Key Account Manager

Gradian Thermal Solutions•Maple Grove, MN

19d•$125,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Key Account Manager (KAM) develops, manages, and expands strategic relationships with data center customers, including hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, AI infrastructure, and mission-critical facility operators. The KAM serves as the primary commercial point of contact for assigned accounts and drives revenue growth, market share, and successful customer project execution. The role leads account planning, opportunity development, forecasting, contract negotiations, and executive relationship management, coordinating with engineering, operations, product management, commissioning, and service teams to deliver customer solutions. Gradian is an engineering-led thermal solutions provider serving data center and other mission-critical, commercial, and industrial markets. It designs and manufactures liquid cooling systems, air handling equipment, heat rejection units, and modular factory-assembled thermal management solutions. The role is based at the Maple Grove, Minnesota office and requires 30–50% travel for customer visits, project reviews, trade shows, and industry events.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Marketing, or a related field is preferred.
At least 5 years of sales, business development, or account management experience in data center, HVAC, power infrastructure, mission-critical, or industrial equipment industries.
Proven experience managing large strategic accounts and complex capital equipment opportunities.
Demonstrated success managing multi-million-dollar sales opportunities.
Strategic account planning and relationship management skills.
Executive-level communication and presentation skills.
Commercial negotiation and contract management skills.
Financial acumen, including margin management and forecasting.
Strong organizational and project management skills.
Ability to coordinate cross-functional teams.
CRM proficiency, preferably Salesforce.
Strong understanding of data center infrastructure and mission-critical environments.
Ability to travel 30–50%, including for customer visits, project reviews, trade shows, and industry events.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with hyperscale operators such as AWS, Microsoft, Google, Meta, or Oracle.
Experience working with colocation providers such as Equinix, Vantage, QTS, Digital Realty, Stack, or DataBank.
Experience working with AI infrastructure providers such as CoreWeave, Crusoe, Lambda, or xAI.
Experience working with mission-critical consultants, EPC firms, and contractors.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute account strategies for assigned data center customers.
Build and maintain relationships with customer executives, procurement teams, engineering groups, consultants, and operations personnel.
Create account growth plans aligned with customer expansion strategies and infrastructure roadmaps.
Conduct quarterly business reviews and executive-level customer engagement meetings.
Develop customer-specific market intelligence and competitive positioning strategies.
Achieve annual revenue, bookings, and gross margin targets.
Identify and pursue opportunities involving airside cooling, liquid cooling, heat rejection, modular infrastructure, and aftermarket services.
Drive specification positioning and preferred vendor status within target accounts.
Develop and maintain a sales pipeline through proactive account engagement.
Support bid strategy, proposal development, and contract negotiations.
Represent the voice of the customer within the organization and coordinate internal resources for project execution.
Lead customer communications throughout sales and delivery.
Manage issue resolution and escalations.
Support project reviews, factory witness testing, commissioning, and customer acceptance as required.
Maintain accurate opportunity management and forecasting in Salesforce.
Provide monthly revenue forecasts and account updates.
Support annual operating plans, budgeting, and strategic growth initiatives.