Senior Product Escalation Manager, Illumio

• This role is ideal for someone who has grown through Technical Support, Escalation Management, Technical Account Management, or Incident Management and wants to influence product and engineering execution at scale
• 7+ years of experience in one or more of the following:
• Technical Support
• Escalation Management
• Technical Account Management
• Incident Management
• Customer Success Engineering
• Technical Program Management
• Experience managing enterprise customer escalations
• Strong understanding of SaaS products, cloud platforms, and enterprise software environments
• Proven ability to coordinate work across multiple technical organizations
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives without direct authority
• Exceptional communication and executive presentation skills
• Experience driving Root Cause Analysis programs and post-incident reviews
• Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous, and high-pressure situations

Desirable

• We are looking for a highly skilled and customer-focused Senior Escalation Manager to own the end-to-end management of customer-facing escalations that require engagement from Product, Engineering, Cloud Operations, SRE, Security, and Executive Leadership
• This role serves as the operational leader for critical issues affecting customers, ensuring that escalations are triaged effectively, routed to the appropriate teams, communicated consistently, and driven to resolution
• The Senior Escalation Manager will also own post-incident governance, including Root Cause Analysis (RCA) tracking, corrective action management, and escalation program reporting
• The successful candidate combines a strong technical support background with exceptional program management, communication, and stakeholder management skills
• They understand how enterprise customers experience problems, can effectively partner with engineering teams during high-pressure situations, and drive accountability across organizations to achieve customer outcomes
• Act as the central coordinator for all escalations entering the Product & Engineering organization
• Evaluate incoming escalation requests and ensure proper severity classification
• Route issues to the appropriate Product, Engineering, Cloud Operations, Security, or Platform teams
• Establish and maintain ownership, accountability, and visibility throughout the escalation lifecycle
• Monitor escalation progress and proactively remove blockers
• Lead cross-functional meetings focused on critical customer issues
• Coordinate activities across Support, Customer Success, Product Management, Engineering, SRE, Operations, and Leadership
• Drive alignment on mitigation plans, customer commitments, and resolution strategies
• Escalate unresolved blockers to leadership when needed
• Provide structured executive updates for high-priority issues
• Ensure field teams have timely and accurate information to communicate with customers
• Partner with Customer Success and Support leadership to manage high-visibility customer situations
• Represent Product & Engineering interests while maintaining customer advocacy
• Manage the Root Cause Analysis program for escalated incidents
• Ensure RCA timelines, reviews, approvals, and customer commitments are met
• Track corrective and preventative actions through completion
• Identify recurring issue patterns and systemic risks
• Partner with engineering leaders to drive long-term improvements and prevent recurrence
• Develop escalation metrics, dashboards, and executive reporting
• Measure escalation trends, aging, response times, SLA adherence, RCA completion, and corrective action closure
• Establish consistent escalation processes, standards, and governance
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve customer experience and operational efficiency
• The Senior Escalation Manager will be measured on:
• Escalation acknowledgment and response SLA attainment
• Escalation aging and time-to-resolution
• RCA completion within defined timelines
• Corrective and preventative action closure rates
• Reduction in repeat incidents and recurring escalations
• Executive and stakeholder satisfaction
• Customer satisfaction during and following escalations
• Visibility and predictability of Product & Engineering commitments
• A successful Escalation Manager acts as the "Product Manager of the Problem."
• They bring clarity to chaotic situations, align multiple teams around customer outcomes, maintain executive visibility, drive ownership across organizations, and ensure every escalation results in meaningful learning and systemic improvement
• They are equally comfortable speaking with:
• A Support Engineer investigating a case
• A Director of Engineering managing resources
• A VP reviewing customer impact
• A strategic customer expecting answers and accountability
• Above all, they ensure that customer-impacting issues receive the focus, urgency, and operational rigor necessary to protect customer trust and accelerate resolution