Lead Escalation Engineer (San Jose, CA)

Job Description:

At HPE Networking, we are building toward a self-driving network — one that goes beyond simply being “up” to continuously delivering an exceptional user experience.

Our vision is an AI-native network that can observe what is happening across users, devices, applications and infrastructure; identify problems before customers are impacted; determine root cause; recommend or take trusted action; and continuously improve from real-world experience.

This represents a shift from reactive network troubleshooting toward proactive and increasingly autonomous network operations. By combining deep networking expertise, real-time telemetry, observability, AI and automation, we are working to make networks simpler to operate, more resilient and more intelligent.

Escalation Engineering plays a critical role in this journey.

HPE Networking is seeking a Lead Escalation Engineer in our San Jose, California office who thrives in challenging, high-impact and fast-paced technical environments. The focus of this position is to lead the resolution of complex and high-profile customer escalations involving enterprise wireless, cloud-managed and AI-native networking solutions. You will serve as a lead technical escalation point and work closely 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 ideal candidate combines deep networking expertise, strong troubleshooting skills, customer empathy and a passion for using automation and AI to improve how networking problems are detected, diagnosed and resolved.

Location: The person will work a hybrid schedule in our San Jose, California office

• 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, working closely 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 systematically isolate failures across software, hardware, cloud and client environments.
• Drive customer-found defects through engineering, develop clear RCA and corrective-action plans, and advocate for product quality, reliability, serviceability and observability.
• Build troubleshooting tools, automation, playbooks and AI-assisted diagnostic workflows that improve triage, knowledge discovery, root-cause analysis and future resolution efficiency.
• Identify recurring escalation patterns, translate field learnings into proactive quality and automated remediation improvements, and mentor engineering teams as Escalation Engineering evolves toward more proactive and AI-assisted operations.

The ideal candidate will meet or exceed the following requirements:

• 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 combined with disciplined and data-driven engineering practices.

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or a related field with 8+ years of relevant experience, or MS with 6+ years; networking certifications such as CCNA, CCNP or CWNP are highly desirable.
• Strong expertise in Layer 2/Layer 3 networking, TCP/IP, IPv4/IPv6, OSPF,enterprise authentication, and deep knowledge of Wi-Fi 6/6E with familiarity with Wi-Fi 7.
• Hands-on troubleshooting experience with Wireshark/tcpdump, Linux, virtualization, cloud environments such as AWS/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 a strong sense of ownership.
• Highly curious and motivated to understand difficult technical problems at a deep level.
• Quick learner with excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong logical, analytical and creative problem-solving abilities.
• Disciplined and systematic approach to troubleshooting customer issues.
• Calm and effective during high-pressure customer situations.
• Ability to succeed with minimal supervision and limited resources.
• Comfortable dealing with ambiguity and complex problems where the solution is not immediately apparent.
• Strong customer advocacy while maintaining engineering rigor and objectivity.
• Collaborative and capable of influencing teams across organizational boundaries.
• Passion for automation, AI and continually improving how technical problems are solved.

Success in this role means more than resolving individual escalations.

The engineer will help ensure that:

• Critical customers recover quickly and receive strong technical leadership throughout major incidents.
• Complex problems are converted into clearly understood root causes and permanent engineering solutions.
• Recurring issues result in better product design, diagnostics, test coverage and serviceability.
• Troubleshooting knowledge becomes reusable automation, playbooks and AI-assisted workflows.
• Product telemetry and observability continue to improve based on real-world customer experience.
• Support teams become more effective through mentoring, automation and better diagnostic capabilities.
• Lessons learned from today's hardest customer problems become part of the intelligence that helps tomorrow's network detect, diagnose and ultimately resolve problems autonomously.

HPE is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard

Accessibility

HPE is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace and encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including those with disabilities. If you believe you require accommodation during any stage of the application or interview process, please submit your request by completing our secure form linked here.

Note: This option is reserved for applicants needing assistance/reasonable accommodation related to a disability.

Health & Wellbeing

We strive to provide our team members and their loved ones with a comprehensive suite of benefits that supports their physical, financial and emotional wellbeing.

Personal & Professional Development

We also invest in your career because the better you are, the better we all are. We have specific programs catered to helping you reach any career goals you have — whether you want to become a knowledge expert in your field or apply your skills to another division.

Unconditional Inclusion

We are unconditionally inclusive in the way we work and celebrate individual uniqueness. We know varied backgrounds are valued and succeed here. We have the flexibility to manage our work and personal needs. We make bold moves, together, and are a force for good.

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Information about employee benefits offered in the US can be found at https://myhperewards.com/main/new-hire-enrollment.html

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is EEO Protected Veteran/ Individual with Disabilities.

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