Client Principal

About the role  

Most IT providers assign an account manager who absorbs escalations, relays messages, and spends the day reacting. We are building something different — a small group of senior people who own client relationships the way an engagement partner owns a client at a law or accounting firm. 

As a Client Principal you own a portfolio of accounts outright: the relationship, the plan, the accountability, and the outcome. You are the person a client's owner or CFO calls, and the person who makes sure the right specialist is in the right conversation at the right altitude. You will not be buried in tickets — and that is deliberate, not incidental. 

What you own  

• The relationship.  You are the single accountable owner for every account in your portfolio. Clients know exactly who you are and never wonder who to call. 
• The plan.  Every account has a current, written technology roadmap tied to that client's business goals and budget. You own it and you keep it true. 
• The cadence.  Monthly operational reviews and quarterly strategic reviews happen on schedule, properly prepared, with the right people in the room. You do not let them slip. 
• The outcome.  Retention, satisfaction, and growth of your portfolio are yours. When an account is at risk, you know before anyone else does. 
• The orchestration.  You bring executive, technical, and administrative colleagues into the right moments. You do not do their work — you make sure it happens. 
• The truth.  You tell clients what they need to hear about risk, spend, and what to do next, including when the honest answer costs them money or costs us a project. 

How you'll spend your time  

Monthly, per account —  an operational review: what the trends say, which problems keep recurring, what is about to break, and what we are doing about it. 

Quarterly, per strategic account —  a business review with the client's decision maker: roadmap, budget, risk, compliance posture, and what next year needs to look like. 

Continuously —  reading the signals, owning escalations end to end, keeping the account plan honest, and staying close to the people who matter at each client. 

You will be given assembled data. You are not expected to build your own reports — your job is to interpret and act, not to gather.  

What this role is not  

We are explicit about this because it is precisely where roles like this usually fail. 

• You are not on the service board  and you do not carry a ticket queue. 
• You are not a technical escalation resource.  When something is genuinely hard, you bring the right engineer — you do not become one. 
• You are not a message relay.  Your colleagues speak directly with their counterparts at the client. You stay aware rather than in the middle. 
• You are not a salesperson carrying a quota.  Growth follows from good advice. You will never be asked to push something a client does not need. 

What you'll be measured on  

• Portfolio retention and net revenue retention 
• Client satisfaction and the strength of your executive relationships 
• Cadence compliance — reviews delivered on schedule and to standard 
• Account health trend across the portfolio 
• Roadmap adoption — how much of what you recommend actually gets done 
• Organic growth from work the client asked you for 

Expected Outcomes:

• Take the helm as the go-to contact for clients, tackling service-related challenges, prioritizing escalations, and spearheading requests that are outside the standard support scope.
• Be the engine behind resolving service requests by efficiently maintaining a smooth flow of support interactions and exceeding expectations.
• Collaborate and synergize with Support, Solution Design, and Projects to align efforts, craft innovative proactive strategies, and develop comprehensive roadmaps to ensure clients' needs are not just met but exceeded.
• Engage regularly with clients with both scheduled and spontaneous interactions to elevate and enhance the client experience with an attentive touch.
• Tackle issues efficiently and head-on to address inquiries regarding procurement, billing, services, and feedback ensuring swift, smooth, and effective resolutions.
• Keep your finger on the pulse, remain well versed in client-specific knowledge, both technical and operational, and ensure documentation remains current and accurate.
• Personally invest in and take accountability for the quality of work carried out for the client portfolio.
• Adhere to and consistently uphold all company policies and best practices.

Compensation & Benefits:

Level and compensation  

This role has two levels. Which one you are hired into depends on the portfolio you are ready to carry, not on time served. 

Client Principal:

12–25 accounts, managed and pooled tiers 

$95,000 – $115,000 

Senior Client Principal:

4–8 strategic accounts, majority of portfolio revenue 

$120,000 – $145,000 

 

Variable compensation  of 15–25% of base is tied to portfolio retention, account health, cadence compliance, and organic growth — not to a sales quota. On-target earnings range from $115,000 to approximately $180,000 depending on level and portfolio. 

Full benefits package, paid time off, and company holidays. Final offer reflects experience, portfolio scope, and demonstrated executive presence. 

Why this role exists  

Our clients do not need another vendor who answers the phone quickly. They need someone who understands their business, tells them the truth about their technology, and makes sure the next twelve months are planned rather than survived. That is a senior job, and we are staffing and paying it like one. 

Tech-Keys has been named an NJ Top Workplace four years in a row, and that’s no accident. As a growing, industry-leading Managed Service Provider, we’re deeply committed to a culture that prioritizes care; for our clients and for each other. Tech-Keys may be the right place for you if you’re looking for a place where your work matters and your people genuinely have your back.

At Tech-Keys, our team is built around five core values: Care, Be Proud, Be Fun & Balanced, Speak Up, and Aim Higher .

We look for people who care deeply about their team, their clients, their image, and their work. People who take pride in their work, communicate openly, and know how to maintain a healthy balance while staying positive are exactly who we're looking for.

If those values naturally align with who you are, there’s a good chance you’ll thrive here! 

If they don’t, this probably won’t be the right fit, and that’s okay too!

We hire for both skill and culture because we believe the best teams are built on both.

REQUIREMENTS

What you bring  

Business judgment.  You can sit with an owner, CFO, or practice administrator and talk about money, risk, and priorities as a peer. You are comfortable being the least technical person in one meeting and the most commercially minded person in the next. 

Technical fluency — not depth.  You can hold a credible conversation about Microsoft 365, identity and access, networking, backup and continuity, and cloud infrastructure. You know enough to challenge a recommendation and translate it into business terms. You do not need to be able to build it. 

Financial literacy.  Agreements, budgets, spend trends, return on investment. You can walk a client through their spend and defend every line of it. 

Ownership instinct.  You chase things down without being asked, and you would rather deliver bad news early than let it surface on its own later. 

Written clarity.  A great deal of your influence is exercised in writing — recaps, roadmaps, recommendations. It has to be good. 

Experience.  Five or more years in a client-facing role where you personally owned relationships and outcomes: technical account management, vCIO or virtual IT leadership, IT consulting, professional services, or IT leadership on the client side. 

Nice to have  

• Managed services provider experience 
• Healthcare, senior care, behavioral health, or another regulated industry 
• Working knowledge of HIPAA and what it demands of a technology environment 
• ConnectWise or a comparable PSA platform 
• A background as a systems administrator or engineer who moved into an advisory role