Director, Client Services

Introduction

At IBM, work is more than a job - it's a calling: To build. To design. To code. To consult. To think along with clients and sell. To make markets. To invent. To collaborate. Not just to do something better, but to attempt things you've never thought possible. Are you ready to lead in this new era of technology and solve some of the world's most challenging problems? If so, lets talk.

Your role and responsibilities

OKRs

• Revenue Build and maintain profitable client relationships
• Retention - Drive organizational culture
• Delivery Excellence - Contribute to thought leadership - solutions / industries

Role

Director, Client Services is responsible for leading and nurturing a portfolio of client business. The role is the primary representative of the delivery capabilities of Hakkoda to our customers and is responsible for leading the growth of Hakkoda in existing accounts. The Director will consult on the best path forward to achieve strategic goals developed in relation to the client vision. They will nurture and build solid senior-level relationships at the customer and with the Hakkoda delivery and sales teams.

The Client Services Director is accountable for overall account management activities and oversees and maintains indirect responsibility for all delivery services. The Director must have the ability to effectively handle difficult client and employee conversations. The Director must set the tone and expectations - consistently driving your team to deliver high client satisfaction and exceeding their expectations. It is your responsibility to ensure the team is accountable for executing all deliverables to ensure programs are on time, on budget and on strategy.

Additionally, Directors connect the Hakkoda vision to their teams and help push it forward. They take time to understand changes in the company, the why, and are effective cheerleaders in advocating and pushing these changes forward and connecting their teams' roles to the broader organizational vision.

Directors are responsible for building and developing an effective and efficient organization that contributes to company financial and growth goals - including maximizing utilization and ensuring the right talent is in the right roles. Their focus relies not only on retaining and growing clients, but also developing future generations of consultants and leaders at Hakkoda.

As of April 2025, Hakkoda has been acquired by IBM and will be integrated in the IBM organization. Your recruitment process will be managed by IBM. IBM will be the hiring entity.

This job can be worked form anywhere within the US.

Required education

Bachelor's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

Proficiency Expectations

We expect Directors to be experts in truly understanding their clients' businesses, challenges and goals, and have established trusted relationships at the most senior/executive client levels in order to push their team outside of the box to drive innovation/strategy. They are able to empathize with clients to anticipate their needs and proactively make strategic recommendations that will offer solutions to their business challenges.

Client Services & Org Operations

• Develop relationships with the primary client POC and forge relationships with client's Sr. management/exec team/c-suite
• Build relationships with key partner account teams at clients (Snowflake, Sigma, Alation, Fivetran, etc.)
• Proactively monitor and pursue opportunities for additional services & make them more sticky with innovation and strategy.
• Regularly meet with Hakkoda sales and delivery leads to discuss client opportunities
• Regularly review client margins and ensure your accounts are meeting or exceeding margin goals as determined by Finance. Address when profitability levels are too low or signal we are not investing enough into the relationship
• Actively involved in the pitch process for new business opportunities, owning staffing forecasting, and proposal details
• Work on SOW creation, amendments, and other legal adjustments as they work through client needs and changes in services
• Mentor delivery resources including EMs on account management needs
• Strong track record of stepping in as a point of escalation on their clients and effectively solving issues that arise
• Issue Resolution
• Determine resolution for any cross-channel issues including performance, tracking
• Resolve any collaborative roadblocks between teams
• Settle miscommunication or interpersonal issues within the group
• Reach out to clients directly when service issues arise
• Initiate conversations with clients around SOW adjustments or needing to implement SLAs
• Consistently collect and share feedback with growth services leads
• Contributes to the development and definition of delivery methodology and sales playbooks

Team Leadership

• Track record of being able to think outside of the box and solve for resourcing, personnel, and team wide issues that arise
• Ensure all tracks within their org have both a high client retention and employee retention rate, identify core issues, proactively develop plans to mitigate issues from restructuring track staffing models, adjusting account teams, identifying skill gaps and upleveling their employees, to re-evaluating client needs at an SOW/services level
• Running and/or contributing to effective track meetings
• Helping to facilitate staffing and bandwidth distribution across tracks
• Effectively communicate the need for a new hire or promotion with a clear business case
• Consistently assess team/client fit, ensuring we have the right talent matched up to the right clients - based on expertise, communication/working styles, and PI

Growth Expectations

• High client and employee retention and revenue growth
• Continuous improvement in client NPS scores
• Maintaining and improving revenue and margin for clients

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Consulting is IBM's consulting and global professional services business, with market leading capabilities in business and technology transformation. With deep expertise in many industries, we offer strategy, experience, technology, and operations services to many of the most innovative and valuable companies in the world. Our people are focused on accelerating our clients' businesses through the power of collaboration. We believe in the power of technology responsibly used to help people, partners and the planet.

YOUR LIFE @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you'll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you'll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

ABOUT IBM

IBM's greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we're also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it's time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILS

IBM offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits program. Eligible employees may have access to:

- Healthcare benefits including medical & prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, and mental health & well being

- Financial programs such as 401(k), cash balance pension plan, the IBM Employee Stock Purchase Plan, financial counseling, life insurance, short & long- term disability coverage, and opportunities for performance based salary incentive programs

- Generous paid time off including 12 holidays, minimum 56 hours sick time, 120 hours vacation, 12 weeks parental bonding leave in accordance with IBM Policy, and other Paid Care Leave programs. IBM also offers paid family leave benefits to eligible employees where required by applicable law

- Training and educational resources on our personalized, AI-driven learning platform where IBMers can grow skills and obtain industry-recognized certifications to achieve their career goals

- Diverse and inclusive employee resource groups, giving & volunteer opportunities, and discounts on retail products, services & experiences

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

This position was posted on the date cited in the key job details section and is anticipated to remain posted for 21 days from this date or less if not needed to fill the role.

IBM will not be providing visa sponsorship for this position now or in the future. Therefore, in order to be considered for this position, you must have the ability to work without a need for current or future visa sponsorship.

The compensation range and benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year. The salary will vary depending on your job-related skills, experience and location. Pay increment and frequency of pay will be in accordance with employment classification and applicable laws. For part time roles, your compensation and benefits will be adjusted to reflect your hours. Benefits may be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year.

Client-provided location(s): Lowell, MA

Job ID: IBM-60258

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2025-09-23T18:47:55