What are the responsibilities and job description for the Account Director - Distribution position at HITACHI ENERGY USA INC?
Description
The opportunity
Hitachi Energy is looking for an experienced Account Director, Distribution to lead one of our most strategic distributor relationships across North America. In this role, you will own the full customer partnership, drive growth in orders and share of wallet, and elevate customer satisfaction at every touchpoint.
You’ll act as the face of Hitachi Energy to a major distribution partner — and the voice of the customer inside our organization — bringing together Business Units, executives, and manufacturer’s representatives to deliver a seamless, high‑value experience.
This is a high‑visibility role with significant senior leadership exposure, ideal for someone who thrives in complex, matrixed environments and enjoys being at the center of customer and market strategy.
How you’ll make an impact
In this role, you will:
Serve as the strategic partner to senior customer executives
Build trust, strengthen alignment, and ensure a consistent, best‑in‑class customer experience
Advocate for customer needs and resolve critical issues efficiently
Own and deliver order growth, margin discipline, and share‑of‑wallet expansion
Develop and execute the strategic account plan, identifying key opportunities and aligning internal teams to win
Lead complex negotiations and guide capture teams on high‑value projects
Bring competitive intelligence and market trends to the organization
Offer monthly insights on channel performance, competitors, and market size to help shape our go‑to‑market strategy
Engage Business Units, Marketing, Sales, and senior leadership to deliver customer value propositions.
Leverage manufacturer’s representatives to drive local execution and channel excellence.
Participate in cross‑company Account Director communities to share best practices.
Your background
You’ll be successful in this role if you have:
10 years of experience in sales, account management, or business development, including several years in distribution sales
A strong track record managing large, complex customers and influencing across a matrixed environment
Experience driving customer satisfaction, resolving difficult issues, and building executive‑level relationships
Strong commercial acumen, strategic planning skills, and the ability to navigate pricing and negotiations
Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Business (MBA preferred)
Confident communicator with the ability to build credibility quickly
Proficiency with MS Office (especially Excel pivot tables and PowerPoint) and CRM tools (Salesforce preferred)
Ability to travel extensively across the East or Central region
Comfortable operating independently while aligning diverse stakeholders
Travel & Visibility
Expect 60–70% travel to stay deeply connected to the customer, market, and distributed teams.
More about us
We pride ourselves on offering a holistic range of competitive benefits to support your financial, physical and mental wellbeing and personal development. We want you to truly thrive with us, in work and out.
For this role, depending on grade and experience, we offer the following employee benefits (subject to the respective plan rules):
Health Care: medical (PPO, CDHP with HSA HMO), dental, and vision.
Financial Wellbeing: Employer sponsored pension - 401(k) Program with generous company match and contribution, Life/AD&D Insurance, disability insurance
Family Care: Life and Family (Legal, pet, auto, home, identity theft, etc.), special needs support, and adoption assistance
Work-Life: Enhanced leave programs (FMLA, Military Service Leave, Maternal, Paternal, adoption, vacation, and holiday)
Employee Engagement and Development: Employee Resource Groups (depending on location), tuition reimbursement program, on-demand learning platforms
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-Females/Minorities/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
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