Sr. Technical Program Manager, Product Escalations

Job description

ONWARDS TOGETHER! Illumio is the leader in ransomware and breach containment, redefining how organizations contain cyberattacks and enable operational resilience. Powered by the Illumio AI Security Graph, our breach containment platform identifies and contains threats across hybrid multi-cloud environments – stopping the spread of attacks before they become disasters. Recognized as a Leader in the Forrester Wave™ for Microsegmentation, Illumio enables Zero Trust, strengthening cyber resilience for the infrastructure, systems, and organizations that keep the world running. LOCATION: 5 ON-SITE DAYS A WEEK IN SUNNYVALE, CA HEADQUARTERS. OUR TEAM'S VISION: Our Product Management team is driven by a culture that thrives on visionary leadership, autonomy, and ownership, creating a dynamic synergy that drives us forward in the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity. We collaborate closely with our Engineering team to tackle real-world challenges our customers face. Bring your visionary instincts to every stage of the product lifecycle—from conception and definition to development, release, and post-release activities. You'll play a pivotal role in strategic planning, feature selection, and day-to-day tactical operations. Together, our dynamic team propels the roadmap forward as we strive to make the digital world a safer place. YOUR IMPACT: 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. 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. WHAT YOU'LL DO: Own the Escalation Lifecycle - 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. Drive Cross-Functional Resolution - 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. Manage Executive and Customer Escalations - 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. Own RCA and Corrective Action Governance - 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. Build Operational Excellence - 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. YOUR TOOLKIT: Required - 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. Preferred - Previous experience as: - Escalation Manager - Major Incident Manager - Support Manager - Senior Support Engineer - Technical Account Manager - Customer Success Engineer - Experience working directly with Product Management and Engineering organizations. - Knowledge of incident management frameworks, ITIL, SRE, or operational excellence practices. - Experience with Jira, Salesforce, ServiceNow, PagerDuty, Zendesk, or similar systems. Experience supporting enterprise cybersecurity, cloud, infrastructure, or SaaS products. SUCCESS METRICS 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. WHAT GREAT LOOKS LIKE 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. This position involves access to software/technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls #LI-KD1 #LI-ONSITE Our Commitment Illumio believes that an environment of unique backgrounds, experiences, viewpoints, and individual contributions creates a culture of belonging, drives our future, and makes us stronger together in support of our customers and their success. All official job offers from our company are extended directly by our recruitment team and will be sent through an official E-Signature document for your review and signature. Please be aware that we do not ask for any personal information in the process of extending offers of employment, such as financial details or social security numbers. Upon acceptance of any offer, we will request such information as part of the onboarding process prior to or on your first day of employment, and only after completing a background check through an authorized third-party vendor. If you receive any communication asking for personal details outside of these processes, please contact us immediately to verify the authenticity of the request. Your security is important to us, and we are committed to a safe and transparent hiring experience. For roles in San Francisco and Los Angeles: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Illumio will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.