Head of North America - Field & Customer Support

Digital Control Incorporated; Kent (WA); On-site; USD 169,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Quarterly bonuses

401k match

22 days PTO

Parental leave

Paid holidays

Winter break

Job summary

Digital Control Incorporated (DCI) is seeking a senior leader to guide North American customer support, field operations, and dealer relationships. The role leads strategy, builds scalable support models, and drives excellence across phone, digital, training, and on-site services.

The candidate will shape organizational development, mentor field leaders, and partner with product, quality, and marketing teams to improve the customer journey, ensuring uptime for HDD equipment customers across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Operations, or a related discipline; advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience in field, technical support, customer experience, operations, HDD equipment, or related environment.
• 10+ years leading managers and geographically distributed teams.
• Demonstrated success building or scaling a field service or customer support organization.
• Strong experience managing customer escalations and complex technical-service environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute North American Field & Customer Support strategy in alignment with company objectives.
• Establish a scalable support model to grow customer and dealer base.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality customer interactions across phone, digital, field, training, and technical channels.
• Provide leadership to North American Field Support organization; optimize coverage and resources.
• Drive operational excellence with KPIs such as customer satisfaction, response time, and cost-to-serve.

Skills

Customer-focused

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Engineering/Operations

Tools

CRM systems

Field-service software

Knowledge management platforms

Job description

Digital Control Incorporated (DCI) is the world\'s leading supplier of underground locating and steering products for the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) industry. Since the introduction of this revolutionary technology 30 years ago, Digital Control has been at the forefront of trenchless technologies that enable the efficient installation of underground utilities such as fiber optic, telecom, gas, and water lines world-wide. DCI\'s products are valued for their durable design, ease of use and uncompromising commitment to customer service. DCI customer support is a long-standing, tried-and-true pillar of our success and an essential part of our customers\' day-to-day workflow. Our strategy is pretty simple: build top-tier products and back them up with world-class customer support. That approach sets us apart and creates lasting, successful relationships with our customers. No call trees. No automated assistance. Real people with real experience who can get our customers unstuck and back on their way. Whatever it takes, we go above and beyond to support our customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This is an opportunity to lead one of the most important customer-facing functions at a highly respected technology company and help shape the next generation of DCI\'s North American customer experience.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the North American Support Strategy

• Develop and execute DCI\'s North American Field & Customer Support strategy in alignment with company objectives
• Establish a scalable support model capable of supporting DCI\'s growing customer and dealer base
• Support clear field and internal support standards, operating rhythms, escalation paths, and performance expectations
• Ensure customers and dealers receive a consistent, high-quality experience across phone, digital, field, training, and technical support channels
• Represent the voice of the customer in company-wide strategic and product decisions

Lead and Develop the Field Organization

• Provide leadership to DCI\'s North American Field Support organization
• Optimize geographic coverage, staffing, travel, workload, and resource allocation
• Ensure field representatives have the training, tools, product expertise, and resources necessary to support customers effectively
• Develop a strong culture of ownership, responsiveness, technical excellence, and customer advocacy
• Build succession plans and develop the next generation of DCI field and support leaders
• DCI\'s North American field organization provides hands-on customer and contractor support across multiple territories, including jobsite assistance, product education, demonstrations, and technical support

Elevate Customer Support

• Lead the evolution of DCI\'s customer support organization and operating model
• Ensure customers have rapid access to knowledgeable support, particularly when equipment issues affect active drilling operations
• Improve escalation management, issue resolution, and communication across the customer journey
• Establish mechanisms to identify recurring customer issues and drive them to permanent resolution
• Partner with Customer Service team to continuously improve support processes and customer service capabilities
• DCI currently provides 24/7/365 customer support through experienced customer service personnel, reflecting the critical importance of uptime to its customers

Strengthen The Dealer And Customer Experience

• Partner with DCI\'s dealer network to ensure consistent customer support and technical expertise throughout North America
• Establish clear roles and expectations between DCI, dealers, and customers
• Develop programs that increase dealer and customer product knowledge, confidence, and adoption
• Use customer and field feedback to identify opportunities for improved products, training, documentation, and support
• Build strong relationships with customers and dealers and serve as an executive escalation point when appropriate

Drive Operational Excellence

• Establish and manage KPIs covering customer satisfaction, response time, resolution time, field utilization, first-time resolution, escalation volume, training effectiveness, and cost-to-serve
• Use data and customer feedback to identify trends and prioritize improvements
• Standardize processes while preserving the responsiveness and hands-on culture that differentiates DCI
• Identify opportunities to leverage technology, automation, knowledge management, and digital support tools
• Develop annual operating plans and budgets for the North American support organization

Partner Across DCI

• Collaborate with Product Management and Engineering to communicate customer needs and field insights
• Partner with Quality and Manufacturing to identify and resolve systemic product issues
• Work with Marketing to support product launches, demonstrations, customer education, and market development
• Collaborate with Manufacturing and RMA to provide feedback translating into measurable product and business improvements

Who You Are

• Customer obsessed — Understands the realities of DCI\'s customers and makes decisions based on their success
• Field oriented — Comfortable getting out of the office, visiting jobsites, listening to contractors, and understanding problems firsthand
• Operationally disciplined — Creates clarity, metrics, accountability, and repeatable processes without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
• Technically credible — Able to understand complex products and technical issues and earn the respect of field teams, dealers, engineers, and customers
• A builder of people — Develops leaders, creates accountability, and builds a culture where talented people can thrive
• Collaborative — Breaks down functional silos and creates strong partnerships across DCI
• Decisive and pragmatic — Can make sound decisions quickly when dealers or customers are dealing with time-sensitive field issues

Requirements

• Bachelor\'s degree in Business, Engineering, Operations, or a related discipline; advanced degree preferred
• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience in field, technical support, customer experience, operations, industrial technology, HDD equipment, or a related environment
• 10+ years leading managers and geographically distributed teams
• Demonstrated success building or scaling a field service or customer support organization
• Strong experience managing customer escalations and complex technical-service environments
• Experience in construction equipment, heavy equipment, industrial technology, utilities, or a related industry
• Proven ability to establish operating metrics, processes, and accountability systems
• Demonstrated financial and business acumen, including budgeting and resource planning
• Excellent communication and executive-level relationship-building skills
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively throughout North America

Preferred Experience

• Experience in horizontal directional drilling, trenchless technology a bonus
• Familiarity with contractor, dealer, and equipment-distribution business models
• Experience supporting technically sophisticated products used in demanding field environments
• Experience integrating service, technical support, training, warranty, and customer service functions
• Experience using CRM, field-service management, customer-support, or knowledge-management platforms
• Experience leading organizational transformation or significant operational growth

Benefits

• Unparalleled health benefits (PPO plan with no deductibles, no co-pays, DCI covers 99% of costs)
• Quarterly bonuses: we all share in the success of the company
• Professional development
• 401k match (3% match from DCI regardless of participation, 5% maximum match, 100% vested immediately)
• 22 days PTO
• Parental leave
• Company covers 100% of payroll taxes for state family medical leave
• 11 annual paid holidays plus 1 floating holiday
• Winter break (we are closed the last week of each year)
• See more benefits information here

Compensation

• DCI is proud to offer comprehensive compensation packages including competitive base pay and discretionary quarterly profit sharing bonuses to all part-time and full-time team members. Base pay is reviewed at a minimum on an annual basis
• Pay range: $168,700 - 224,700 per year. To ensure equity, our compensation philosophy is to bring people into new roles in the range of the mid-point of that role. Factors considered for pay include the level of skill, experience, training, external market factors, and internal value.
• Profit sharing bonus: Over the last 3 years, quarterly bonuses ranged between 11% and 17%. Future bonuses could be higher or lower depending on company profits

Why DCI?

Work hard, play often... DCI employees are innovative and creative. Our open (forest-like) work environment creates free flowing conversations across all functions. We have gaming days; Lego challenges and ping pong matches to build on our creativity when one hits a roadblock. If that is not enough, our employees bring their four-legged companions (dogs) to work and can take them for a walk around the Green River trail. DCI takes pride in caring a lot about our employees. We believe that employees should not be burdened with benefits expenses, so we provide lucrative health care plans unmatched in most other companies. We also like to eat at DCI and find any excuse to celebrate the most random holidays (Pi Day, Chocolate Ice Cream Day, etc.) We have monthly catered lunches, a fully stocked snack area, sporting tickets, wellness competitions, and most importantly a team of people who will tell you that DCI is the best place they\'ve ever worked. This is evidence by our long service team and low turnover.

We Celebrate Inclusion

DCI is an equal opportunity employer. Employment at DCI is based solely on a person\'s merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. DCI does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), or any other basis protected by law. It is DCI\'s policy to comply with all applicable national, state and local laws pertaining to nondiscrimination and equal opportunity. The Company\'s EEO policy includes the full & complete support of the Company and all levels of leadership. Because it\'s just the right thing to do. We hope you think so too.