Technical Support Specialist - L1

ai71; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

AI71 seeks a Senior L2 Technical Support Specialist to own complex, escalated issues spanning SaaS and on-prem environments. You will be the SME for key modules, drive root-cause analysis, and mentor junior staff while coordinating with engineering and product teams.

You will manage high-visibility client interactions, validate fixes in production, and contribute to process improvement, release readiness and knowledge base enhancements.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years in technical/support with 2+ years at L2 level.
• Experience handling escalated/high-visibility client issues.
• Hands-on DevOps exposure: deployments, CI/CD, containers.
• Proven mentoring or coaching of peers.

Responsibilities

• Diagnose and resolve complex L2 issues escalated from L1 across SSO, API, data integrity and perf.
• Own escalations end-to-end with precise defect reports and handoffs to L3/engineering.
• Lead major incident response and client communications as needed.
• Mentor L1/L2 staff and improve knowledge base and triage workflows.

Skills

Advanced L2 support

Root-cause analysis

Incident management

Mentorship

Executive communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Jira Service Management

Datadog

Zendesk

Statuspage

Postman

cURL

Job description

About AI71:

AI71 is an industry leader in artificial intelligence, delivering innovative solutions that empower developers, businesses and governments to solve complex challenges. AI71 builds secure, enterprise-ready applications powered by cutting-edge technology—tailored for knowledge workers and sector-specific needs. AI71 bridges the gap between advanced AI and real-world impact. Guided by a strong commitment to research and responsibility, we create transformative solutions that drive progress and empower communities.

The Role:

The Senior L2 Technical Support Specialist is an experienced technical expert who owns complex, escalated, and cross-system issues that exceed L1 scope, acts as a technical and procedural authority for the L1 and L2 teams, and serves as the bridge between clients, frontline support, and L3/engineering. This role goes beyond escalation handling — it requires deep root-cause analysis, sound judgment on incident and escalation calls, ownership of process quality, and the ability to mentor others and shape how the support function operates, across both managed SaaS and on-premises client environments.

What You’ll Do:

Technical Troubleshooting & Remediation (Advanced L2 Scope)

• Independently diagnose and resolve complex L2 issues escalated from L1 — SSO/identity federation, advanced configuration, API and integration failures, data integrity and sync issues, performance degradation, and environment-specific defects — without reliance on scripts or runbooks.
• Own ambiguous or novel issues with no existing documentation; perform root-cause analysis and apply workarounds or fixes before engaging L3/engineering.
• Perform in-depth diagnostics: analyzing application, server, and API logs; querying databases to validate data state; tracing requests across services; replicating issues in lower environments; and confirming whether an issue is client-specific, platform-wide, or a product defect.
• Own escalations end-to-end: write precise, engineer-ready defect reports and handoff notes (reproduction steps, logs, root-cause hypothesis, impact scope, attempted fixes) that minimize back-and-forth with L3/engineering.
• Act as the point of judgment on severity classification and incident declaration; participate in or coordinate major incident response, including impact assessment and client communications.
• Conduct trend and problem analysis across tickets; drive problem records and permanent fixes with engineering/product before issues become widespread.
• Serve as the subject‑matter expert (SME) for one or more platform modules, integrations, or product lines, including validating fixes and releases in your area.
• Support release and deployment activities: perform post‑deployment validation, investigate deployment‑related incidents, and help DevOps/SRE assess impact and rollback decisions.
• Use infrastructure and cloud tooling (e.g., cloud consoles, container logs, CI/CD pipeline output) to determine whether an issue stems from code, configuration, or infrastructure.

Client Relationship Management

• Own technical relationships with key/enterprise accounts and high‑visibility clients, including sensitive, escalated, or executive‑level situations.
• Lead client‑facing technical calls and working sessions for complex or long‑running issues, setting expectations and owning communication through to resolution.
• Exercise discretion in de‑escalation, including knowing when to involve management, L3, or engineering leadership versus resolving independently.
• Partner with account/client success teams on recurring technical pain points, churn risk signals, and root‑cause summaries for client reviews.
• Represent the support function’s voice in cross‑functional conversations (product, engineering, CS), including input on defect prioritization and release readiness.

Knowledge Transfer, Mentorship & Process Ownership

• Own and continuously improve the KB: audit for gaps/outdated content, write advanced troubleshooting articles, and establish documentation standards for L1 and L2.
• Design or refine triage workflows, L1‑to‑L2 and L2‑to‑L3 escalation criteria, and runbooks based on recurring failure patterns.
• Lead onboarding and technical training for L1 and L2 staff, including building training materials and upskilling paths.
• Represent L2 in retros, post‑incident reviews/RCAs, and cross‑team process discussions.
• Act as the go‑to technical escalation point for L1 agents and fellow L2 specialists on complex or unfamiliar issues.

What You’ll Bring:

• 5–8 years in technical/application support, including 2+ years at an L2 or equivalent level, with demonstrated growth in scope and ownership.
• Track record of handling escalated or high‑visibility client issues.
• Hands‑on experience working in or alongside DevOps environments: supporting deployments and releases, troubleshooting pipeline, container, or configuration‑related failures, and collaborating with DevOps/SRE teams on incidents.
• Experience mentoring, training, or informally leading support peers.
• Advanced knowledge of complex enterprise platforms, OS environments (Windows/Mac/Linux), and enterprise auth patterns (SAML/OIDC SSO, MFA, role‑based permissions, identity providers).
• Proficient in log analysis, admin/config tooling, and backend diagnostics to resolve issues without engineering support.
• Solid networking and API knowledge (DNS, VPN, proxies/firewalls, TLS/certificates, REST APIs, HTTP status codes, tools like Postman or cURL).
• Intermediate SQL for querying and validating data state; basic scripting (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, or Python) for diagnostics and automation.
• Hands‑on experience with ticketing, monitoring, and observability tools (e.g., Zendesk, Jira Service Management, Statuspage, Datadog).
• Strong knowledge of the end‑to‑end SDLC and application support lifecycle, including release, deployment, and change management processes.
• Experience owning the creation and maintenance of SOPs and KB content related to applications.
• Working understanding of the product’s architecture (services, databases, integrations, infrastructure) to isolate where in the stack an issue originates.
• Proactive monitoring through dashboards, alerts, and log reviews, with the ability to act on alerts before clients are impacted.
• Working knowledge of DevOps practices and tools: CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps), Git version control, containers (Docker, basic Kubernetes), and a major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP), enough to read build/deployment logs and trace environment‑related failures.
• Sound independent judgment — knows what to solve, what to escalate to L3/engineering, and when to loop in management.
• Strong coaching and feedback skills; comfortable mentoring L1 and L2 peers without formal authority.
• Executive‑ready communication for high‑stakes client situations.
• Process‑oriented mindset with a bias toward fixing root causes, not just symptoms.
• Calm, credible presence in escalated or high‑pressure situations.
• Collaborative across functions (engineering, product, CS/account management).
• Comfort supporting clients running both managed SaaS and on‑premises / air‑gapped installs.

Great Pluses / Preferred Experience

• SaaS/platform support experience.
• Experience with the specific product/stack.
• Arabic language skills.

Why AI71:

• Mission‑Driven Work: Work on cutting‑edge AI applications with a talented and passionate team, solving real‑world challenges in critical sectors.
• Unparalleled Opportunity: This is a chance to innovate and solve real‑world challenges using AI at a company with unique access to world‑leading models and resources.
• Career Growth: We offer competitive compensation, benefits, and significant career growth opportunities as a foundational member of the team.
• World‑Class Environment: Enjoy a flexible working environment and the latest tools & technologies needed to do your best work.