Director Client Experience

Harbor IT

About The Position

The Director of Client Experience (D-CX) is Harbor IT's most senior client-facing leadership role below the President. This individual owns the entire client experience organization every POD-CIO, every Client Success Manager, every recontracting conversation, and every retention outcome. They are the standard-setter for how Harbor IT shows up for its clients at scale. This is an operator's role, not a strategist's role. The Director of CX builds team rhythm, makes fast talent decisions, steps directly into high-stakes client situations, and drives post-acquisition recontracting from integration through signed agreements. They report directly to the President and are a critical part of Harbor IT's growth and exit strategy.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required
8+ years of progressive leadership in client success, account management, or managed services delivery
Demonstrated experience managing multi-level teams (managing managers preferred)
Proven ownership of GRR and NRR at a portfolio level — with specific numbers to back it up
Familiarity with PSA tools (ConnectWise preferred) and CRM systems (HubSpot preferred)
Comfortable with data — knows how to read a portfolio health dashboard and act on it
Strong executive presence and communication skills across audiences
Exceptional ability to deliver hard news, hold difficult conversations, and maintain relationships under pressure

Nice To Haves

Experience in PE-backed or hypergrowth companies strongly preferred
MSP, managed services, or professional services background preferred
Post-acquisition recontracting or client integration experience a significant plus

Responsibilities

Directly manage all POD-CIOs and Client Success Managers across Harbor IT's Shuttle structure
Set clear performance expectations for each direct report; hold them accountable to individual KPIs on a monthly cadence
Conduct structured 1:1s, performance reviews, and development conversations — proactively, not reactively
Make fast, independent hiring and termination decisions; do not tolerate sustained underperformance
Build the bench: identify future POD-CIO and CSM candidates, develop internal talent, and maintain a pipeline
Mentor POD-CIOs in client strategy, escalation handling, and commercial execution
Serve as the operational owner of the Recontracting Execution phase following every acquisition
Coordinate POD-CIOs and exec sponsors through client outreach, objection handling, and agreement closure
Track the recontracting pipeline on a weekly basis; report directly to the President with status and risks
Own walk-away and loss protocols for clients who decline recontracting; document all outcomes
Partner with the President, CTO, and M&A team during Pre-Integration and SysOps Sprint phases to prepare recontracting rubrics, client tiers, and executive sponsor assignments
Ensure opportunistic recontracting is executed where appropriate at the President's direction
Own GRR at 90%+ and NRR at 107%+ across the full client portfolio
Monitor client health across all PODs; flag at-risk accounts early and deploy mitigation plans before churn becomes a conversation
Review POD-CIO and CSM KPIs monthly: PNU, controllable churn, portfolio health, PS quota attainment, and contract profitability
Step directly into high-stakes client situations — escalations, churn risks, exec relationship issues — as the senior Harbor IT representative
Oversee QBR/SBR execution across all PODs; ensure consistency, quality, and executive participation
Establish and enforce the operating rhythm of the client experience org: team meetings, reporting cadences, escalation paths, and handoffs
Ensure onboarding quality, at-risk tracking, health scoring, and CRM hygiene are operating consistently across all PODs
Develop and maintain client experience playbooks, escalation frameworks, and recontracting rubrics
Ensure CSMs are trained on rubrics, workflows, and Harbor IT's service model following every acquisition
Contribute to Harbor IT's PSA hygiene, billing accuracy, and utilization standards by holding the team accountable to clean data inputs
Partner with the President on strategic direction, team structure, and key account decisions
Work closely with the VP of Managed Services, DealDesk, CTO, and M&A to ensure alignment across delivery, commercial, and client experience functions
Represent the voice of the client in internal planning discussions — surface patterns, risks, and opportunities from the portfolio
Support Harbor IT's exit readiness by building a client organization that performs predictably, is well-documented, and demonstrates durable retention