Field Service Director
Location: Remote or Hybrid (U.S.)
Role Overview
The Director of Field Service will lead and scale Airsys’ North American after-sales service organization, overseeing field service operations, third-party partner strategy, and long-term service capability development. This role is responsible for building a high-performing service function that supports large-scale data center cooling deployments (chillers, CRAH/CRAC, liquid cooling systems), ensuring best-in-class uptime, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
This is a strategic leadership role that goes beyond day-to-day service management—owning service P&L, partner ecosystem, and the roadmap for building an in-house service organization.
Key Responsibilities
Service Strategy & Organizational Leadership
- Own the overall service strategy for North America, including structure, scalability, and long-term capability buildout.
- Develop and execute a roadmap to transition from a primarily third-party service model to a hybrid or in-house service organization.
- Establish KPIs and dashboards across service operations (SLA adherence, uptime, MTTR, cost-to-serve, customer satisfaction).
- Partner with executive leadership to align service strategy with company growth, especially in hyperscale and modular data center markets.
- Manage service budget, forecasting, and cost optimization initiatives.
Field Service Operations Oversight
- Provide executive oversight of all field service operations, including commissioning support, troubleshooting, and after-sales service delivery.
- Ensure consistent, high-quality service execution across all projects and regions.
- Drive operational excellence through standardized processes, tools, and reporting.
- Oversee escalation management for critical customer issues and ensure timely resolution.
Third-Party Service Partner Strategy
- Own the full lifecycle of third-party service partners: selection, contracting, onboarding, training, and performance management.
- Establish a scalable partner network across key regions to support rapid growth.
- Implement formal partner performance scorecards and rotation strategies based on quality, cost, and responsiveness.
- Negotiate service agreements and ensure alignment with customer SLAs and company standards.
Technical Leadership & Escalation Governance
- Act as the highest-level escalation point for complex technical and operational service issues.
- Provide strategic direction on root cause analysis, failure trends, and systemic improvements.
- Partner closely with Engineering, Quality, and Product teams to influence product design improvements based on field data.
- Ensure strong technical competency across service teams in HVAC systems, chillers, controls, and liquid cooling technologies.
Customer & Commercial Interface
- Serve as executive-level point of contact for key customers on service-related matters.
- Support Sales and Key Account teams in pre-sales and post-installation phases, ensuring strong service positioning.
- Drive service as a value differentiator in large data center and OEM contracts.
- Support contract negotiations related to service scope, SLAs, and performance guarantees.
Team Building & Talent Development
- Build, lead, and develop a high-performing service leadership team (regional managers, service managers, technical leads).
- Lead hiring strategy for future in-house field service engineers and technicians.
- Establish structured training programs and career development paths.
- Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, and customer-first mindset.
Continuous Improvement & Data-Driven Insights
- Leverage service data and field feedback to identify reliability trends and improvement opportunities.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives across service delivery, cost efficiency, and product performance.
- Implement systems and tools to enhance visibility into service operations and customer outcomes.
Qualifications & Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, HVAC, or related field (Master’s preferred).
- 12+ years of experience in HVAC, data center cooling, or industrial equipment service environments.
- 5–8+ years of leadership experience managing service organizations, including managers or multi-region teams.
- Strong expertise in large-scale cooling systems (chillers, CRAH/CRAC, refrigeration systems, controls, PLCs).
- Experience working within OEM environments supporting mission-critical infrastructure (data centers strongly preferred).
- Proven experience managing third-party service networks and/or building in-house service teams.
- Strong business acumen, including budget ownership, cost management, and service strategy development.
- Ability to operate at both strategic and tactical levels in a fast-growing organization.
- Excellent communication skills with experience engaging executive stakeholders and key customers.
- Willingness to travel as needed to support customers, partners, and internal teams.