Director of Customer Experience

Duravant•Wood Dale, IL

5d•$150,000 - $190,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Customer Experience leads the customer and project journey from order release through installation, commissioning, and customer acceptance. The role is accountable for exceptional customer outcomes, predictable project execution, operational performance, and profitability. It serves as the voice of the customer and directly leads Project Management, Final Assurance, and Quality, while partnering with Sales, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Field Service, and other customer-facing functions to align expectations with execution and commercial objectives. The Director leads customer escalations, project delivery, project margin performance, value capture, and transitions from Final Acceptance Testing (FAT) through installation, startup, Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), and customer acceptance. The role also develops leaders and teams, establishes operating cadences and accountability, and applies operational and financial data, disciplined problem-solving, and continuous improvement to improve customer outcomes, project execution, quality, and profitability. The position is based at nVenia in Wood Dale, Illinois. The job description lists a salary range of $150,000 to $190,000 and 0% travel. The work environment includes exposure to moving mechanical parts, usually moderate noise that may at times be loud, and occasional exposure to fumes or airborne particles. Physical duties include standing for at least eight hours per day, frequent handling and use of tools, occasional walking, stooping, kneeling, and crouching, and occasional lifting or moving of up to 75 pounds.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing, capital equipment, project delivery, operations, or a related environment.
Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams and driving business performance through others.
Experience managing and balancing project execution, customer relationships, and project financial performance.
Strong understanding of project management, manufacturing operations, quality, and the customer lifecycle.
Financial acumen, including project margin management and business performance analysis.
Excellent communication, judgment, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence across functions and levels.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree.

Responsibilities

Champion customer needs in decisions involving scope, quality, schedule, readiness, delivery, and cost.
Own the customer and project journey from order release through installation, commissioning, and customer acceptance.
Lead resolution of significant customer escalations through proactive communication and cross-functional coordination.
Lead Project Management to deliver projects safely, on time, within scope, and to customer expectations.
Develop Project Managers as business leaders accountable for customer outcomes, risk, scope, execution, and project economics.
Establish visibility into milestones, commitments, risks, and actions, and facilitate timely cross-functional decisions and escalation.
Drive project predictability and accountability across organizational handoffs.
Own operating actions to protect and improve project margin in partnership with Operations, Engineering, and Finance.
Manage the impact of labor performance, material variances, scope growth, rework, schedule decisions, and recovery actions.
Balance customer, quality, schedule, and cost considerations to achieve responsible customer and business outcomes.
Partner with Sales, Service, and Engineering to identify and capture legitimate incremental customer value.
Ensure scope changes, change orders, upgrades, enhancements, and value-added solutions are identified and deliberately managed.
Ensure seamless transitions between FAT, installation, startup, SAT, and customer acceptance.
Improve communication and accountability across project phases, drive lessons learned and problem-solving across customer-facing functions, and minimize disruption during handoffs.
Build, mentor, and develop high-performing leaders and teams with clear decision rights and accountability.
Lead through influence across functions and develop organizational capability and succession depth.
Create operating cadences that surface risks early and enable issues to be resolved at the appropriate level.
Use operational and financial data to improve customer outcomes, project execution, quality, and profitability.
Apply disciplined problem-solving and continuous improvement tools.