[Hiring] Customer Reliability Engineering Manager @Phaidra

Role Description

You are a player-coach who leads a small team of Customer Reliability Engineers. You split your time about evenly between your own accounts and leading the team. On the account side, you own a set of deployed sites. You monitor Prism Insights, diagnose facility anomalies and close the loop with customers. On the team side, you manage a small team of CREs. You coach them, give them direct feedback and turn the team’s daily work into repeatable, scalable processes. You are the team’s first escalation point. You work closely with the Customer Success Managers, Technical Program Managers, Solutions Engineers, Data Scientists, Account Executives and Product. Your goal is to help build the best customer support team in the business.

Responsibilities

• Manage and develop a team of Customer Reliability Engineers.
• Hold regular 1:1s with each CRE. Set goals, track growth and contribute to performance reviews.
• Attend some CRE customer meetings and give direct, actionable feedback afterward.
• Act as the first escalation point for technical and customer issues across the team’s portfolio. Escalate to Customer Success leadership when broader involvement is needed.
• Support the CRE hiring process. Interview candidates, help shape the interview plan and onboard new hires.
• Productionize the team’s workflow. Standardize Insights triage, weekly findings reports, account reviews and customer communication.
• Maintain and improve the CRE playbook, the Hypercare Weekly template and team documentation.
• Coordinate handoffs from implementation teams at CX4.3, CX5.2 and CX6.
• Keep consistent use of ticketing system, time tracking and other business systems across the team.
• Contribute to team resource planning and account assignments.
• Own a portfolio of named accounts. Monitor Prism Insights, then triage and diagnose facility issues.
• Find patterns across the team’s accounts. Partner with Product to turn them into requirements, automated checks or tooling.
• Travel to customer sites when warranted for training or escalations.

Qualifications

• You have led, coached or mentored engineers in a customer-facing or operations role, formally or informally.
• You have taken a messy, repeated problem and turned it into a process others follow.
• You have owned customer escalations from detection through resolution.
• You give candid, constructive feedback and hold yourself and others to a high bar.
• You have helped interview, onboard or train new team members.
• Working knowledge of chiller plant fundamentals, configurations, and sequence of operations.
• Understanding of electrical power distribution systems.
• Understanding of applied thermodynamics for cooling systems, refrigeration systems, and hydronics.
• Working knowledge of industrial and commercial control systems and protocols such as BACnet and Modbus.
• Understanding of data center cooling methodologies and controls, including chilled water and direct expansion systems.
• Comfortable working with data center operations teams in the field.
• Ability to turn customer-stated and customer-implied needs into clear requirements for the software development team.
• Excellent communication skills. Ability to explain complex domain concepts and AI and ML concepts to non-experts.
• Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Control Theory, Applied Mathematics or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience in mission-critical facilities, industrial controls, field service or reliability engineering.
• Prior experience as a team lead or first-line manager.
• Experience scaling a support function through rapid customer growth.
• Experience defining team metrics, SLAs or customer health scoring.
• Experience working with services within cloud platforms.
• Experience applying AI, ML, and LLMs in controls applications.
• Experience with statistics, analytics and domain relevant optimization problems.

Onboarding

In your first 30 days…

• Familiarize yourself with the company handbook, commissioning playbooks and CRE playbook.
• Learn Prism end to end: Insights, alarms, and the views customers use daily.
• Hold introductory 1:1s with each of your CREs. Learn their accounts, strengths and challenges.
• Shadow CRE customer calls across the team.
• Begin taking over your assigned accounts with support from the current owner.

In your first 60 days…

• Run your own accounts independently.
• Establish a regular 1:1 and feedback cadence with each CRE.
• Attend CRE customer meetings and deliver structured feedback.
• Audit the current team workflow. Identify the top gaps in triage, reporting and handoffs.
• Join the CRE interview loop.

In your first 90 days…

• Propose a plan to productionize the team’s workflow and start rolling it out.
• Set individual development goals with each CRE.
• Handle team escalations as first point of contact.
• Lead at least one cross-account improvement with Product, such as an automated check or shared tooling.

General Interview Process

• All of our interviews are held via Google Meet, and an active camera connection is required.
• Meeting with People Operations team member (30 minutes)
• Meeting with Hiring Manager (60 minutes)
• Meeting with VP of Engineering (30 minutes)
• Meeting with Head of Customer Success (30 minutes)
• Culture fit interview with Phaidra’s co-founders (30 minutes)

Base Salary

• US Residents:
• Tier 1 (Largest highest-cost metros): 147,524 USD - 236,038 USD
• Tier 2 (Other major metros): 140,147 USD - 224,236 USD
• Tier 3 (Mid-sized metro areas): 132,771 USD - 212,434 USD
• Tier 4 (All other locations): 125,395 USD - 200,632 USD
• Canada Residents:
• Tier 1 (Vancouver, Toronto): 151,580 CAD - 242,529 CAD
• Tier 2 (Montreal): 141,475 CAD - 226,360 CAD
• Tier 3 (Waterloo, Ottawa, Calgary): 121,264 CAD - 194,023 CAD
• Tier 4 (Smaller cities / rural areas): 111,159 CAD - 177,854 CAD

Benefits

• Fast-paced, team-oriented environment where your work directly shapes the company’s direction.
• We are a 100% remote company.
• Competitive compensation & meaningful equity.
• Outsized responsibilities & professional development.
• Training is foundational; functional, customer immersion, and development training.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (exact benefits vary by region).
• Unlimited paid time off, with a required minimum of 20 days per year.
• Paid parental leave (exact benefits vary by region).
• Flexible stipends to support your workspace, well-being, and continued professional development.
• Company MacBook.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Phaidra is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Phaidra is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. We welcome diversity and strive to maintain an inclusive environment for all employees. If you need assistance with completing the application process, please contact us at [email protected].

E-Verify Notice

Phaidra participates in E-Verify, an employment authorization database provided through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA). As required by law, we will provide the SSA and, if necessary, the DHS, with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization for those residing in the United States.

#LI-Remote

To be considered for any position at Phaidra, you must submit an online application. This role will remain open until it is filled.

Phaidra only hires individuals who are legally authorized to work in the specified location(s) above.

We do not provide employment sponsorship. Candidates requiring visa sponsorship, either now or in the future, are not eligible for hire.

Candidates who advance beyond the initial screening stage will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in order to continue through the interview process.

All employment offers are contingent upon successful completion of employment authorization verification and applicable background checks, in accordance with local laws and company policies.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FROM RECRUITERS.