Director, Technical Support Engineering

About StarTree

At StarTree, we’re building the future of real-time analytics, empowering businesses to derive actionable insights from their data, and creating opportunities for new revenue streams. Powered by Apache Pinot, our platform serves as the backbone for some of the world’s largest companies, including LinkedIn, Uber, Target, and many others. We’re backed by leading investors, including GGV Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and CRV, who recognize our potential to disrupt the analytics space. Named one of The Information’s 50 Most Promising Startups and one of CRN’s Coolest Cloud Computing Startups, StarTree continues to grow and push the boundaries of what’s possible in analytics.

About the Role

As the Director of Technical Support Engineering, you will play a pivotal role in scaling StarTree’s Technical Support organization. You will oversee a team of skilled Technical Support Engineers (TSEs), guiding them to deliver a top-tier support experience to StarTree’s global customers. In this role, you’ll focus on mentorship and professional development, driving operational excellence and implementing scalable processes to set the team up for long-term success. You will also work closely with cross-functional teams to integrate customer feedback into the product roadmap, helping ensure StarTree continues to meet customer needs.

What You’ll Do

• Lead, Mentor, and Develop the Team: Manage and coach a team of Technical Support Engineers, fostering their growth and development. Provide mentorship to build a customer-focused, high-performance culture, and lead by example in tackling complex support issues.
• Build Scalable Operations: Develop and implement processes that improve the team’s efficiency and scalability. Use data and analytics to set productivity targets, monitor progress, and leverage insights to continuously refine workflows.
• Enhance Knowledge Sharing: Oversee the creation and maintenance of documentation, knowledge base articles, and troubleshooting guides to enable faster resolution times and support team scalability. Empower the team to document new learnings and solutions for future use.
• Customer Success and Escalations: Act as the escalation point for high-priority cases, collaborating with internal teams (Product, Customer Success, Engineering) to drive quick and effective resolution. Ensure customer satisfaction by focusing on proactive support and relationship-building.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with the Product Management and Engineering teams to provide feedback from customers that influence product improvements. Work cross-functionally to enhance support processes and streamline handoffs.
• Talent Acquisition and Development: Recruit and onboard high-quality talent to meet the growing needs of the team. Lead the onboarding process for new hires, ensuring they receive comprehensive training and are set up for success.
• Mentorship and Career Growth: Facilitate career development by guiding TSEs through professional training, certifications, and skill-building. Emphasize continuous learning and provide pathways for advancement within the team.
• Operational Excellence & Process Optimization: Lead initiatives that improve team productivity, customer satisfaction, and response times. Regularly assess and refine support workflows to maintain alignment with organizational goals and customer expectations.

Who You Are

• Experienced Leader: 5+ years of experience managing technical support or engineering teams in a SaaS or software environment. You have a demonstrated track record of building and scaling technical teams.
• Customer-Centric Problem Solver: You’re passionate about customer success, have a strong technical background in troubleshooting, and excel in handling high-stakes customer escalations.
• Technical Knowledge: Knowledgeable in distributed systems (e.g., Apache Pinot), cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), and streaming technologies (Kafka, Pulsar, Flink).
• Mentor and Coach: You have a passion for helping team members grow and succeed. You are skilled in performance management, and you prioritize mentorship to help the team build their capabilities.
• Organized and Data-Driven: You set measurable goals and are skilled at tracking and analyzing metrics to drive improvements. Your data-driven approach allows you to identify bottlenecks and implement efficient solutions.
• Strong Communicator: You’re adept at communicating with technical and non-technical stakeholders, both internally and externally, to ensure clear understanding and alignment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a hyper-growth, startup environment
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring solutions
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience)

Benefits and Growth

• Competitive salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits package
• New-hire stock equity and employee stock purchase plan
• Career development and continuous learning opportunities
• Inclusive and dynamic workplace culture that encourages growth

Join StarTree in shaping the future of real-time analytics!

The base salary range for this US full-time position is $150,000 - $220,000, subject to standard withholding and applicable taxes. Additionally, new hires receive competitive and compelling equity grants, and access to a comprehensive benefits offering. The base salary range reflects the minimum and maximum target for candidates. The Salary and Equity compensation offered may vary depending on factors including: location, skills, experience, and the assessment process.