Senior Manager, Operations- Driver Advocacy and Escalation, Platform Stability (Last Mile Delivery)

Walmart • Bentonville, AR

3d • $90,000 - $180,000

About The Position

Position Summary... The Platform Stability organization protects the integrity and reliability of the Spark Driver ecosystem. We monitor real-time signals, identify high-friction defects, partner across engineering and product to accelerate remediation, and ensure every step of the driver's journey works the way drivers expect. Within this mission, the Driver Advocacy & Escalations function serves as Spark’s central mechanism for identifying and eliminating harmful, trust-eroding driver experiences. We own the Driver Experience Escalation & Response (DEER) program—transforming escalated driver pain points into defect signals, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and platform-wide improvements. Our charter: reduce Contacts-Per-Order, reduce driver churn, and protect driver trust—especially when things break. As Sr. Manager, Driver Advocacy & Escalations, you will lead Spark’s most visible and cross-functional driver-experience protection program. You will own how escalated driver pain points are detected, analyzed, prioritized, and resolved across Operations, OAR, Mission Control, Trust & Safety, Fraud, Product, Engineering, and Store Ops. Your responsibilities extend beyond reactive escalation management. This is a system design and cross-functional governance role, responsible for building durable operating rhythms, early-warning insights, and ownership mechanisms that ensure defects are both fixed and prevented. You will also lead a new strategic initiative for Spark Driver: Launching Driver Advocacy Council—a curated network of high-trust, high-engagement drivers who serve as early testers, beta users, UX research voices, and rapid signal generators for platform improvements. This program will become a foundational input into platform stability, release governance, product feature design, and early risk detection. What you'll do... Escalation Governance & System Leadership Lead the end-to-end governance of the DEER escalation program, overseeing processes from intake to root cause analysis (RCA) and corrective action plan (CAP) completion. Manage and enforce service level agreements (SLAs): 4-hour acknowledgement, 5-day RCA, 5-day CAP, and 30-day leadership consultation for stalled work. Oversee the ServiceNow escalation infrastructure, ensuring accurate categorization, impact sizing, and owner accountability. Build and run mechanisms to reduce “unable to root cause” escalations and accelerate time-to-detection. Root Cause, Impact Analysis & Corrective Actions Partner with OAR, Product, Engineering, T&S, Fraud, and Store Ops to complete RCAs that correctly size driver and business impact. Ensure every escalation receives a measurable, time-bound corrective action plan—not just an operational workaround. Use RICE scoring and driver harm metrics to drive senior-level prioritization. Driver Advocacy & Experience Safeguarding Serve as the primary voice of the driver for high-friction, high-escalation experiences. Translate escalations into clear, executive-facing narratives that highlight systemic risk, platform fragility, fairness issues, and churn drivers. Identify cross-product patterns that reveal upstream design flaws or missing fallbacks. Launch Spark’s Driver Research & Early Tester Community Design and launch Spark’s first Driver Research & Early Tester Community—a curated network of high-signal, high-trust drivers who provide real-world insight long before issues or friction appear at scale. Enable rapid experimentation, early detection of unintended consequences, and direct co-creation of new features with drivers themselves. Create structured feedback loops that directly influence roadmap, design, and stability improvements, reducing contacts-per-order and churn.

Requirements

• 5+ years in escalation management, CX operations, product operations, trust & safety, or platform integrity—preferably in gig economy or marketplace environments.
• Experience leading cross-functional programs with engineering, product, risk, fraud, and operations.
• Proven ability to manage high-stakes issues with VP+ visibility.
• Expert storyteller who can translate complex platform defects into clear, actionable executive insights.
• Strong operator with experience driving accountability through SLAs, governance frameworks, and structured prioritization.
• Fluency in RCA frameworks, defect lifecycle management (JIRA/ServiceNow), and contact signal analysis.
• High analytical rigor and comfort using data to size issues and recommend prioritization.
• Skilled in stakeholder influence and cross-functional alignment.
• High empathy for gig-drivers and passion for improving their experience.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguous, escalated environments.
• Bias for action, urgency, and operational ownership.
• Pattern-seeking mindset—sees systemic fixes, not one-offs.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Operations , or related field and 3 years’ experience in operations, project management, or related area OR 5 years’ experience in operations, project management, or related area.
• 1 year’s supervisory experience.

Nice To Haves

• Leadership of cross-functional task forces or projects
• Masters, Masters: Operations Management
• Project Management - Project Management Professional - Certification

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end governance of the DEER escalation program, overseeing processes from intake to root cause analysis (RCA) and corrective action plan (CAP) completion.
• Manage and enforce service level agreements (SLAs): 4-hour acknowledgement, 5-day RCA, 5-day CAP, and 30-day leadership consultation for stalled work.
• Oversee the ServiceNow escalation infrastructure, ensuring accurate categorization, impact sizing, and owner accountability.
• Build and run mechanisms to reduce “unable to root cause” escalations and accelerate time-to-detection.
• Partner with OAR, Product, Engineering, T&S, Fraud, and Store Ops to complete RCAs that correctly size driver and business impact.
• Ensure every escalation receives a measurable, time-bound corrective action plan—not just an operational workaround.
• Use RICE scoring and driver harm metrics to drive senior-level prioritization.
• Serve as the primary voice of the driver for high-friction, high-escalation experiences.
• Translate escalations into clear, executive-facing narratives that highlight systemic risk, platform fragility, fairness issues, and churn drivers.
• Identify cross-product patterns that reveal upstream design flaws or missing fallbacks.
• Design and launch Spark’s first Driver Research & Early Tester Community—a curated network of high-signal, high-trust drivers who provide real-world insight long before issues or friction appear at scale.
• Enable rapid experimentation, early detection of unintended consequences, and direct co-creation of new features with drivers themselves.
• Create structured feedback loops that directly influence roadmap, design, and stability improvements, reducing contacts-per-order and churn.

Benefits

• At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet.
• Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage.
• Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance.
• Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting.
• Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more.
• You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes.
• Live Better U is a Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities.
• Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates.
• Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees