Senior Support Escalation Manager

Job ID: Posted: Location: United States, North Dakota, FargoSalary: USD $97,600 - $188,400 per yearEmployment type: Full-TimeWork site: 0 days / week in-office – remoteRole type: Individual ContributorTravel: Less than 25%Profession: Technical SupportDiscipline: Support Escalation ManagementCompany: MicrosoftOverviewMCAPS-Core accelerates customer outcomes and business growth. By uniting product, engineering, marketing, sales, customer success, and partners around a common customer mission, we help customers realize value faster and turn innovation into measurable business impact. Through deep technical expertise and differentiated go-to-market execution, we win competitively, capture market share, and scale repeatable growth motions. We differentiate through value creation - delivering world-class, AI-powered customer experiences that accelerate adoption, strengthen loyalty, and create sustainable competitive advantage, driving growth that outpaces the market.Within MCAPS - Core, the Customer Service & Support (CSS) organization builds trust and confidence for every person and organization through delivering a seamless support experience. In CSS, we are powered by Microsoft’s AI technology to help consumers, businesses, partners, and more, resolve their issues quickly and securely, helping prevent future problems from occurring and achieving more from their Microsoft investment.With more than 45,000 employees and partners worldwide, the Customer Experience and Success (CE&S) organization is on a mission to empower customers to accelerate business value through differentiated customer experiences that leverage Microsoft’s products and services, ignited by our people and culture. We drive cross-company alignment and execution, ensuring that we consistently exceed customers’ expectations in every interaction, whether in-product, digital, or human-centered. CE&S is responsible for all up services across the company, including consulting, customer success, and support across Microsoft’s portfolio of solutions and products. Join CE&S and help us accelerate AI transformation for our customers and the world.Within CE&S, the Customer Service & Support (CSS) organization builds trust and confidence for every person and organization through delivering a seamless support experience. In CSS, we are powered by Microsoft’s AI technology to help consumers, businesses, partners, and more, resolve their issues quickly and securely, helping prevent future problems from occurring and achieving more from their Microsoft investment.In the Customer Service & Support (CSS) organization we are looking for people with a passion for delivering customer success. As a Senior Support Escalation Manager, you will be the primary contact managing critical situations for customers and partner issues. This opportunity will allow you to accelerate your career growth, honing your problem-solving, collaboration and orchestration skills, and deepening your relationship management expertise.The Support Escalation Management role acts as the primary contact for understanding and resolving issues to improve the experiences of customers independently. This role involves maintaining and developing relationships with various internal and external teams to resolve customer issues effectively. Collaboration with engineering and operations teams is critical to identify the right resources to address problems. This role also manages customer and field expectations regarding issue responses, keeps all stakeholders informed about issue status, and influences faster issue resolution.Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.ResponsibilitiesCustomer Resolution:• Act as the central point of coordination for complex, high-impact, politically sensitive, or business-critical customer escalations, driving resolution across multiple teams and organizations.• Advocate on behalf of customers by identifying risks, removing blockers, and aligning stakeholders to expedite resolution and restore customer confidence.• Lead end-to-end escalation management, ensuring issues are addressed with urgency, accountability, and clear ownership across engineering, support, product, and field teams.• Analyze technical and operational challenges, identify root causes, and develop mitigation plans to reduce business impact and prevent recurrence.• Influence resolution strategies and drive action plans that improve customer outcomes, support experience, and time to resolution.• Partner with account teams, support engineers, engineering teams, and leadership stakeholders to coordinate resources and progress complex customer issues.• Provide proactive status updates, executive communications, and risk assessments to customers and internal stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of an escalation.Collaboration:• Build and leverage strong cross-functional relationships to accelerate issue resolution, remove organizational roadblocks, and improve customer outcomes.• Facilitate collaboration across support, engineering, product groups, field organizations, and leadership teams to align priorities and drive accountability.• Identify systemic issues, recurring patterns, and process gaps, partnering with stakeholders to implement corrective actions and long-term improvements.• Lead or contribute to strategic initiatives focused on operational excellence, customer satisfaction, escalation management effectiveness, and service improvement.• Share knowledge, provide informal coaching, and mentor peers on escalation management best practices, stakeholder engagement, and customer advocacy.• Influence without authority by bringing together diverse stakeholders to achieve resolution in highly complex and ambiguous situations.Communication & Stakeholder Management• Serve as a trusted advisor during critical customer situations, providing clear, concise, and actionable communications tailored to technical, business, and executive audiences.• Manage stakeholder expectations by communicating progress, risks, dependencies, and resolution plans in a timely and transparent manner.• Lead customer calls, executive reviews, and cross-functional discussions to align teams on priorities, commitments, and next steps.• Deliver executive-ready summaries, business impact assessments, and escalation insights to support informed decision-making.• Drive post-incident reviews and retrospective discussions, ensuring lessons learned, corrective actions, and preventive measures are documented and implemented.• Identify trends across escalations and provide data-driven recommendations that improve customer experience, operational efficiency, and organizational readiness.Business Impact & Continuous Improvement• Use data and insights from escalations to identify opportunities for service improvement, operational efficiencies, and customer experience enhancements.• Partner with leadership to drive initiatives that reduce escalation volume, improve resolution times, and increase customer satisfaction.• Contribute to the evolution of GetHelp processes, tooling, and operating models by identifying gaps and recommending scalable solutions.• Support organizational priorities through participation in strategic programs, readiness efforts, and cross-functional improvement initiatives.QualificationsRequired/minimum qualificationsMaster's Degree in technology, business, or related field AND 3+ years technology industry, customer service, or related experience OR Bachelor's Degree in technology, business, or related field AND 4+ years technology industry, customer service, or related experience OR equivalent experience.Business level fluentcy in French.Additional or preferred qualificationsMaster's Degree in technology, business, or related field AND 6+ years technology industry, customer service, or related experience OR Bachelor's Degree in technology, business, or related field AND 8+ years technology industry, customer service, or related experience OR equivalent experience.2+ years experience working with Microsoft products and services.Proven experience managing complex, high-impact, and business-critical escalations, driving resolution across multiple teams and stakeholders.Demonstrated ability to serve as the primary point of accountability for customer escalations, ensuring alignment, communication, and execution throughout the resolution lifecycle.Experience managing high-volume, high-severity escalations while maintaining focus on customer outcomes, urgency, quality, and risk mitigation.Proven track record of leading executive-level escalations, including engagement with senior leaders, account teams, and customer stakeholders.Strong critical thinking, decision-making, and prioritization skills, with the ability to effectively balance competing priorities across multiple critical issues.Experience driving cross-functional collaboration across Support, Engineering, Product, Operations, Customer Success, Sales, Legal, and other partner organizations to achieve customer outcomes.Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex situations clearly, concisely, and confidently to executive audiences.Demonstrated ability to influence without authority, build trusted partnerships, and drive accountability across diverse stakeholder groups.Experience identifying systemic issues, driving root cause analysis, and leading process or service improvements that enhance customer experience and operational effectiveness.Proven ability to navigate ambiguity, manage risk, and make sound decisions in fast-paced, high-pressure environments.Support Escalation Management IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $97,600 - $188,400 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $125,000 - $206,400 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.