring process.

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