While customer care representatives at technology companies commonly excel at communications and possess excellent interpersonal skills, they often lack technical expertise. At the same time, highly skilled technicians with deep and intricate knowledge of complex engineering concepts are not usually tasked with interfacing directly with customers. Because these roles require disparate skill sets, inherent personality traits, and unique training, it can be unusual to find people who are qualified and adept at both.
Then there’s Intelsat’s Harley Clark.
As a customer success manager, Harley forges close relationships with the company’s top-tier customers in the media industry, providing support on an ongoing basis and building intimate relationships in the process. Harley doesn’t just pivot between customer support and technical teams – he is a full-fledged member of both, having made the somewhat unusual migration to his current role after a decade of work in the company’s Network Operations Center.
Harley describes himself as a “consistent 24-by-7 conduit for top-tier media customers” needing support related to operations, engineering, and special events.
“What happens behind the scenes at a technical level is extraordinary. I can take all this technical information, sit down with executives, and have in-depth conversations to explain how we will care for them and ensure uninterrupted distribution of their signals across the globe.”
On any given day, Harley engages with senior media executives, solving problems and helping them understand complex technical concepts. Hired straight out of Mitchell Tech in 2011, Harley joined Intelsat as an entry-level technician in the company’s Atlanta NOC. He spent nearly a decade getting under the hood and learning all the operational and technical aspects of managing customer operations for a Geostationary satellite company.
“During my time in the NOC, I was able to build a strong rapport with many of our media customers, some of whom have been with us for 30 years. I saw an opportunity to evolve my responsibilities and move into the customer success role that I hold today.”
As Intelsat has evolved to become a provider of managed services, the requirement to deliver superior customer support has become more pronounced. By bringing technical prowess to the customer relations environment, Harley can more effectively support customers and resolve issues with greater speed and efficiency, enabling Intelsat to continue moving up the value chain and form deeper partnerships with media customers.
“C-level executives often don’t have the time for a detailed technical breakdown. They just want solutions. I help simplify what is happening in business terms that are understandable and digestible.”
Harley’s accomplishments in customer success and the unique path he has taken to arrive at the role resulted in his recognition by Satcoms Innovation Group as Young Engineer of the Year for 2024. In addition to broadening his own portfolio beyond the media sector, Harley is helping Intelsat build a broader team of technical customer success managers and subject matter experts across all regions of the world.
“Finding people who can communicate extraordinarily well, and translate what’s coming out of those technical minds is not easy,” said Harley’s mentor and colleague, Angela Wheeler, who serves as Intelsat’s Director of Global Network Operations. “Harley has built his career in a steady state of learning and improvement of our company and industry. His technical knowledge and leadership skills have helped us deepen and extend important relationships with our media customers.”
Harley’s story demonstrates the kind of cross-disciplinary talent shaping the future of space communications. His ability to connect technical expertise with customer engagement reflects the evolving landscape of the industry – one that calls for both innovation and collaboration. At Satellite World, we are committed to spotlighting individuals like Harley who are not only advancing technology by also redefining how we connect, communicate, and solve challenges in the space industry.
