Senior Director, Pricing Escalations

Overview

The Senior Director, Pricing Escalations will lead the development and execution of ABM’s centralized pricing escalation function, overseeing the strategy, communication, negotiation, and implementation of client price increases across the organization. This leader will build and scale a new team, redesign processes, leverage financial and operational data to drive pricing decisions, and partner closely with Operations to balance client relationships with business objectives while leading enterprise-wide change management.

Responsibilities

Operating Model Transition & Redesign

• Lead the redesign of the Pricing Escalation Management SOP to reflect centralized FP&A ownership, re-anchoring final approval authority and escalation decision rights that currently sit with Operations roles (Industry Group President, Branch Manager/RVP, COO) to the centralized team and FP&A leadership.
• Define a clear operating model for how Operations stays involved going forward: participating in client delivery/negotiation where relationship history or local context adds value, and continuing to own day-to-day client relationship management — while cost analysis, pricing strategy, and final decisions sit with the centralized team.
• Stand up the centralized team's intake, case-management, and approval workflows to replace the field-led decision process end-to-end, including for escalations currently in flight under the legacy model.
• Determine, in partnership with the Head of FP&A and executive leadership, the revised approval matrix and thresholds (including resolving the open question of percentage-based vs. revenue-dollar-based triggers) now that approval sits centrally rather than in the field.

Centralized Execution

• Own end-to-end execution of pricing escalations company-wide: pulling and analyzing ERP cost data, client notification, negotiation strategy, objection handling, and final documentation — directly, rather than solely supporting a field-led process.
• Directly own client-facing negotiation strategy for escalations that meet defined thresholds, bringing in the local Account Manager or Operations leader for relationship context and, where warranted, direct participation in the client conversation — while the centralized team retains decision authority on terms.
• Track every active escalation nationally against the required timeline (T-65 internal approval through T-60 client notification, T-45 conditional meeting, T-30 negotiation, T-15 documentation, T-0 go-live, and T+30 review), owning the schedule directly rather than monitoring it from the sidelines.
• Manage the expedited process for unplanned cost events (regulatory changes, supply chain shocks, force majeure), securing executive approval and documenting any deviations from standard timeline.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Pull and analyze cost and pricing data directly from ERP systems, with support from the broader FP&A team, to identify and prioritize which accounts the centralized team should pursue for escalation — replacing the field-supplied cost inputs in the legacy SOP.
• Build the cost-justification package for each escalation (CPI, labor, materials, and supplier cost trends) using ERP and FP&A analysis rather than data routed through Operations.
• Determine on a case-by-case basis when to bring Operations into client delivery — client meetings or negotiations — based on relationship history and local context, while retaining central decision authority over strategy and final terms.
• Partner with Legal/Contracts to confirm escalation-clause compliance, CPI/index caps, and required notice periods, and ensure cases meeting mandatory legal-review triggers (increases above 7%, CPI-capped clauses, active disputes, or regulated-industry contracts) are routed at least 15 business days ahead of client notification.
• Coordinate with RSS and Contract Set Up teams to submit new pricing ahead of billing cutoffs and confirm written sign-off before any escalation is considered closed.
• Maintain a close, collaborative working relationship with Operations and field leadership, who continue to own client relationships and support delivery even as cost analysis and final decision authority sit with the centralized team.

Reporting & Enablement

• Build and maintain company-wide reporting on escalation pipeline status, approval-cycle time, timeline adherence, concession activity, and revenue protected/at risk, for the Head of FP&A and executive leadership.
• Own documentation and audit trail across all required milestones (approval, notification, meeting, concessions, final terms, billing update, post-implementation review).
• Train Account Managers, Branch Managers, and RVPs on their role under the new centralized model, along with the notification, objection-handling, and negotiation standards the centralized team will apply.

Team Leadership

• Hire, develop, and manage the performance of the centralized Pricing Escalations team, including evaluating whether any pricing-related headcount currently in Operations should transition into the new team.
• Present regular updates on escalation trends, risk, transition progress, and resolution performance to the Head of FP&A and other senior stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or a related field.

  • 8+ years of progressive experience in pricing, revenue operations, FP&A, or a related finance/commercial function, including 3+ years of people leadership.

  • Demonstrated experience leading a major operating-model change — ideally centralizing or re-owning a function previously run in the field or by another department — within a large, multi-business-unit organization.

  • Strong working knowledge of pricing structures, contract escalation clauses, CPI/index-linked pricing, and billing/revenue processes.

  • Hands-on experience pulling and analyzing cost and pricing data directly from ERP systems (e.g., SAP or similar) to inform pricing decisions.

  • Proven ability to lead through organizational change and influence senior stakeholders — including Operations leadership, Legal, and executive leadership — particularly where decision rights are shifting between functions.

  • Direct experience leading or closely supporting client-facing pricing or contract negotiations, not just overseeing a process from a distance.

  • Excellent analytical skills, with experience building reporting/dashboards (Excel required; Power BI, Tableau, or similar a plus).

  • Exceptional communication and negotiation skills, with experience presenting to senior leadership.

Preferred:

• MBA or relevant advanced degree.

  • Experience in a services, facilities, or field-based industry with a distributed branch/account-management structure.

  • Six Sigma, process-improvement, or project-management certification.