Senior Manager - Escalation Management

See yourself at Twilio

Join the team as our next Senior Manager, Escalations!

About the job

As the leader of our North American Global Escalation Management team, you will play a pivotal role in driving Twilio’s mission to deliver an unparalleled customer experience. This is a high-impact opportunity to scale our operations and ensure that both internal stakeholders and our global customer base receive world-class support.

We are seeking a visionary leader who is deeply committed to mentoring and developing talent while championing continuous process improvement. The Senior Manager of Escalation Management is an Influential Operations Leader responsible for the reduction of recurrent escalations by driving systemic change to transform the customer experience at scale. Beyond immediate crisis mitigation, you will act as a structural engineer for the department, utilizing data-driven insights to refine escalation strategies, evolve organizational processes, and influence product stability. As a dedicated people leader, you will mentor your team to elevate their strategic maturity, shifting their focus from tactical troubleshooting to proactive risk assessment and executive-level analytical reporting. You are responsible for transforming a proactive culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Responsibilities

In this role, you’ll:

Executive Communication & Product Influence

• High-Stakes Liaison and Direct Customer Advocacy: Your primary responsibility is to act as the direct, primary interface for customers during high-visibility incidents. You will serve as the "single source of truth" for both the customer and the Senior Director/VP level. This is not a behind-the-scenes role; you are expected to be front-and-center, translating complex technical hurdles into clear, actionable business communications.
• Product Betterment: Turn escalation volume into "Business Intelligence." Partner with Customer Experience teams with data-backed evidence to prioritize process and product enhancements.

Strategic Planning & Governance

• Strategic Roadmap: Participate in the development  and execute a multi-quarter strategy to transition the escalation function from a reactive cost center to a proactive value-driver.
• MOR & QBR Leadership: Lead Monthly Operating Reviews (MORs) to track departmental health and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) with senior leadership to report on trends, Return of Investment (ROI) of mitigation efforts, and long-term risk forecasts.
• Resource Forecasting: Plan headcount and tool requirements based on projected product launches and customer growth.

Project Management Responsibilities and Skills

• Lead end-to-end project lifecycle for cross-functional escalation initiatives, from definition to execution and post-launch analysis.
• Manage project timelines, dependencies, and deliverables, ensuring adherence to high-quality standards and strategic objectives.
• Proficiency in project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum, Waterfall) and tools (e.g., Jira, Asana, Airtable) to track progress and report on project status to stakeholders.
• Ability to facilitate stakeholder alignment and resolve conflicts to drive project milestones to completion.

Process Creation & Refinement

• Framework Design: Build, document, and deploy the "Escalation Runbook", defining the triggers, communication cadences, and resolution paths across the company.
• Continuous Improvement: Constantly audit existing workflows to identify friction. You will be responsible for the creation of new SOPs that bridge gaps between Sales, Support, Customer Experience and Engineering.
• Operational Rigor: Establish clear Operating Level Agreements (OLAs) with cross-functional partners to ensure accountability and predictable response times.

People Betterment & Cultural Leadership

• Mentorship & Strategic Maturity: Mentor your team on advanced strategic thinking. Move them beyond tactical troubleshooting toward long-term negotiation strategies, proactive risk assessment, and analytical reporting tailored for an executive audience.
• Cross-Functional Coaching: Lead a company-wide initiative to uplevel the de-escalation skill set of the broader Support and Operations organizations. Implement training programs focused on "Betterment Identification," empowering front-line teams to pre-emptively manage issues before they require executive-level intervention.

Qualifications 

Twilio values diverse experiences from all kinds of industries, and we encourage everyone who meets the required qualifications to apply. If your career is just starting or hasn't followed a traditional path, don't let that stop you from considering Twilio. We are always looking for people who will bring something new to the table!

*Required:

• Ability to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and demonstrate your dedication to the customer experience through people management, coaching and performance management for supporting employee experience
• Experience being inclusive, while working with team members in different geographic locations and time zones
• Learning mindset, ability to learn new things, be curious and build internal and external relevant knowledge
• Demonstrated ability to identify process and team improvements, innovation and “Drawing the Owl” to creatively solve problems and allow your team to operate at scale
• Have proven documentation ability to “write it down” to create and curate internal and external documentation
• Have Strong English written and verbal communication skills

Desired:

• Experience: 10+ years in high-growth tech, with 7+ years in a leadership role reporting to Director-level or above.
• Business Acumen: Experience leading MORs/QBRs and presenting to executive audiences.
• Systemic Thinker: Proven ability to look at a problem and build a process to fix it, not just for one customer, but for the entire ecosystem.
• Data Literacy: Expert at using CRM (Salesforce/Zendesk) and BI tools (Tableau/Looker) to tell a story with data.
• Strategy & Execution: A unique ability to think at a 30,000-foot level (Strategic Planning) while remaining willing to "dive into the weeds" when a Tier 0 crisis hits.

Location

This role will be remote, but is not eligible to be hired in CA, CT, NJ, NY, PA, WA.

Travel 

We prioritize connection and opportunities to build relationships with our customers and each other. For this role, you may be required to travel occasionally to participate in project or team in-person meetings.

What We Offer

Working at Twilio offers many benefits, including competitive pay, generous time off, ample parental and wellness leave, healthcare, a retirement savings program, and much more. Offerings vary by location.

Compensation

*Please note this role is open to candidates outside of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Washington D.C., and Washington State. The information below is provided for candidates hired in those locations only.

The estimated pay ranges for this role are as follows:

• Based in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont or Washington D.C. : $141,520.00 - $176,900.00.
• This role may be eligible to participate in Twilio’s equity plan and corporate bonus plan. All roles are generally eligible for the following benefits: health care insurance, 401(k) retirement account, paid sick time, paid personal time off, paid parental leave.

The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location. 

Application deadline information

Applications for this role are intended to be accepted until September 21, but may change based on business needs.