Support Escalation Management IC4

Overview MCAPS-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.

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 (Service Manager), you will be the primary contact managing escalated customer and partner issues.

This opportunity will allow you to accelerate your career growth, hone your problem-solving, collaboration and orchestration skills, and deepen your relationship management expertise.

The Senior

Support Escalation Manager (Service Manager) is positioned and aligned with our customers as Chief Operating Officers within the account, strategically placed to ensure that we have the appropriate level of engagement to support and drive the customer’s reactive support landscape and improve operational health.

I work with some of the world’s largest companies, public sector depts and not for profit organizations pursuing strategic activities, utilizing Microsoft technologies to modernize their business.

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.

Account Escalation

Partner

Owns the reactive support experience for a defined set of strategic or mission critical accounts, often funded directly by the customer.

Acts as the primary escalation and crisis contact for those accounts, orchestrating internal and external stakeholders (Customer Success Account Managers [CSAMs], engineering, incident managers, legal/PR, executives) to resolve high impact issues while representing the customer’s business impact.

Proactively assesses account risk, maintains and tests incident response plans (e.g., Major Incident Response Plans [MIRPs]), and run drills or “Get to Green” plans to prevent recurrence and improve overall account health.

Maintains a deep, ongoing relationship with designated customers’ executive and technical leaders, enabling them to anticipate escalations, influence architecture and operations, and shift conversations from reactive to strategic.

Collaboration

Owns escalated issues and manages account-aligned customer incidents to identify and remove barriers. Ensures existing processes are not a blocker to customer issue resolution and acts as a key player during process improvement efforts. Mentors other Support Escalation team members on how to handle moderate to highly complex cases.

Leads moderate to highly complex incidents (and customers) with minimal guidance, navigating ambiguity, incomplete information, and high-stress environment (customer, account team, leadership, etc.) Acts as the single point of accountability for complex, high?impact escalations, removing blockers, accelerating decision?making, and ensuring alignment across engineering, support, and leadership teams.

Works with partners to ensure operational rhythm during incidents, including checkpoints, ownership, and escalation updates. Mentors others in structured incident leadership, beyond only case handling.

Collaborates with engineering teams and/or operations teams to identify the right resource. Acts as a subject matter expert on the written protocol to ensure the right groups are engaged to resolve customer issues. Builds and enhances technical contacts, SME’s and leaders who can assist in identifying proper resources to assist with issues that cross-Strategic Business Unit (SBU) responsibility.

Communication

Manages customer and field expectations around issue response and represents the company independently, prioritizing security as a key component of customer satisfaction. Ensures customer and MSFT internal stakeholders stay informed on the response and resolution status of customer issues. Communicates and influences internally to drive faster issue resolution, incorporating effective security practices to mitigate risks.

Provides definitive updates to teams involved as required (e.g., account, Customer Success Account Manager [CSAM], Technology Managers, Leadership, and Executive Leadership).

Takes ownership of and nurtures relationships with internal teams and partners and proactively communicates with senior leadership on issues complex in scope and provides solutions to resolve them. Establishes long-term partnerships with other Strategic Business Units (SBU)s, and builds bridges to keep consistent, uniform engagement from account teams to SBU(s).

Critical Event Response Manager

Manages incidents and escalations as discrete transactions, focusing on rapid stabilization and resolution rather than ongoing account ownership, with engagement spanning varying levels of technical depth. Works directly with the customer or through support teams to ensure customers are informed, expectations are set, and escalation pressure is effectively managed throughout the incident lifecycle.

Leads or supports bridge operations and crisis communications for escalated incidents or critical situations, ensuring consistent, accurate, and timely updates across customers, executives, and engineering, while maintaining compliance with legal, privacy, and communications standards.

Drives coordination of technical resources, enforces adherence to processes, and de?escalates distressed customers, often operating across queues spanning multiple customers or specific incident types. Owns incident communications, customer, governance, and post?incident insights.

Customer Resolution

Provides status updates to customers and internal stakeholders through various channels of communication regarding issues, following the documented process. Utilizes AI-driven communication tools streamline interactions with stakeholders.

Coordinates and communicates the escalation narrative, ensuring stakeholder alignment and driving Confidence Calls to either retain customers, solidify renewals, or take direct feedback on the product or support. Drives consistent, executive-ready escalation narrative, aligning all stakeholders on problem statement, impact, risks, and next actions.

Acts on or plays a key role in strategic projects designed to improve resolution times, customer satisfaction, and support experience. Implements AI tools to monitor, evaluate, and automate routine tasks, proposing enhancements to boost efficiency and satisfaction.

Identifies systemic breakdowns across escalation workflows, handoffs, and decision points, and drives cross?team improvements to increase speed, accountability, and consistency. Champions automation and standardization of escalation workflows to improve scale and consistency. Creates home-grown solutions for intake, tracking and reporting for customer businesses.

Acts as a primary contact to