R&D Manager, TippingPoint - Austin, TX

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information across enterprises, governments, and consumers.

Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend harnesses AI to protect organizations and individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints.

The Trend Vision One™ enterprise cybersecurity platform accelerates proactive security outcomes by predicting and preventing threats across the entire digital estate and environments like AWS, Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA.

Proactive security starts here.  TrendMicro.com

Location: Based out of our Austin, TX office and requires in-office presence three days a week.

Position Summary:

We are seeking a proactive R&D Manager to join the TippingPoint team within TrendAI’s Vision One platform. The ideal candidate will drive quality excellence and customer satisfaction while serving as a people manager for SDET and QA engineers. This position demands a combination of technical expertise in network security and leadership capabilities, including knowledge of intrusion prevention systems, stellar communication skills, and adept planning and prioritization abilities. The R&D Manager will navigate the path forward, removing technical and coordination barriers to ensure successful product quality and exceptional customer outcomes. We seek an individual who thrives on overseeing the entire picture and can make tough decisions to get things done. Moreover, this role involves practical AI integration to boost development and testing efficiency and support operations, ensuring the team stays ahead in the tech field.

As a R&D Manager at TrendAI, your responsibilities will include:

Technical Leadership:

• Lead technical discussions and make pivotal decisions concerning test strategies, automation frameworks, and quality standards for TippingPoint security solutions.

• Guide the QA team using agile methodologies, including test planning, defect prioritization, requirement analysis, and bottleneck resolution to achieve consistent product quality and customer outcomes.

• Supervise the team's testing endeavors, steering quality initiatives and ensuring thorough coverage of IPS functionality, threat detection, and network performance.

• Keep up with security industry trends, emerging threats, and testing technologies to maintain the team's competitive edge.

• Engage in continual learning and improvement, creating opportunities for the team to gain new skills in security testing methodologies and tools.

• Demonstrate AI expertise through real-world projects: specify your role, AI tools/models used (e.g., test automation optimization, predictive defect analysis), and measurable impact (e.g., 30% improved test coverage, faster regression cycles).

• Monitor AI advancements and integrate applicable techniques into QA workflows, such as intelligent test case generation and anomaly detection.

Customer Support Excellence:

• Partner with stakeholders to gain a deep understanding of customer needs, escalation patterns, and support requirements for TippingPoint solutions.

• Manage communications, planning, and coordination for customer support operations, fostering a culture of responsiveness and continuous improvement.

• Lead support process optimization and execution, ensuring clear escalation paths, adequate resources, and timely resolution of customer issues with a strong focus on customer experience.

• Identify, assess, and mitigate support risks early, including tracking recurring issues and collaborating with engineering to improve product reliability.

• Apply AI in support operations (e.g., intelligent ticket routing, knowledge base optimization, chatbot assistance), demonstrating business impact in past roles.

• Establish and monitor key support metrics including response times, resolution rates, customer satisfaction scores, and SLA compliance.

People Management:

• Conduct one-on-one meetings with direct reports at least monthly to provide coaching, feedback, and career guidance.

• Oversee the recruitment process, from drafting job descriptions to reviewing resumes, interviewing, making offers, and onboarding new team members for both QA and support roles.

• Perform biannual alignment evaluations to assess the team's impact and growth potential, identifying opportunities for career development and skill advancement.

• Handle annual salary reviews, including providing feedback