Founding Senior Customer Engineer

ApplyMint; Philippines; On-site; PHP 7,112,000 - 9,957,000; Full time

Job summary

Tailscale is seeking a Founding Senior Customer Engineer to establish our APAC Customer Engineering presence, starting in Singapore. This hands-on role focuses on solving complex networking problems and delivering outstanding customer experiences across the region.

As the regional leader, you’ll hire and onboard 1–3 Engineers, set standards, mentor teammates, and collaborate with global teams to ensure SLA adherence and scalable support. Based in Singapore with local office days.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in a technical SaaS support role.
• Experience coaching or mentoring; people-management helpful but not required.
• Proven ability to establish teams or processes in new regions or startups.
• Strong networking background (TCP/IP, DNS, firewalls, routing).

Responsibilities

• Lead the founding Singapore customer engineering team and drive regional growth.
• Set culture and standards for the new region.
• Oversee day-to-day support for 1–3 Tier1/2 engineers.
• Hire onboarding mentoring for regional reports.
• Coordinate in-office time to support new hires.
• Ensure SLA/SLO for APAC tickets and global queue health.
• Act as escalation point for complex issues and difficult customers.
• Align regional outcomes with the global strategy with VP.
• Analyze CSAT and regional data to surface insights to leadership.
• Refine workflows and tooling with Support and CX Operations.
• Conduct QA reviews to maintain technical accuracy and brand voice.

Skills

SaaS support

Technical leadership

Team building

Networking basics

Job description

About Tailscale

Tailscale is building the new Internet by delivering software that makes it easy to securely interconnect people and their devices, no matter where they are. From hobbyists to multinational corporations, teams of every size use Tailscale each day to protect their networks, share access to internal tools, and more. We’re building a future for the Internet that’s easy, sensible, and safe, like it used to be. Founded in 2019 and fully distributed, we’re backed by Accel, CRV, Insight, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital.

About the Role

Tailscale is seeking a Founding Senior Customer Engineer to establish our Customer Engineering presence in Singapore and across APAC. Initially, this will be a hands-on role focused on solving complex networking problems and delivering an exceptional experience for our customers. As the regional function grows, you’ll hire and onboard 1-3 Customer Engineers, helping shape the team’s culture, working practices, and technical standards. It’s an opportunity to build from the ground up, lead through expertise and example, and help provide follow-the-sun coverage for our global customer base.

This is a full-time position based in our Singapore office, with two days per week in the office. Additionally, this role is expected to overlap with NAMER and EMEA hours as needed to onboard successfully during the first 3 months and on an ongoing basis to resolve issues that require internal collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the founding regional hire for the Singapore customer engineering team, leading the local expansion and recruitment efforts.
• Build and establish Tailscale’s company culture and operational standards within the new Singapore region.
• Manage day-to-day support operations for a pod of 1-3 Tier 1 and Tier 2 Support Engineers.
• Lead the hiring, onboarding, technical mentoring, and career coaching for all direct reports in the region.
• Coordinate in-office time to foster team collaboration, establish the local office environment, and support new hires.
• Oversee the regional support queue to ensure SLA/SLO adherence, focusing on APAC specific tickets and partnering on global queue health.
• Act as an internal escalation point for both complex technical issues and difficult customer situations.
• Partner with the VP of Customer Engineering to align regional team outcomes with the broader global strategy.
• Analyze regional support data and customer feedback (CSAT) to surface trends and insights to leadership.
• Refine support workflows and internal tooling in collaboration with Support and CX Operations.
• Conduct regular quality assurance reviews on tickets to maintain high technical accuracy and a consistent brand voice.

Experience & Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in a technical support role within a SaaS environment.
• Experience leading through technical expertise, coaching, or formal mentoring; previous people‑management experience is beneficial but not essential.
• Proven experience building teams or establishing operational processes in a new region or startup setting.
• Strong technical background in networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, firewalls, and routing).