Support Escalation Manager (Area Support Lead)

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.

Area Support Lead Reactive Support Excellence
With over 18,000 employees worldwide, the Microsoft Customer Experience & Success (CE&S) organization is responsible for the strategy, design, and implementation of Microsoft’s end-to-end customer experience. Come join CE&S and help us build a future where customers come to us not only because we provide industry-leading products and services, but also because we provide a differentiated customer experience.

Advocacy & Customer Trust (ACT) delivers connected support experiences for our Unified customers to gain, maintain and sometime rebuild their trust. The Area Engagement Team leads education of our field teams, addresses reactive support challenges for Areas and individual customers and partners closely with our Custopmer Seccess teams and , underpinned by a robust governance process to improve customer experience across each area.

The Area Support Lead Reactive Support Excellence (ASL RSE) role in CCSE acts as a point of contact for CSS across the Areas, working closely with the CSS Leadership team (LT) sponsors and other key stakeholders responsible for the following activities:

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.

The Area Support Lead Reactive Support Excellence (ASL RSE) drives a security-first, customer-obsessed support experience by strengthening field readiness, leading critical customer engagements, and partnering across CSS, CSU and engineering to protect and grow revenue. This role owns execution of key programs, including Renewal Assist, translates support strategy into Area/OU operating plans, and improves customer health and resiliency for Major customers.

Key responsibilities

• Champion security-first execution: Drive 100% adoption of security-enhanced processes and tools (including CSS Secure Future Initiative), validate compliance through ongoing reviews, and reinforce security culture in day-to-day operations.
• Own field engagement and readiness: Educate CSU and field teams on how to proactively and reactively engage CSS, including escalation paths; run an always-on training cadence; publish and maintain Area/OU plans to address top support pain points and improve readiness over time.
• Lead Renewal Assist program execution: Ensure timely triage and renewal-win planning, engage the right resources, partner with account teams through renewal dates, and produce win/loss analysis—especially where reactive support risk impacts renewals.
• Lead customer engagements and escalation management: Prioritize Upper Major customers; lead confidence calls and executive-level engagements to restore trust; coordinate CSS, engineering and CE&S resources; act as the voice of the field on support offering effectiveness and contract right-sizing.
• Improve customer health and resiliency: Partner with CSU leadership to build and execute plans that improve customer health signals (e.g., MIRP, ZR, Priority Recommendations, Reactivity Health) for priority customers; drive measurable improvements and share best-practices across the team.
• Develop technical and AI-first capability: Complete required training on time, maintain a development plan, build deep technical skills, complete AI-900 certification, and apply AI in at least two aspects of the role to improve customer outcomes.
• Contribute to service improvement: Participate in ACT/CSS improvement initiatives that measurably improve support experience; document and share quarterly success stories and recognize partners and peers.

Required Qualifications:
Master's Degree in technology, business, or related field AND 4+ years technology industry, customer service, or related experience 
 OR Bachelor's Degree in technology, business, or related field AND 6+ years technology industry, customer service, or related experience 
 OR 9+ years technology industry, customer service, or related experience
 OR equivalent experience

Additional Required Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in customer success and/or customer support, business operations, change management and project management.
• Executive maturity, organizational agility and strong impact and influence competencies, with experience working on global teams.
• Ability to work effectively across groups (business and functions) in a fast-paced work environment, influencing without authority and driving work through others.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Masters Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND 8+ years work experience in program management, process management, process improvement OR equivalent experience
• Experience working with Microsoft Partners, specifically in support, offerings or other strategic roles.

Support Escalation Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $116,900 - $203,600 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 $148,400 - $222,600 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

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.