Director, Customer Technology Solutions

National Express•Warrenville, IL

About The Position

The Director, Customer Technology Solutions serves as a strategic link between technology, business development, and customer needs. The role supports business growth by translating technology capabilities into compelling solutions, leading technology-related proposal efforts, and partnering across functions to identify and address customer needs. The Director promotes awareness and adoption of technology solutions and acts as a customer-facing technology advocate. The position works with business development partners, IT, Pricing, marketing, and current and prospective customers. It includes customer meetings and presentations, developing technology-focused RFP responses, evaluating technology requirements and feasibility, and creating proposal and marketing materials. The role also supports internal technology literacy and adoption through demonstrations, training, and other enablement activities. Travel of 50%–75%, often on short notice, is required. Summit School Services states that it has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct incompatible with its policies and values, including sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination, and is committed to safeguarding children and passengers. The company describes itself as an equal employment opportunity employer and says employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications without regard to protected characteristics. Pay and other employment terms vary by site, geographic market, customer or contractual terms, and position.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
8–10 years of relevant experience in IT business relationship management, business analysis, account or client management, or business development.
Working knowledge of core technology concepts sufficient to hold credible conversations with technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to serve as a customer-facing technology advocate and translate complex technical capabilities into clear, compelling business value for non-technical audiences and decision-makers.
Demonstrated ability to build trust and rapport with stakeholders at varying organizational levels.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to simplify technical topics for a business audience.
Solid organizational skills and ability to manage multiple partner relationships, requests, and priorities simultaneously.
Comfort operating amid ambiguity and influencing outcomes without direct authority over the people or systems involved.
Ability to travel 50%–75%, often on short notice.

Nice To Haves

Relevant experience in public education/K–12 or transportation/operations.
RFP or proposal experience, such as APMP certification.
Presales or solutions engineering experience.
Familiarity with transportation technology, including routing, GPS/telematics, student ridership apps, and parent communication tools.
Familiarity with Salesforce or CRM systems.
Experience designing or delivering technology training and enablement programs.

Responsibilities

Support the development of qualified sales and conversion targets with business development partners through customer meetings, interviews, school board presentations, and trade shows or industry events.
Own the development of technology-focused responses to RFPs for bids or conversions, ensuring they are accurate and submitted on time, and respond to customer and seller inquiries.
Assess RFP technology requirements in close alignment with IT to evaluate feasibility, develop creative solutions and operational plans, and tailor messaging to customer needs.
Develop and maintain a library of standard technology proposal content, including solution descriptions, frequently asked-question responses, and diagrams, using product sheets and other approved source materials.
Collaborate with IT and the Pricing Team on bid models to validate assumptions and ensure accurate costs for technology solutions.
Collaborate with IT and marketing to develop marketing collateral, assess the company’s technology offerings against competitors, represent customer needs for new technology, and identify gaps in current offerings.
Introduce internal business partners to relevant available technology offerings, platforms, and tools through demonstrations, lunch-and-learns, office hours, and training sessions; support meetings and presentations with current customers.
Participate in trade shows and industry events as a spokesperson for Summit School Services.
Perform other duties as assigned.