Lead Escalation Engineer (San Jose, CA)
About The Position
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is seeking a Lead Escalation Engineer for HPE Networking in San Jose, California. The position focuses on leading the resolution of complex, high-profile customer escalations involving enterprise wireless, cloud-managed and AI-native networking solutions. The engineer serves as a lead technical escalation point, partnering with Technical Assistance Center (TAC), Support, Development Engineering, QA, Product Management and other engineering teams to diagnose complex problems, restore customer environments and drive permanent solutions. The role contributes to HPE Networking’s vision for a self-driving, AI-native network by combining networking expertise with telemetry, observability, AI and automation. The engineer will lead investigations and customer incidents, identify root causes, advocate for product quality and turn field learnings into improved diagnostics, automation and AI-assisted workflows. The posting describes the role as primarily onsite at an HPE office, while also stating that the person will work a hybrid schedule in the San Jose office.
Requirements
- At least 8 years of professional experience in Escalation Engineering, Technical Support, Systems Engineering, SQA/Quality Engineering or a related networking role.
- Strong troubleshooting and debugging experience with enterprise WLAN and networking systems.
- Demonstrated ability to systematically troubleshoot complex problems involving multiple technologies and components.
- Strong understanding of Wi-Fi system-level testing, characterization and troubleshooting.
- Ability to operate effectively during high-pressure customer situations and critical production incidents.
- Ability to collaborate across Support, Engineering, QA and Product Management organizations.
- Demonstrated ability to independently drive complex technical investigations with limited supervision.
- Strong customer focus and disciplined, data-driven engineering practices.
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or a related field with at least 8 years of relevant experience, or a master's degree with at least 6 years of relevant experience.
- Strong expertise in Layer 2/Layer 3 networking, TCP/IP, IPv4/IPv6, OSPF, enterprise authentication and Wi-Fi 6/6E, with familiarity with Wi-Fi 7.
- Hands-on troubleshooting experience with Wireshark or tcpdump, Linux, virtualization, cloud environments such as AWS or Azure, and cloud-managed, SaaS or distributed systems.
- Experience with Python, REST APIs, JSON, scripting, automation, telemetry and observability for troubleshooting, data collection and operational workflows.
- Working knowledge of Generative AI and AI-assisted engineering tools, including LLM-based troubleshooting, log analysis, knowledge retrieval, case summarization, RAG/agentic workflows, and tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or GitHub Copilot.
- Self-starter with ownership, curiosity, strong communication and analytical problem-solving skills; able to work with minimal supervision and limited resources, handle ambiguity, advocate for customers, collaborate across organizational boundaries, and remain calm in high-pressure situations.
Nice To Haves
- Networking certifications such as CCNA, CCNP or CWNP.
- Familiarity with Wi-Fi 7.
Responsibilities
- Own and drive complex, high-severity customer escalations from initial triage through recovery, root-cause identification and permanent resolution.
- Lead critical technical investigations and war rooms with TAC, Support, Development and QA across wireless, wired, cloud and network services.
- Analyze telemetry, logs, packet captures, crashes and customer topology; reproduce complex issues in the lab and isolate failures across software, hardware, cloud and client environments.
- Drive customer-found defects through engineering, develop clear root-cause analyses and corrective-action plans, and advocate for product quality, reliability, serviceability and observability.
- Build troubleshooting tools, automation, playbooks and AI-assisted diagnostic workflows to improve triage, knowledge discovery, root-cause analysis and resolution efficiency.
- Identify recurring escalation patterns and translate field learnings into proactive quality and automated remediation improvements.
- Mentor engineering teams as Escalation Engineering evolves toward more proactive and AI-assisted operations.
Benefits
- Comprehensive benefits supporting physical, financial and emotional wellbeing for employees and their loved ones.
- Personal and professional development programs to support career goals.
- Variable incentives may be offered in addition to base salary.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
