Application Guide

How to Apply for Customer Success Manager

at Forerunner

🏢 About Forerunner

Forerunner is a climate tech company uniquely focused on providing actionable flood risk data to empower communities against climate change impacts. Unlike generic data providers, they translate complex floodplain information into practical tools for government decision-makers. Working here means directly contributing to climate resilience while operating at the intersection of technology, government, and environmental science.

About This Role

As a Customer Success Manager at Forerunner, you'll be the primary relationship manager for government clients, ensuring they extract maximum value from flood risk data products. This role involves customizing onboarding for GIS/mapping tools, identifying expansion opportunities within government accounts, and bridging customer feedback to Product/Engineering teams. Your work directly impacts how communities prepare for and mitigate flood disasters.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might start with analyzing usage data for key government accounts, then conducting a virtual onboarding session for a new city planning team on GIS integration. Afternoon could involve strategizing renewal approaches with the sales team for upcoming contracts, followed by synthesizing customer feedback about data visualization needs to share with the product team. You'll likely end the day researching new floodplain regulations affecting your clients' regions.

🚀 Application Tools

Generate Cover Letter

AI-powered, tailored for Forerunner

Interview Prep

Practice questions for this role

🎯 Who Forerunner Is Looking For

  • Has 4-6 years in GovTech customer success, specifically with experience in floodplain management, GIS tools, or managing government client relationships
  • Demonstrates a proven track record of managing end-to-end renewals and proactively identifying expansion opportunities within existing accounts
  • Is an empathetic communicator who can translate technical flood data concepts to non-technical government stakeholders
  • Thrives in ambiguity typical of climate tech startups and can navigate complex government procurement cycles

📝 Tips for Applying to Forerunner

1

Quantify your GovTech experience: specify which government agencies you've worked with and what percentage of renewals/expansions you drove

2

Highlight any floodplain management, FEMA mapping, or GIS software experience (even if tangential) - this is a rare and valued skillset

3

Demonstrate understanding of Forerunner's specific value proposition: mention how flood risk data differs from general climate data

4

Show how you've acted as a bridge between customers and product teams in past roles, especially with technical products

5

Prepare examples of managing ambiguous situations with government clients where requirements or timelines shifted unexpectedly

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your specific experience with government clients in environmental/planning departments and how you navigated their unique procurement and decision cycles', 'Examples of translating technical data (like GIS or flood models) into actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders', "How you've driven product improvements based on customer feedback in past roles, particularly for data-intensive products", 'Your approach to building trusted advisor relationships in regulated industries with long sales cycles']

Generate Cover Letter →

🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Forerunner's specific data sources and methodology - how they differ from NOAA or FEMA flood maps
  • → Recent climate legislation affecting flood risk management (like FEMA's Risk Rating 2.0 or state-level regulations)
  • → Case studies of how municipalities use flood data for planning and insurance purposes
  • → The company's funding and partnerships to understand their growth trajectory and key stakeholders

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Walk me through how you would onboard a city planning department to a flood risk data platform with varying technical expertise among users
2 Describe a time you identified an expansion opportunity with a government client that wasn't obvious initially
3 How would you handle a situation where a client's flood risk assessment needs conflict with product capabilities?
4 What metrics would you track to demonstrate customer health for a data subscription product serving government agencies?
5 How do you stay current with floodplain management regulations and how would that inform your customer success approach?
Practice Interview Questions →

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Applying with generic SaaS customer success experience without highlighting GovTech or environmental sector relevance
  • Failing to demonstrate understanding of the long sales/implementation cycles typical with government clients
  • Overemphasizing sales achievements without corresponding examples of post-sale relationship management and renewal success

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Forerunner!

← Back to Job Listing Apply Now →