AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual’s race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.
We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.
The AHEAD Client Services Partner works directly with assigned clients to help them define their objectives and cases for change in their digital transformation journeys, maximizing the value from their investments in technology solutions. Client Services Partners represent all AHEAD’s service capabilities and have the primary responsibility to develop and execute on a strategic direction for each client, providing advanced solutions and driving sales in partnership with the sales organization.
This role is key to identifying and driving strategic services sales opportunities together with the Client Director (CD); while the CD holds the overall accountability and the commercial ownership of the client, the Client Services Partner holds the content ownership of the opportunity pursuit and serves as an orchestrator of both the end-to-end value proposition as well as all teams and resources involved in the opportunity pursuit.
You will succeed at AHEAD if you are fearless, resourceful, collaborative, and bring to the table an expertise in client relations, deep industry knowledge and a passion for strategic growth, in order to drive results while building strong, productive relationships with your clients, your partners, your company, and your team
Roles and Responsibilities
- ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT – 40%
- CLIENT/RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT – 25%
- PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT – 20%
- DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS – 15%
- Grow and maintain AHEAD’s services engagement within assigned clients
- Build and leverage relationships with all internal and external stakeholders that ensure client satisfaction and translate to sales
- Serve as the client’s trusted advisor and main point of contact for client stakeholders
- Develop account strategies that align with client priorities and emphasize services that can improve business outcomes and meet revenue targets
- Understand client organization initiatives and strategy and identify opportunities to “stitch” AHEAD’s capabilities to address challenges and initiatives
- Partner and orchestrate pursuit teams to identify, qualify, and close/book deals that deliver strategic value to clients
- Manage internal business development activities through available sales tools, processes, and AHEAD’s broad set of solution expertise
- Collaborate with other technology consulting leaders, account management, and business development
- Partner and/or provide oversight of services engagements sold to clients
- Monitor and maintain client satisfaction, resolving client concerns efficiently
- Stay current with industry and domain best practices
- Collaborate internally to grow and develop offerings to meet trending client needs and demands
- On a regular basis, engage with assigned clients to explore incremental business benefits from further engagement with AHEAD
Required Skills
- Ability to consult with the client to review IT usage, services, technology, and department-specific projects to identify, forecast, and develop IT needs.
- Ability to scope consulting and technical professional services, and to prepare and present proposals for consulting and professional services engagements.
- Ability to gain an in-depth understanding of the client’s business needs and challenges, and the ability to offer proactive solutions
- Demonstrated problem solving and time-sensitive decision-making
- Natural entrepreneurial and commercial sense
- Team player and collaboration, working with a diverse range of practices, solution and account teams, and teams within assigned clients to drive business outcomes and value for clients and AHEAD
Experience Requirements
- 10+ years’ experience in Information Technology including project management and business analysis
- 5+ years’ experience directly managing or leading teams with technical resources.
- Experience with structuring, negotiating, and closing big, complex deals
- Experience building strategic working relationships with client leadership and peers internally
- Technology Consulting at a top-tier firm, or at a boutique IT firm with a proven record of successfully managing and growing (selling) a significant book of services business.
- Strong background in sales and account management tied to a book of business (revenue) of $5-10MM+
- Experience delivering complex technology solutions including effective program/project management
Preferred
- The ideal candidate will have direct operational experience managing IT Infrastructure organizations with responsibility for managing budgets as well as project execution.
- Ideal candidate will have consulting experience with consulting at a large consulting firm, and a track record for selling professional services engagements and Managed Services to government clients.
- Experience engaging at the senior executive level on major services initiatives, and the ability to lead the execution teams for those initiatives.
- Knowledge and experience in leading IT projects in a variety of different technology spheres including Data Center Operations, Cloud Computing, End User Compute / VDI, Application Development / DevOps, Data Analytics, SecOps/InfoSec, ESM, monitoring, Enterprise Service Desk, Networking / SDWAN, virtualization, containerization
Education/Certifications
- Bachelor’s Degree (required)
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science; Master’s in Business Administrator (preferred)
Why AHEAD:
Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.
We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.
We understand that you have a life outside of work. That’s why we offer paid time off, paid company holidays, and a great benefits program including maternity/paternity leave and much more!
