Director, Customer Support Escalation Center (Contract

About the role

You are tasked with developing and executing a comprehensive, customer-first strategy for the Global Hootsuite Customer Support Escalation Center. You own the end-to-end management of the escalation function, ensuring alignment with Hootsuite's broader business objectives and support vision. This position requires you to plan, organize, monitor, track, and report on service levels delivered by the escalation center to internal and external stakeholders. You will be accountable for continuous service improvements to the escalation center operational framework and for elevating Hootsuite's ability to effectively service customers at scale. In this capacity, you will partner with senior leaders across Customer Office, Revenue, Product, and Development to resolve intricate escalated bugs and incidents. You will foster a culture of ownership and accountability while driving proactive guidance to minimize potential risks to customers through root cause analysis. This is a contract role based in Bucharest, Romania, operating under a hybrid work model until August 2027.

Key facts

What you'll do

Develop strategies, enhance performance, and foster alignment of objectives within the Customer Support Escalation Center, overseeing the global bug and incident management process as well as the advanced technical and 24x7 on call Business Critical Support process.

Establish and operationalize high levels of customer service standards by developing and implementing systems, processes, and people to consistently deliver services tied to organizational strategies and KPIs.

Drive continuous improvement by anticipating growth, identifying gaps, and offering proactive guidance to minimize potential risks to customers and the business.

Build robust cross-functional connections among the Customer Office, Revenue, Product, and Development leadership to tackle intricate escalated bugs and incidents and eliminate customer pain points.

Suggest methods for alleviating customer experience issues and enhancing outcomes via insights from escalations and root cause analysis.

Hire, lead, and develop a team of high performing, 'customer first' focused leaders and escalation specialists through coaching, mentorship, and continuous learning.

Ensure team alignment to the Hootsuite and Customer Support business strategy, goals, and the company's commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Serve as a positive, dynamic leader who displays the best work ethic, creative problem solving skills, a positive attitude, and a team-oriented proactive approach.

Share best practices and coach on strategy while establishing and maintaining high standards of security, reliability, scalability, performance, and quality in all Escalation Center standard operating procedures.

Requirements

Extensive years of experience in technical, product, or operational support, preferably within a Software as a Service environment.

Possess 8+ years of experience in leadership managing multi-site, geographically dispersed teams across different time zones and cultural contexts.

Demonstrate a strong understanding of product and software development processes, workflows, and lifecycle management methodologies.

Show proficiency with Salesforce Service Cloud, with Jira, Confluence, browser dev tools, and application logs such as Sumologic being considered assets for success in this role.

Exhibit a proven ability to evaluate team performance and drive continuous improvement, including leveraging AI tools to advance efficiency and operational gains.

Have a demonstrated history of rapidly absorbing technical information and developing others through mentorship, training, and capability building initiatives.

Maintain strong stakeholder influence and interpersonal skills when working alongside cross-functional partners at all organizational levels.

Embrace accountability by holding yourself and others responsible for meeting commitments and delivering on promises.

Collaborate effectively with others to deliver results, prioritizing group needs over individual needs and contributing meaningfully to the team.

Excel in process and project management by figuring out and managing the processes and timelines necessary to get work accomplished efficiently and effectively.

Make sound decisions consistently by choosing the best course of action from multiple alternatives to address business problems and opportunities.

Exercise strong priority setting skills by focusing time and energy on the most important issues and opportunities while clearly assessing the importance of tasks and decisions.

Demonstrate a solution-seeking mindset focused on tackling new challenges, solving complex problems, and moving the business forward with integrity and determination.

Practical notes

This role is a contract position lasting until August 2027. Applicants must be located in Bucharest, Romania to be considered. The position operates under a hybrid work model, allowing for flexibility in work location. There are no specified working hours outlined in the source material beyond the standard expectations for a full-time professional role. Travel requirements are not specified, and no visa information is provided beyond the location eligibility. The application process and deadlines are not detailed in the provided source.