Manager, Support & Operations

Podium; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health & wellbeing allowance

4 weeks annual leave

Melbourne office in CBD

Snacks & drinks

Catered lunch

Job summary

Podium is seeking a Manager, Support & Operations in Melbourne to lead Product Support Specialists in the Philippines and Pakistan, and to own how support work flows across local and offshore teams from a Melbourne base.

This senior, hands‑on role combines people leadership with operational ownership, overseeing triage, escalation and resolution while ensuring CX alignment with Engineering and Product. You’ll influence outcomes across time zones.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in technical or product support.
• 2+ years leading a support team.
• Experience managing distributed or offshore teams.
• Proven ability to drive accountability through influence with peers and partner teams.
• Customer-first mindset with clear communication across channels.

Responsibilities

• Own how tickets move from triage through each support tier, escalation and resolution.
• Define ownership, handover expectations and follow‑through across local and offshore teams, and hold teams to them.
• Act as the escalation point for complex or high‑priority cases.
• Monitor workflow health (ageing tickets, handover quality, escalation follow‑through) and act early on bottlenecks.
• Make sure every escalated issue has a named owner, a scheduled next update and a confirmed outcome.
• Communicate confirmed resolutions back to customers and the teams involved.
• Hold Product and Engineering to agreed SLAs on escalated issues.
• Establish shared support processes with the TPS Manager.
• Lead, coach and develop Product Support Specialists in the Philippines and Pakistan.

Skills

Tech support

SaaS experience

Team leadership

Distributed/offshore teams

Data-driven metrics

Tools

Zendesk

Salesforce

Intercom

Job description

Podium brings AI Employees to local businesses, turning every conversation into revenue. We’re trusted by 60,000+ businesses across Auto, Home Services and Aesthetics, capturing and converting leads 24/7.

In under 24 months we crossed $100M in AI Agent ARR, growing 300% year-over-year, and we’ve deployed 10,000 AI employees. We’ve been named Best AI Implementation by Inc. Magazine, highlighted by OpenAI for building revenue-driving AI Agents, and ranked the #1 AI Agent for Business Operations by G2.

We hire exceptional people, hold them to high standards, and give them room to grow. If you’re hungry to learn and ready to get to work, you won’t find a better place to accelerate your career.

About the role

As Manager, Support & Operations, you’ll own how support work flows across our local and offshore teams, and directly lead our Product Support Specialists in the Philippines and Pakistan from your base in Melbourne. Your teams answer how-to questions and troubleshoot customer inquiries so businesses can stay focused on growing.

This is a senior, hands‑on role that combines people leadership with operational ownership. You’ll be accountable for how every ticket moves through support, from triage and prioritisation through each tier, escalation and resolution, with clear owners and follow‑through at every stage. You’ll also make sure CX, customers and Engineering stay aligned on escalated issues until the resolution is confirmed and communicated back.

You’ll work in close partnership with the TPS Manager (who retains TPS people leadership and technical delivery), and you’ll get results through influence as much as authority, working with Product, Engineering and the wider Support organisation.

What you’ll be doing

Own how tickets move from triage through each support tier, technical escalation and resolution

Define ownership, handover expectations and follow‑through across local and offshore teams, and hold teams to them

Act as the escalation point for complex or high‑priority cases

Monitor workflow health (ageing tickets, handover quality, escalation follow‑through) and act early on bottlenecks

Make sure every escalated issue has a named owner, a scheduled next update and a confirmed outcome

Communicate confirmed resolutions back to customers and the teams involved

Hold Product and Engineering to agreed SLAs on escalated issues

Act as the Voice of the Customer, bringing organised insights to Product

Establish shared support processes with the TPS Manager

Agree and regularly review boundaries and handoffs between Support and TPS

Lead, coach and develop Product Support Specialists in the Philippines and Pakistan

Own team performance against CSAT, first response and resolution times, quality scores and SLA adherence

Run 1:1s, team meetings and performance conversations, and support career growth

Manage coverage, rosters and handovers across time zones

Recruit, onboard and train new team members with local leadership and HR

Keep internal documentation current and well used

Train the team and broader customer‑facing teams on products and new features

Use data to spot trends, forecast capacity and report to senior leadership

What you’ll bring

5+ years in technical or product support within SaaS or tech, including 2+ years leading a support team

A track record of building support operations, including triage, tiering, escalation and handover processes others actually follow

Proven ability to drive accountability through influence with peers and partner teams who don’t report to you

Experience managing distributed or offshore teams across countries and time zones, with cultural awareness and the ability to build trust remotely

Strong coaching skills and a history of building motivated, high‑performing teams

Strong troubleshooting skills and the ability to vet product issues with Product and Engineering

Experience running closed‑loop escalation communication

A customer‑first mindset and clear communication across email, SMS, phone and video

A data‑driven approach to support metrics and reporting

Flexibility to work across time zones as needed

Experience with Zendesk, Salesforce or Intercom is highly regarded

What success looks like

Ageing tickets are visible, owned and moving, with nothing stalled between tiers or teams

Handovers are complete, timely and need no rework

Every escalation is followed through to a confirmed outcome

Offshore CSAT, response and resolution times, quality and SLA targets are met

Engagement and retention are strong in both the Philippines and Pakistan

Open and transparent culture

$650/month health and wellbeing allowance, spend it your way

4 weeks’ annual leave

Melbourne CBD office on the corner of Queen & Collins St, with end‑of‑trip facilities and bike storage

Snacks and drinks always stocked

Catered lunch in the last week of every month