Team Lead, Customer Support

About Tailscale 

Tailscale is building the new Internet by delivering software that makes it easy to securely interconnect people and their devices, no matter where they are. From hobbyists to multinational corporations, teams of every size use Tailscale each day to protect their networks, share access to internal tools, and more. We're building a future for the Internet that's easy, sensible, and safe, like it used to be. Founded in 2019 and fully distributed, we're backed by Accel, CRV, Insight, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital.

Job Description

We are seeking a Team Lead, Customer Support to serve as a player-coach responsible for the daily operations and professional growth of a team of 8-10 Support Engineers. You will bridge the gap between frontline technical troubleshooting and strategic alignment, ensuring Support Engineers are engaged and delivering high quality customer support to all of our users. Reporting directly to the VP of Customer Engineering, you will align your team’s performance with departmental goals, manage technical escalations, and help serve as a voice of the customer to the broader organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day support operations for a team of 8-10 Support Engineers.
• Lead the onboarding, technical mentoring, and career coaching for all direct reports.
• Conduct regular 1:1s and performance management reviews to ensure team alignment and growth.
• Oversee the support queue to ensure SLA/SLO adherence, including response and resolution times.
• Act as an internal escalation point for both complex technical issues and difficult customer situations.
• Align team activities and outcomes with the strategic roadmap set by the VP of Customer Engineering.
• Partner with Support and CX Operations to refine workflows and improve internal tooling like Jira, Incident.io, Kapa.ai, and PagerDuty.
• Perform regular QA reviews on tickets to maintain technical accuracy and brand voice.
• Analyze support data and customer feedback (CSAT)  to identify and report trends to leadership.

What We Are Looking For

• 4+ years of experience in a technical support role within a SaaS environment
• 1+ years of experience in a leadership, management, or formal mentoring capacity
• Strong technical background in networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, firewalls, and routing)
• Proficiency with networking and security concepts (k8s a plus)
• Experience with identity management and SSO integrations such as Okta, Azure AD, and Google
• Previous experience in supporting customers across OS’s (Linux, MacOS, Windows, etc)
• Proven ability to manage and optimize support workflows across processes and tooling
• Data-driven mindset with the ability to track and act on metrics like CSAT, TTFR, and TTR
• Excellent communication skills for translating technical concepts to both customers and internal stakeholders
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple competing priorities

As a company, we strive to maintain fair and equitable compensation practices within our team across all roles and all levels. Tailscale's compensation package includes base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits. The salary range displayed on each job posting represents the target range for a new hire's base salary. Individual offers may vary based on experience and skill set.

US Pay Range$160,000—$160,000 USD

Frequently cited statistics show that people who identify with historically marginalized groups are likely to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage you to help us break that statistic!

What We Offer

• An inclusive, flexible environment where you can be your authentic self. We recognize the impact of diverse voices and backgrounds on the growth of our people, product, and company. And that flexibility in how and when you work empowers our team to integrate work and life.
• A competitive total compensation package. This includes a base salary, an equity incentive plan and variable commission (for quota-based roles).
• Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period. Take advantage of coverage for health, vision, dental, and more for you and your family!
• Remote first company—most of our teams work fully remotely. Enjoy a change of scenery wherever you can get wifi, participate in virtual and in-person social events, and leverage our corporate co-working program to visit WeWork (or other similar spaces near you). Some roles require in-office collaboration dep