Process Improvement & Automation Lead​/Escalation Manager

Position Overview

The Process Improvement & Automation Lead owns the enterprise escalation and service‑recovery process so that complex issues exceeding standard support channels are resolved quickly, transparently, and consistently. This role serves as the central coordination point for high‑priority incidents, aligning support, engineering, and business stakeholders to restore services and protect customer relationships in a demanding client environment.

The position drives continuous improvement and automation of escalation workflows by analyzing incident patterns, uncovering systemic problems, and refining runbooks, communication practices, and performance metrics. Mapped to the IT Services Supervisor standard job, the lead provides front‑line operational leadership to a small IT team, ensuring escalation handling is efficient, well‑governed, and aligned with broader service‑management objectives.

• Lead end‑to‑end escalation workflows that span multiple support tiers and business units, defining clear criteria for when cases are elevated beyond normal support and ensuring ownership is assigned at each stage.
• Coordinate cross‑functional technical and business teams during complex service disruptions, facilitating timely decisions, impact assessment, and clear status updates to leadership and affected stakeholders.
• Utilize ITSM and CRM platforms to log, route, and prioritize escalated issues, maintaining complete case histories, audit trails, and documentation required for compliance and post‑incident review.
• Analyze escalation and incident trends—including volumes, root causes, and customer‑impact indicators—to identify systemic issues and recommend corrective actions, process changes, or automation opportunities.
• Develop, maintain, and socialize standardized runbooks, major‑incident playbooks, and communication templates that guide responders under time pressure and promote consistent practices across shifts and teams.
• Monitor performance indicators such as response and resolution times, backlog, and customer‑satisfaction measures, and use these metrics to drive operational improvements and team productivity.
• Collaborate with IT operations and service‑delivery leaders to align escalation and service‑recovery processes with existing systems operations, change controls, and short‑term systems improvement plans.
• Supervise and mentor IT team members supporting escalation and operations activities, including setting expectations, monitoring performance, coaching, and enforcing organizational policies and core values.

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, or a related field preferred, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 4–6 years of experience in information technology, including 0–2 years leading or supervising IT staff in operations, incident management, or escalation management roles.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating escalated or high‑priority incidents across multiple technical teams, with responsibility for communication, documentation, and resolution outcomes.
• Practical knowledge of ITIL‑aligned incident and problem‑management practices and hands‑on experience with incident management tools or ITSM platforms.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to manage multiple escalations simultaneously in a mission‑critical environment.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust investigation and to work in a U.S.‑only federal IT context, with U.S. citizenship as specified.
• Willingness and ability to travel 10–25% as needed for stakeholder engagement and operational coordination.

• Experience acting as a technical escalation or major‑incident lead for large‑scale outages or critical customer accounts in an enterprise or federal IT environment.
• ITIL Foundation or similar service‑management certification demonstrating formal understanding of best‑practice processes.
• Background in process improvement or automation efforts focused on IT operations or customer support, such as implementing standardized playbooks, dashboards, or workflow…