Director of Accounts

Overview Location: Charlotte, NC (hybrid), Asheville, NC (hybrid), Cleveland, OH (hybrid), or Remote. Reports to: CEO.
About Serve Freight
Serve Freight is a US-based freight broker focused on complex, time-sensitive, coordination-heavy freight. We move project cargo, transactional truckload, and construction freight for customers who need a single accountable owner from quote to POD. We are growing fast, profitable, and building the operating systems behind the next phase of scale.
The role The Director of Accounts will lead both account managers and the account executives. You are comfortable being the one on the phone with a customer, not just the one reviewing the pipeline. You hold both teams accountable: AEs on new business, AMs on retention and growth, and you make sure every account has a clear owner from first quote through renewal.
This is a player-coach seat with teeth. You coach from data, not narrative, and you step in personally on an account when it needs someone with more weight in the room.
You report directly to the CEO.
What you'll own Commercial team leadership (direct) Own the full commercial team: account managers and account executives both report to you
Own new customer acquisition across the AE pipeline and gross revenue retention and expansion across the AM book
Set the standard for account ownership: every account has a named owner, a documented status in HubSpot, and a next step, no exceptions
Mentor and develop both teams. Build the next generation of AE and AM talent at Serve Freight
Run weekly 1:1s with every AE and every AM. Coach from data, not narrative
Coordinate with overseas brokers running their own books. Build trust and shared standards across a distributed team
Sales and pipeline discipline Build and maintain KPIs and scorecards covering pipeline health, activity, win rate, sales cycle, average deal size, retention, and expansion
Run pipeline hygiene reviews. Make sure deals are properly staged, close dates are accurate, and stalled opportunities are caught early
Own the forecasting cadence. Build the weekly, monthly, and quarterly forecast process the team uses to commit numbers to John
Structure deal reviews. Set the cadence, the format, and the questions that get asked
Account handoffs and coverage Own the handoff from AE to AM so no account goes unmanaged in the transition
Build a coverage model so no customer feels a gap when an AE or AM is out or transitions off the account
Resolve service escalations before they become churn risk
Customer retention and expansion Run QBRs with the top customers
Identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities across the AM book and the AE pipeline
Convert spot freight into contracted lanes where possible
Process and tooling Build SOPs covering onboarding, daily operations, escalation, handoffs, and QBRs for both AEs and AMs
Stand up scorecards with metrics and SLAs tied to new business, retention, expansion, response time, and margin
Partner with BizOps on margin per load and cost per load methodology rollout to the commercial team
Partner with HubSpot administration on CRM hygiene, pipeline stage discipline, and forecasting reports
Cross-functional collaboration Partner with operations to ensure SLA commitments are met on every load
Coordinate with finance on customer billing, AR, and credit terms
Contribute to FY26 OKR delivery on commercial growth and gross margin protection
What great looks like at 12 months No account goes unquoted or unmanaged. Every account has a named owner and a documented status in HubSpot
Commercial pipeline is clean, forecastable, and the team trusts the data they're reporting on
Forecasting accuracy within 10% on a 30-day rolling basis
AE and AM SOPs, scorecards, and coverage model documented and in use
Top 20 customers in QBR cadence
Team headcount has grown and you've hired and developed at least one new AE or AM
New customer growth and account retention both hit plan, not one at the expense of the other
Required experience 5+ years in freight brokerage or 3PL, spanning both new business development and account management
Track record of personally closing new business and personally growing a retained book of named accounts with quantified gross margin growth, not just one or the other
Pricing experience in brokerage (lane pricing, bids, spot vs. contracted, margin protection)
Demonstrated ability to lead and hold accountable a sales team and an account management team at the same time
Experience writing SOPs, building scorecards, and standing up operational processes
Comfortable building KPIs, dashboards, and forecasting cadence
Comfortable carrying your own accounts while managing a team
TMS experience (Turvo a plus), HubSpot familiarity a plus
Preferred experience Experience leading distributed or remote teammates
Construction, foodservice, or industrial verticals
Experience turning around accounts that were under-serviced or falling through the cracks
Who this role is for An operator who can close new business and protect existing revenue, and knows those are different jobs
Someone who will personally get on the phone with a customer when the account needs it, not just review the data on it
Direct, decisive, and comfortable holding customers, carriers, AMs, and AEs to the standard
A builder who sees an account falling through the cracks and closes the gap without being asked
Someone who wants to own the full commercial function at a growing company, not just their piece of it
Compensation Competitive base, variable tied to new business, retention, and forecasting discipline. Details to be discussed during interviews.

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