Escalation Manager

Job description

As an Escalation Manager in Global Customer Service (GCS), you will own high-severity and executive-level escalations end-to-end, serving as the single point of accountability for resolution, communication, and recovery. You will lead cross-functional “situation rooms,” advocate for the customer internally, restore trust externally, and drive systemic improvements to prevent recurrence. This is a highly visible, high-impact individual contributor role that directly influences customer retention, revenue at risk, executive confidence, and product improvement. Escalations are defining customer moments. How we respond during critical situations directly impacts retention, expansion, revenue protection, and brand trust. This role ensures Freshworks responds with speed, clarity, accountability, and empathy - every time. Key Responsibilities: What You Will Do Own & Orchestrate Critical Escalations Serve as the primary point of contact for high-severity and executive-level escalations. Assess business impact, risk exposure, and stakeholder landscape. Triage, prioritize, and align cross-functional teams across Support, Product, Engineering, Success, and Services. Establish clear ownership, action plans, timelines, and success criteria. Maintain momentum until full customer stabilization. Lead Situation Rooms & Executive Engagement Facilitate internal and customer-facing escalation calls. Drive structured escalation management and cross-functional accountability. Deliver concise, executive-ready summaries outlining business impact, technical findings, mitigation strategy, and next steps. Communicate confidently with C-level stakeholders during high-pressure scenarios, especially where significant revenue exposure exists. Advocate for the Customer Ensure the customer’s voice is clearly represented in internal discussions. Demonstrate empathy while setting realistic and transparent expectations. Rebuild trust through consistent communication and follow-through. Manage conflict and align diverse perspectives toward resolution. Drive Root Cause & Prevention Conduct post-mortems for major escalations. Partner with Product and Engineering to address systemic issues. Track corrective actions to completion. Identify recurring trends and recommend structural improvements. Build and refine escalation playbooks and best practices. Measure & Improve Performance Track and report on key metrics including escalation volume/trends, revenue protected/at risk, customer satisfaction post-escalation, etc. Contribute to dashboards and executive reporting. Continuously improve workflows, documentation, and cross-functional collaboration. Experience 6+ years in enterprise Support, Customer Success, Technical Program Management, or Incident Management within a SaaS environment. 3+ years managing high-severity or executive-level escalations. Proven experience working with enterprise or high-revenue accounts. Experience partnering closely with Product and Engineering teams to resolve complex issues. Skills & Competencies Clear, concise, and confident communicator - comfortable interacting with senior executives internally and externally. Able to translate complex technical concepts into business-impact language. Demonstrated ability to influence across Product, Engineering, Support, & Success Data-driven mindset with experience identifying trends and systemic risks. Skilled in root cause analysis and post-incident review frameworks. Ability to move from reactive firefighting to preventative strategy. Comfortable managing multiple high-priority escalations simultaneously. We're committed to building a workplace that reflects the diverse world we serve. At Freshworks, you'll find inclusive teams, flexible thinking, and opportunities to grow your career - while making work better for millions. If this sounds like a journey you want to be part of, we'd love to meet you. Let's building something refreshing together. The annual base salary range for this position is $115,940 - $143,200 Base Salary. This role is also eligible for bonus compensation. Compensation is based on a variety of factors including but not limited to location, experience, job-related skills, and level. Bonus/equity may be available. At Freshworks, we have fostered an environment that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion, welcoming colleagues of all backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnicities. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer environment that boosts the goals of our employees, communities, and business. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us. Organizations everywhere struggle under the crushing costs and complexities of “solutions” that promise to simplify their lives. To create a better experience for their customers and employees. To help them grow. Software is a choice that can make or break a business. Create better or worse experiences. Propel or throttle growth. Business software has become a blocker instead of ways to get work done. There’s another option. Freshworks. With a fresh vision for how the world works. At Freshworks, we build uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional customer and employee experiences. Our enterprise-grade solutions are powerful, yet easy to use, and quick to deliver results. Our people-first approach to AI eliminates friction, making employees more effective and organizations more productive. Over 72,000 companies, including Bridgestone, New Balance, Nucor, S&P Global, and Sony Music, trust Freshworks’ customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) software to fuel customer loyalty and service efficiency. And, over 4,500 Freshworks employees make this possible, all around the world. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.