Escalation Manager

Gong.io; New York, Austin (NY, TX); On-site; USD 105,000 - 143,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision

Wellbeing stipend

Mental health benefits

401(k)

Education stipend

Flexible vacation

Parental leave

Recharge days

Work from home stipend

Job summary

Gong is seeking a strategic Escalation Manager to own and orchestrate high‑stakes enterprise account crises across GTM, R&D, Product and Support. You will translate complex roadblocks into actionable requirements, marshal cross‑functional resources, and guide stakeholders to timely, data‑driven resolutions.

In this highly visible role, you will build escalation playbooks, analyze incident trends, and shape long‑term improvements that safeguard Gong’s revenue retention and customer experience for

Qualifications

• 5+ years in TAM, Enterprise Support Leadership, Incident Management, or TPM in a complex B2B SaaS environment.
• Ability to translate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong communication to align teams with varying levels of technical proficiency.
• Calm, authoritative leadership during high-stakes enterprise crises.
• Customer empathy guiding partnerships over transactional support.

Responsibilities

• Orchestrate escalation lifecycle for high-stakes enterprise crises and drive cross-functional alignment.
• Bridge GTM and technical teams to ensure clear, data-driven resolutions.
• Mobilize resources and deploy engineering or support without executive escalation.
• Guide internal teams and present root causes and remediation plans to leadership.
• Develop proactive incident insights and drive long-term product/infrastructure improvements.
• Build and mature escalation workflows, playbooks, and post-mortems.

Skills

Years of experience

Technical literacy

Communication skills

Crisis management

Customer empathy

Cross-functional influence

Root-cause mentality

Impact-driven

Strategic thinking

Enterprise SaaS

Job description

Gong harnesses the power of AI to transform how revenue teams win. The Gong Revenue AI Operating System unifies data, insights, and workflows into a single, trusted system that observes, guides, and acts alongside the world’s most successful revenue teams. Powered by the Gong Revenue Graph, AI‑powered intelligence, specialized agents, and trusted applications, Gong helps more than 5,000 companies around the world deeply understand their teams and customers, automate critical sales workflows, and close more deals with less effort. For more information, visit www.gong.io.

At Gong, you will join a company built on innovative products, ambitious goals, and passionate people. We are shaping the future of revenue intelligence and we want people who are excited to build what comes next. You will work with a team that dreams big, moves fast, and cares deeply about the craft and about each other. Here, transparency and trust are core to how we operate, and every person has the opportunity to make a visible impact. If you want to grow, stretch, and do work that truly matters, Gong is the place to do the best work of your career.

As our strategic Escalation Manager, you will be the definitive owner and quarterback guiding our most critical, complex upmarket customer crises to resolution. We are scaling rapidly and need a driven, dedicated leader to own the lifecycle of high‑stakes enterprise account escalations from the moment a risk state is triggered to its final resolution.

This is a highly visible, cross‑functional role sitting directly at the intersection of our Go‑To‑Market (GTM) teams and our technical organizations (R&D, Product, and Support). Rather than acting as a passive intermediary, you will build a deep understanding of the Gong platform, translate complex roadblocks into actionable technical requirements, deploy the right resources, and masterfully manage both internal and external stakeholders. Crucially, you will analyze incident trends to build proactive triaging frameworks, optimize cross‑team collaboration, and help us engineer a more resilient customer experience.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Orchestrate the Escalation Lifecycle: Serve as the single point of contact and ultimate owner for high‑stakes enterprise account crises. Drive cross‑functional alignment, define the internal point of view, and engineer resolution strategies alongside account teams.
• Bridge the GTM & Technical Divide: Act as the strategic liaison between GTM teams (who require relationship management and crisp communication) & technical organizations (Support, R&D, & Product teams who require concrete, reproducible data).
• Decisively Mobilize Resources: Step into highly ambiguous, complex situations, accurately assess technical and business impacts, and deploy engineering or support resources independently without relying on executive intervention.
• Manage Senior Stakeholders: Guide internal account teams through tense customer scenarios and confidently present technical root causes, remediation plans, and ongoing guidance to both internal executives and customer‑side leadership.
• Drive Systemic Prevention: Partner with R&D and Support leadership to transform reactive incidents into proactive insights; identify underlying gaps (like missing metrics or alerting) and advocate for long‑term product and infrastructure improvements.
• Build the Escalation Playbook: Mature existing escalation workflows by designing repeatable frameworks, communication templates, and post‑mortem processes that upskill frontline GTM teams.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ Years of Relevant Experience: A proven track record in Technical Account Management (TAM), Enterprise Support Leadership, Incident Management, or Technical Program Management (TPM) within a complex B2B SaaS environment.
• Technical Literacy: The ability to “speak engineer” and comfortably navigate discussions regarding platform reliability, system architecture, APIs, and data flows, translating these complex concepts into business impacts for customers. (Coding: not required, but a bonus!).
• Exceptional Communication Skills: A masterful ability to translate high‑complexity technical challenges for non‑technical stakeholders, ensuring clarity and alignment across teams with varying levels of technical proficiency.
• Crisis Command and High EQ: Deep emotional intelligence and situational authority. You are the calmest person in the room when an enterprise account is at risk, capable of naturally de‑escalating tense situations with both customers and internal sales teams.
• Relentless Customer Empathy: A practice of navigating every engineering, product, or support intersection with the customer’s experience as the primary North Star, transforming transactional support into a true strategic partnership.
• Cross‑Functional Influence: A demonstrated ability to align, hold accountable, and influence Support, R&D leads, and GTM stakeholders effectively without having formal authority over them.
• A Root‑Cause Mentality: A history of turning tactical fixes into strategic wins. You look beyond immediate resolution to identify and fix the underlying process or product gaps that allowed the issue to happen in the first place.
• Drive Massive, Measurable Impact: You will directly safeguard Gong’s revenue retention and elevate the customer experience by turning high‑stakes crises into opportunities to build lifelong raving fans!
• Influence Organizational Strategy: By taking the reins during critical events, you will naturally advise and empower Support and GTM leadership, shaping how our organization interfaces with our largest accounts.
• Scale and Build from the Ground Up: This isn’t a rigid, legacy position—you will have the autonomy to mature our existing workflows, design new frameworks, and actively build the future of enterprise escalations at Gong.

PERKS & BENEFITS

• We offer Gongsters a variety of medical, dental, and vision plans, designed to fit you and your family’s needs.
• Wellbeing Fund ­– flexible wellness stipend to support a healthy lifestyle.
• Mental Health benefits with covered therapy and coaching.
• 401(k) program to help you invest in your future.
• Education & learning stipend for personal growth and development.
• Flexible vacation time to promote a healthy work‑life blend.
• Paid parental leave to support you and your family.
• Company‑wide recharge days each quarter.
• Work from home stipend to help you succeed in a remote environment.

The annual salary hiring range for this position is $105,000 - $143,000 USD.

Compensation is based on factors unique to each candidate, including, but not limited to, job‑related skills, qualification, education, experience, and location. At Gong, we have a location‑based compensation structure, which means there may be a different range for candidates in other locations. The total compensation package for this position, in addition to base compensation, may include incentive compensation, bonus, equity, and benefits. Some of our sales compensation programs also offer the potential to achieve above targeted earnings for those who exceed their sales targets.

Gong is an equal‑opportunity employer. We believe that diversity is integral to our success, and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, military status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.