Services Account Manager

About Hitachi Vantara

Hitachi Vantara is recognized globally as a trusted data foundation supporting innovators across various industries, allowing customers—from banks to major entertainment venues—to leverage resilient, high-performance data infrastructure. Our solutions empower businesses to automate, optimize, and innovate effectively, exemplified by projects like the Las Vegas Sphere. We embrace a diverse global team driven to make impactful advances with data as part of our next phase of growth.

Role Overview

The Services Account Manager (SAM) plays a pivotal role as the primary liaison between Hitachi Vantara’s service organization and its largest accounts, particularly within the Defence sector. This position centers on proactively addressing customer needs while fostering strong relationships with key stakeholders to maximize value for both the customer and Hitachi Vantara.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the main point of contact and escalation for service delivery across major accounts, providing frequent technical and non-technical updates.
• Develop and expand relationships within the customer’s organization beyond primary contacts and maintain vendor relationships related to storage infrastructure components.
• Schedule and lead regular engagement meetings to review account status, deliver customized reports, and ensure customer satisfaction.
• Oversee solutions assurance by coordinating implementation consultants and validating that deployed solutions meet client requirements.
• Manage escalation processes thoroughly by coordinating meetings, sharing necessary data, and guiding the escalation team alongside customer contacts.
• Conduct thorough reviews following escalations, including incident reporting, root cause analysis, and implementing lessons learned to rebuild customer trust.
• Engage proactively with sales and pre-sales teams to identify growth opportunities, facilitate internal communications, and support contract renewals.
• Serve as the internal expert on customer systems, business objectives, and service history, ensuring alignment across sales, implementation, and service teams.
• Coordinate account support plans, manage installation processes, and collaborate with engineering and support groups to ensure timely incident resolution.
• Establish preventive measures through an account safety net to detect nascent issues and explore automation opportunities for critical updates.
• Lead maintenance support services delivery, overseeing third-party coordination and informing customers about product updates and engineering changes.
• Seek continuous improvement opportunities in customer care and overall support effectiveness.
• In select cases, assume Customer Success responsibilities by driving product adoption, retention, and expansion, developing success plans, monitoring account health, and acting as the liaison between clients and internal stakeholders.

Expectations and Goals

The SAM position involves both individual and organisational benchmarks, with self-set and management-driven objectives. Key performance indicators include customer satisfaction, relationship strength, service preparedness, escalation handling, and sales achievement metrics.

Experience and Skills Required

• Minimum five years’ experience in Defence account management, ideally holding or willing to obtain a PV security clearance (minimum NV2 level).
• Proven track record in cloud solutions, data storage, or related support roles for at least two years within the overall experience.
• Strong account management capabilities, including building new connections and managing relationships with customers proactively.
• Technical leadership skills sufficient to communicate complex technical details clearly both internally and externally, translating technical jargon into accessible language.
• Solid knowledge of storage industry products, with the ability to prepare customer reports, manage implementation plans, coordinate installations, and monitor product health during escalations.
• Comfort working after hours occasionally to assist in client coordination tasks.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related discipline.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate client-facing presentations and handle challenging interactions professionally.
• Experience driving pre-sales and consulting efforts to implement data strategies and recommend new solutions that differentiate client value.
• Strong collaboration skills with a solutions-oriented approach and effective communication abilities.
• Project management competencies including task planning, timeline setting, and stakeholder coordination with clear progress reporting.

Personal Attributes

• Ability to work autonomously and collaboratively with a focus on achieving results.
• Excellent interpersonal, leadership, and organizational skills with a proactive attitude.
• Detail-oriented and committed to excellence.
• Balanced technical and business perspective.
• Open, authentic communication across all situations.

Company Culture and Benefits

Hitachi Vantara values innovation driven by diverse perspectives and fosters an inclusive environment based on respect and meritocracy. Employees are supported with comprehensive benefits and encouraged to maintain work-life balance with flexible arrangements where applicable. We value a workplace where people feel valued, heard, and able to express themselves freely, contributing their best work.