Director, Field Service & Customer Experience

Job Description

Job Description

Director, Customer Support & Field Service

Position Overview

The Director of Customer Support & Field Service will build and lead a world-class field service organization that delivers exceptional customer support while creating a scalable, profitable service business.

This is a high-impact, highly visible leadership role for a hands-on builder who can move seamlessly between strategic planning, operational execution, and direct customer engagement. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in electrical equipment and power distribution, including low- and medium-voltage switchgear and protective relay systems, along with a proven track record of building and scaling field service operations.

The Director will own the customer service experience from the initial post-shipment issue through resolution and will establish the people, processes, systems, and commercial infrastructure necessary to transform field service from a cost center into a meaningful revenue-generating product line.

Compensation & Schedule

• Salary: $125,000–$155,000 annually
• Schedule: Monday–Friday, 7:30 AM–4:30 PM
• Travel: Up to 25%, including occasional short-notice travel for critical customer escalations

Key Responsibilities

Field Service Operations & Process Ownership

• Build and implement a scalable end-to-end process for post-shipment customer services, including warranty claims, commissioning and startup support, component rework, troubleshooting, and field retrofits.
• Establish service-level agreements for customer response, technician dispatch, parts availability, and work completion, with dashboards and reporting to measure performance.
• Own the complete service workflow from initial customer contact through diagnosis, root-cause analysis, parts procurement, technician scheduling, field execution, documentation, and work-order closeout.
• Partner with Engineering and Quality to ensure technicians have the procedures, technical specifications, drawings, testing requirements, and safety protocols required to perform work effectively and safely.
• Lead root-cause and corrective-action processes with Engineering and Quality to identify recurring issues and drive permanent improvements.
• Continuously improve service processes, tools, systems, and operating standards as the business grows.

Warranty Management

• Develop and administer the company's warranty policy, budget, controls, and reporting processes.
• Establish a warranty case-management system that provides complete traceability from claim initiation through final resolution and integrates with ERP and/or CRM systems.
• Coordinate with Procurement and suppliers on defective-component returns, warranty credits, replacement parts, and supplier accountability.
• Analyze warranty trends and field failures to identify opportunities to improve product quality, reliability, and supplier performance.

Team Leadership & Development

• Build, hire, onboard, and develop a high-performing field service organization capable of meeting current demand and scaling with the business.
• Define organizational structure, job responsibilities, competency standards, career paths, and succession plans.
• Establish a culture centered on safety, accountability, technical excellence, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction.
• Develop technician certification, training, and qualification standards aligned with applicable industry requirements and company procedures.
• Establish equipment-specific commissioning, startup, testing, troubleshooting, and documentation standards.
• Set clear performance expectations and KPIs; coach team members and create opportunities for professional growth and advancement.

Third-Party Contractor Network

• Build and maintain a network of qualified electrical contractors and field service firms to provide supplemental capacity during peak demand or in markets where internal coverage is limited.
• Establish qualification standards covering technical competency, safety performance, certifications, experience, insurance, and other industry-specific requirements.
• Develop and manage MSAs, rate cards, scopes of work, onboarding requirements, and quality-control processes.
• Monitor contractor performance and maintain an active bench of qualified service providers.
• Build long-term relationships with strategic service partners while maintaining accountability for safety, quality, cost, and customer experience.

Field Service as a Revenue Product

• Develop and commercialize service offerings that can be sold independently or alongside the company's switchgear products.
• Build service packages including startup and commissioning, preventative maintenance agreements, extended warranties, emergency response, troubleshooting, testing, and retrofit services.
• Partner with Sales to define service scope, pricing, packaging, contracts, and go-to-market strategy.
• Train and enable the sales organization to effectively position and sell service offerings.
• Establish the quoting, contracting, scheduling, invoicing, and financial processes required to support billable service work.
• Define clear boundaries between warranty-covered and customer-billable work.
• Track service revenue, profitability, utilization, and customer retention metrics.
• Develop and execute a multi-year strategy for growing the company's field service business.

Customer Experience & Executive Escalations

• Serve as the senior escalation point for significant customer service issues and critical field events.
• Maintain direct relationships with key customers and provide hands-on leadership during high-priority service situations.
• Establish communication standards that ensure customers receive timely, proactive updates throughout the service lifecycle.
• Create formal handoff processes between Project Management, Engineering, Quality, Sales, and Field Service to ensure clear ownership and eliminate gaps in customer support.
• Establish customer satisfaction measurement for field service, including CSAT and/or NPS.
• Use customer feedback and service data to identify trends and drive continuous improvement.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electrical Technology, or a related technical discipline; equivalent education and directly relevant experience will be considered.
• 8+ years of progressive field service experience involving low- or medium-voltage switchgear, power distribution equipment, protective relays, or related electrical equipment.
• 5+ years of experience leading teams with direct reports in field service, technical operations, commissioning, or a related environment.
• Demonstrated success building, scaling, or significantly improving field service organizations, processes, and operating systems.
• Deep technical understanding of switchgear, power distribution systems, protective relays, commissioning, startup, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Experience developing and managing third-party contractor or field service partner networks.
• Strong knowledge of electrical safety practices and the ability to establish and enforce a safety-first field culture.
• Experience using field service management, ERP, and/or CRM platforms to manage service operations and customer cases.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 25%, including occasional short-notice travel for critical customer escalations.

Preferred

• Field service leadership experience with a switchgear manufacturer, electrical equipment OEM, or related power distribution manufacturer.
• Commercial experience developing and launching service offerings, pricing models, and go-to-market strategies.
• Hands-on experience with commissioning and startup services for low- and medium-voltage switchgear.
• Experience developing preventative maintenance, extended warranty, emergency response, or other recurring service programs.
• Experience operating in a high-growth, entrepreneurial, or startup environment.
• Demonstrated ability to move between strategic leadership and hands-on operational problem solving.

What Success Looks Like

In this role, success means building a field service organization that customers trust, employees are proud to be part of, and the business can scale profitably.

Within the first phase of the role, the Director will establish clear ownership, standardized processes, measurable service levels, strong customer communication, and reliable reporting. Over time, the organization will expand its internal and external service capacity while developing a portfolio of commercial service offerings that generates recurring revenue and strengthens long-term customer relationships.