Customer Support Manager

Remote from: USA
Salary, yearly, USD: 140,000 - 165,000
Department: Customer Success
Employment type: Full Time,
Job posted: 18 Jun 2026
Apply before: 18 Jul 2026
Experience level: Midweight
Views / Applies: 105 / 35

About company

About Chainguard

Securing the software supply chain with hardened container images and comprehensive supply chain security solutions.

Computer & Network Security
2021

Actively Hiring

AI Summary

This is a Customer Support Manager role at Chainguard, a company providing hardened open source software. The role involves managing the AMER Technical Support Engineering team, owning the L2/L3 escalation boundary, and driving operational excellence. The ideal candidate has 4+ years managing technical support engineers in production environments and deep technical knowledge in Linux and container ecosystems. The position requires strong communication skills and the ability to engage with engineering teams as a peer.

Role DNA

Job Complexity

Easy Hard

Pace & Pressure

Relaxed Fast-paced

Autonomy Level

Guided Full Ownership

Communication Load

Independent Highly Collaborative

AI Insight This role is rated 4 due to the need to manage a technical team while designing and operating escalation processes, requiring both management skills and deep technical credibility.

Salary Analysis

AI Insight The offered salary of $140,000-$165,000 is highly competitive, well above the market median for Customer Support Manager roles. It reflects the seniority and technical requirements of the position.

Key Skills

Customer Support Technical Support Management Escalation Management Linux Container Security Kubernetes AI Tooling Team Development Cross-functional Collaboration

Cover Letter Sample

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing to express my interest in the Customer Support Manager position at Chainguard. With over 5 years of experience managing technical support engineers in fast-paced environments, I have a proven track record of designing and optimizing escalation processes that improve team efficiency and customer satisfaction.

My technical background in Linux, container security, and Kubernetes ecosystems aligns well with Chainguard's focus on secure open source software. I have successfully implemented AI-assisted triage tools that reduced resolution times by 20%, directly contributing to the company's bottom line.

I am excited about the opportunity to bring my expertise in escalation management, team development, and cross-functional collaboration to support Chainguard's mission. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

Possible Interview Questions

Can you describe a time you designed or improved an escalation process? What metrics did you use to measure success?

At my previous company, I redesigned the L2/L3 escalation boundary by defining clear routing criteria and handoff artifacts. I tracked metrics like time-to-acknowledge, resolution time, and customer satisfaction scores, which improved by 30% after implementation.

How would you handle a situation where an engineering team is unwilling to accept an escalation due to capacity constraints?

I would first review the escalation to ensure it meets quality standards, then work with the engineering manager to prioritize based on impact. I would also look for patterns to proactively address root causes and adjust capacity planning.

What technical skills do you consider essential for a support engineer in this role, and how do you develop them in your team?

Essential skills include Linux troubleshooting, container runtime knowledge (Docker, containerd), Kubernetes basics, and scripting. I develop these through hands-on training, pair debugging, and career leveling frameworks with actionable growth plans.

Describe your experience with AI-assisted support tooling. How do you evaluate its effectiveness?

I have implemented LLM-assisted triage that automatically categorizes and routes tickets. Effectiveness is measured by deflection rate (percentage of tickets resolved without human intervention) and time saved for support engineers.

How would you balance the needs of Customer Success teams with maintaining technical rigor in support?

I would establish clear boundaries: Customer Success can provide input on customer sentiment, but support quality standards and escalation criteria are defined by engineering. Regular cross-functional meetings would align on priorities without diluting technical excellence.

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.
Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.
Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.

The role, in a nutshell:

You will manage the AMER Technical Support Engineering team, part of a broader global follow-the-sun support organization under the Engineering organization. Your primary accountability is the quality and reliability of the escalation path: from customer-reported issue to engineering resolution. You own the operational layer between L2 and L3, which means you think about ticket routing, escalation criteria, handoff quality, and engineering capacity as an interconnected system, not as separate concerns.

This role is for an engineering-minded Support Manager with deep technical knowledge and strong customer relationship skills — someone who can drive rigorous engineering outcomes while delivering an exceptional customer experience.

What you’ll do:

Escalation Operations

Own the L2/L3 escalation boundary: define routing criteria, review escalation quality, and drive down unnecessary L3 load without increasing customer time-to-resolution
Maintain and improve escalation intake workflows including triage standards, ticket hygiene, and handoff artifacts for engineering partners
Track escalation health metrics and report on trends to engineering leadership; identify capacity risks in eng teams before they become bottlenecks
Run escalation retrospectives to close the loop on resolution patterns and feed signal back into product and documentation

Team Development

Manage, coach, support and develop the AMER Technical Support Engineering team, with direct attention to technical depth and debugging rigor
Operate career leveling frameworks for IC growth (L1 through L6); hold bar on promotions and ensure growth plans are actionable
Coordinate AMER handoffs with APAC and EMEA peer managers to maintain follow-the-sun coverage quality: clear ownership at every handoff, with uninterrupted SLA performance
Identify and close skill gaps proactively, particularly in Linux fundamentals, container security, and Kubernetes ecosystems

Tooling and Automation

Own the support tooling stack including ticketing systems, AI-assisted triage, and deflection tooling
Partner with engineering to build and maintain LLM-assisted workflows for escalation intake, ticket quality review, and knowledge retrieval
Drive adoption of AI tooling across the team; know where automation adds leverage and where it introduces risk
Use support data to surface product quality signals and operational trends to engineering and product leadership

Cross-Functional Execution

Serve as the primary interface between Technical Support Engineering and product engineering teams for escalated issues
Maintain a functional relationship with Customer Success and GTM without allowing those teams to define support quality standards or escalation criteria
Contribute to product feedback loops through reproducible, well-scoped bug reports and actionable pattern analysis

What We Are Looking For:

4+ years managing technical support engineers or software engineers in a production-facing environment
Demonstrated ability to design and operate an escalation process: not just follow one
Technical credibility in the Linux ecosystem; comfortable reading logs, understanding container runtimes, and engaging with engineering teams as an active peer
Strong written communication; capable of writing clear escalation summaries, retrospective reports, and leadership-facing metrics briefs
Track record of developing engineers through real feedback, structured growth plans, and calibrated performance conversations
Comfort operating in a globally distributed support org with peer managers in other regions; strong handoff discipline

Nice to have:

Experience with container security, DevSecOps tooling, Kubernetes, or open source software ecosystems
Familiarity with Zendesk or similar ticketing platforms at an operational level (workflows, configuration, reporting)
Exposure to AI-assisted support tooling, LLM-based triage, or knowledge retrieval systems

How This Role Is Measured:

Your success will be evaluated on outcomes that require both technical judgment and operational discipline:

L3 escalation score (quality and completeness of escalations reaching engineering)
Mean time to resolution on P0 and P1 tickets
L2 deflection rate with explicit accounting for customer time-to-resolution, not raw deflection volume
Engineer retention and growth within your team
Coverage model reliability: no dropped handoffs, no SLA misses due to scheduling gaps

Base Salary Range

$140,000—$165,000 USD

About Us

We live and breathe our company values:

We are customer obsessed — We focus on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better.
We have a bias for intentional action — We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) — We are solving an important problem which takes focus, but we also like to enjoy the journey.
We trust each other and assume good intentions — We’re transparent with decisions to empower team members to make well informed decisions.

A few of the benefits we offer:

Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!).
100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.
∞ Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child’s first year.

If your experience is close but doesn’t fulfill all requirements, please apply. We’re building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring “Chainguardians” with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.

Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Chainguard will process your personal data in accordance with Chainguard’s Global Candidate Privacy Notice.

Apply now >