Director of Accounts

About Serve Freight

Serve Freight is a US freight brokerage that handles complex, urgent, coordination-intensive shipments. Its work includes project cargo, transactional truckload, and construction freight for customers who want one accountable owner from quote through proof of delivery.

The company is expanding quickly, remains profitable, and is building the operating structure needed for its next stage of growth.

Role overview

The Director of Accounts will lead both the account management and account executive teams. This is a hands-on leadership role: you should be equally comfortable speaking directly with customers, coaching from metrics, and stepping into important accounts when extra influence is needed.

You will report directly to the CEO and be responsible for ensuring that every account has clear ownership from first quote through renewal.

Commercial leadership

• Manage the full commercial organization, with both account managers and account executives reporting to you.
• Drive new customer acquisition through the AE pipeline while also protecting and expanding revenue within the AM book.
• Set a firm standard for account ownership so every account has a named owner, an updated HubSpot status, and a next action at all times.
• Coach and develop both teams and help build the next generation of AE and AM talent.
• Hold weekly one-on-ones with every AE and AM, using performance data as the basis for coaching.
• Work effectively with overseas brokers who manage their own books and align standards across a distributed team.

Sales and pipeline discipline

• Create and maintain KPI scorecards covering pipeline health, activity, win rate, sales cycle length, average deal size, retention, and expansion.
• Lead pipeline hygiene checks to keep deal stages accurate, close dates realistic, and stalled opportunities identified early.
• Own the forecasting rhythm and build the weekly, monthly, and quarterly process the team uses to commit numbers to John.
• Design deal review cadence, meeting structure, and the core questions used in reviews.

Account handoffs and coverage

• Oversee the transition from AE to AM so accounts do not lose coverage during handoff.
• Build a coverage plan that prevents customer gaps when a team member is absent or leaves an account.
• Resolve customer service escalations before they create churn risk.

Retention and growth

• Lead quarterly business reviews for top customers.
• Spot cross-sell and upsell opportunities across the AM portfolio and AE pipeline.
• Move spot freight into contracted lanes whenever it makes sense.

Processes and tools

• Develop SOPs for onboarding, daily operations, escalations, handoffs, and QBRs for both AEs and AMs.
• Implement scorecards with metrics and SLAs tied to new business, retention, expansion, response time, and margin.
• Work with BizOps on rolling out margin-per-load and cost-per-load methodology to the commercial team.
• Partner with HubSpot administration to improve CRM hygiene, pipeline-stage discipline, and forecasting reports.

Cross-functional collaboration

• Coordinate with operations to ensure SLA commitments are met on every load.
• Work with finance on billing, accounts receivable, and credit terms for customers.
• Support FY26 OKRs related to commercial growth and gross margin protection.

What success looks like after 12 months

• Every account is quoted and managed appropriately, with a named owner and current HubSpot status.
• The commercial pipeline is clean, predictable, and trusted by the team.
• Forecast accuracy is within 10% on a rolling 30-day basis.
• SOPs, scorecards, and the coverage model for AEs and AMs are documented and actively used.
• The top 20 customers are included in the QBR schedule.
• The team has grown, and at least one new AE or AM has been hired and developed.
• Both new customer growth and account retention are on plan, without sacrificing one for the other.

Required experience

• At least 5 years of experience in freight brokerage or 3PL, with exposure to both new business development and account management.
• A history of personally winning new business and personally growing a retained portfolio of named accounts, with measurable gross margin growth.
• Experience with brokerage pricing, including lane pricing, bids, spot versus contracted freight, and margin protection.
• Proven ability to lead and hold accountable both a sales team and an account management team simultaneously.
• Experience creating SOPs, scorecards, and operational processes.
• Comfort with KPIs, dashboards, and forecasting cadences.
• Ability to manage your own accounts while also leading a team.
• TMS experience is required; Turvo is a plus, and HubSpot familiarity is an advantage.

Preferred background

• Experience across multiple freight modes, such as truckload, ocean, and intermodal.
• Experience managing distributed or remote team members.
• Background working in construction, foodservice, or industrial verticals.
• Experience turning around accounts that were under-served or at risk of being neglected.

Who this role fits best

• An operator who can both win new business and protect existing revenue, understanding that these are separate disciplines.
• Someone willing to get on the phone with a customer personally when the situation calls for it.
• A direct, decisive leader who holds customers, carriers, AMs, and AEs to a high standard.
• A builder who notices gaps in account coverage and closes them proactively.
• Someone who wants ownership of the full commercial function in a growing business, not just one part of it.

Compensation

The role offers a competitive base salary plus variable compensation tied to new business, retention, and forecasting discipline. Exact details will be discussed during interviews.

Location

Hybrid work is available in Charlotte, NC; Asheville, NC; and Cleveland, OH. Remote work is also available.