Client Engagement Director – Truss Works

Truss is tackling tough technical problems for the private sector and government. We use modern development practices to build software, streamline infrastructure, and train others through exposure to our teams. We have earned a reputation with our clients for pragmatism, autonomy, expertise, and trust. We extend these values to our strong relationships with contractors, partners, and employees because we believe this is fundamental to doing great work.

Truss was named one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies for 2021. All Trussels enjoy full benefits, generous PTO, 401k match, a co-working budget, a kindness budget, and company-wide transparency around salaries and career leveling (view the Truss Leveling Guide). We have been a remote-first organization since our inception and are passionate about work-life balance, building diverse teams, and practicing radical candor.

As the Director of Client Engagement at Truss, you will manage the success and professional development of our Client Engagement Managers while maintaining Truss’ vision of excellence for our external clients. This role will support CEMs as they align and manage client stakeholders, support and advocate for software development project delivery teams, actively participate in the sales and renewal process, and manage project profitability. As a member of the Practices and Delivery leadership team, you will also collaborate with other practice directors to harmonize processes, policies, and guidance across practices.

This role will own, develop and improve Client Engagement core practices at Truss, such as executive stakeholder management, project scoping, developing staffing and budget models, sales->delivery handoff, client relationship troubleshooting, and monitoring project health. This role will also develop and maintain documentation—these might include, for example, the Client Engagement Playbook, Project Health Dashboard, weekly ships, and client satisfaction surveys. Working with both internal and external stakeholders the Director of Client Engagement will be tasked with balancing the needs of the CE team, strategic business objectives of the organization, and maintaining client satisfaction. This is a unique opportunity to problem-solve holistically in a highly collaborative and dynamic environment.

The Client Engagement Director manages the workloads of CEMs, and supports their professional development with hands-on coaching and goal setting. The ideal candidate will possess an equity and inclusion mindset as it applies to practice makeup, opportunities, comp/leveling strategy, mentorship, and developing our hiring funnel. The CE Director will be expected to uphold Truss’ diversity and inclusion goals around hiring and retaining staff and work cross-functional with sales, finance and staffing teams to create proactive hiring plans and attrition forecasting.

THE SKILLSET

• • Experience managing a mature team and client-facing operations in a growing organization
  • Ability to develop holistic, inclusive teams with a high degree of psychological safety
  • Skilled at coaching (as distinct from managing); by proactively identifying skill gaps and creating an environment tailored to the growth and retention of individual contributors
  • Understanding of client engagement/customer success best practices and the responsibilities particular to custom software or consulting projects
  • Effective cross-functional collaboration across organization and stakeholders both internal and external with a bias towards empathy and problem solving
  • Strong decision-maker with ability to get buy-in
  • Clear written and verbal communication skills
  • An adaptive, empathetic, collaborative mindset

Begin to get to know the CEM team, understanding people’s unique skills and experiences, growing edges, and professional goals

Understand Truss’s client landscape, the scope and goals of our active projects, and our active sales pipeline

Begin attending Practice and Delivery leadership team meetings and touch points

Further your understanding of our Client Engagement practices and practice operations

Understand the priorities within the Practices and Delivery group

Begin to make recommendations and improvements to CEM practice operations

Participate in Practice and Delivery leadership team initiatives

Set quarterly/annual goals for team and individual professional development goals for ICs

Eligibility: You must be eligible to work in the US. Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor work visas at this time.

Truss is a federal contractor and as such must adhere to executive order 14042 for the Covid Vaccination mandate regarding federal contractors. Upon employment, Truss will request proof of vaccination. If a medical or religious accommodation is needed, a discussion can be held with our People Operations department.

** A note from Truss: We know you’re likely experiencing a lot of disruption as our nation (and our world) responds to COVID-19 and other events – we’re experiencing it, too. During video interviews, you’ll likely see more of our human side. Family members, partners, kids, and pets are home with some of us! We promise to be present and engaged, but we may be a little…harried. It’s OK if you are, too – we understand that everyone is experiencing extra stress right now. If you have any questions along the way, please let us know, and stay healthy and safe. **