Production Support Engineer

Production Support Engineer

Status: Are you legally eligible to work where you live? We are not able to sponsor VISAs.

Resume must be in English

Location: Remote

Engagement: Contract, Long Term, Full Time

Overview

A global financial services technology team is seeking a Production Support Engineer to support a mission-critical tax compliance platform used by financial services tax professionals. This client-facing role combines production issue resolution, end-user communication, Azure diagnostics, controlled data/access support, and practical automation to improve support quality and response times.

Role Summary

The Production Support Engineer will:

• Serve as the first point of contact for production issues reported via Jira Service Management (JSM).
• Triage, investigate, and resolve L1–L3 incidents and service requests.
• Communicate directly with end users—explaining root causes, providing guidance, and delivering resolution updates clearly and professionally.
• Manage user access provisioning and deprovisioning.
• Investigate application issues using Azure cloud tooling—querying logs in Azure Monitor / Log Analytics, running SQL queries against Cosmos DB and MS SQL, and reviewing Azure App Service diagnostics.
• Own issues through the full support lifecycle, escalating to development only when necessary and actively following up.
• Contribute to AI and automation initiatives using Azure AI services, LLMs, Python, and workflow tools to improve triage and reduce repetitive work.

Key Responsibilities

Production Support & Incident Management (40–50%)

• Triage and resolve L1–L3 production tickets within defined SLAs, including:
• Data discrepancies: Investigating mismatched, missing, or unexpected data.
• User guidance: Explaining application behavior and clarifying expected workflows.
• Configuration changes: Supporting approved updates to entity, partner, form, access, or workflow configurations.
• Performance issues: Investigating slow or long-running processes before involving developers.
• Developer escalations: Preparing clear escalation packages with reproduction steps, log evidence, affected records, impact summary, and investigation paths.
• Perform root cause analysis and document findings consistently.
• Act as the bridge between end users and development teams—translating user-reported symptoms into technical problem statements and developer fixes into user-friendly communication.
• Follow up with developers on escalated issues, validate fixes before closure, and ensure end users receive timely status updates.

End-User Communication, Developer Coordination & Client Support (15–20%)

• Provide professional, empathetic, and timely communication to end users.
• Conduct screen-sharing sessions to diagnose issues, demonstrate fixes, and provide ad-hoc training.
• Manage developer escalations end-to-end: own follow-up, track progress, validate resolution, and communicate outcomes back to the user.
• Serve as the single point of accountability—users should never have to chase multiple teams.
• Write clear resolution summaries including issue description, triage steps, outcome, and root cause.
• Build relationships with recurring engagement teams to understand their configurations and common support needs.

Global Coverage & Peak-Season Support

• Support a globally distributed operating model across multiple time zones.
• Participate in support rotations, regional handoffs, and extended coverage during tax compliance peak periods.
• Maintain clear handover notes and ticket context so work continues smoothly across time zones.
• Adjust priorities during critical business periods based on user impact, client deadlines, and production risk.

Azure Cloud Operations & Diagnostics (10–15%)

• Query Azure Monitor / Log Analytics to investigate application errors, API failures, and performance degradation.
• Run SQL queries against MS SQL and Cosmos DB to verify data integrity, trace data flow issues, and support approved data corrections.
• Review Azure Container Apps logs to troubleshoot web application failures.
• Monitor GitHub Actions for deployment or operational issues.
• Use Application Insights to trace end-to-end request flows and identify bottlenecks.
• Work with Azure Storage Accounts, Service Bus, and Event Hubs as needed.

AI Automation & Continuous Improvement (10–15%)

• Contribute to AI-assisted support capabilities that improve triage speed, resolution consistency, and ticket deflection.
• Build or enhance automation for recurring workflows: access requests, standard data checks, validation routines, and common diagnostics.
• Use historical tickets, runbooks, and system context to suggest likely causes and resolution paths.
• Support self-service improvements such as guided knowledge articles, chatbot content, or AI-assisted responses for common user questions.
• Track automation impact through metrics: triage time, repeat ticket reduction, resolution consistency, and support effort saved.
• Analyze support trends and recommend permanent fixes, product improvements, and better support processes.

Knowledge Management & Team Enablement

• Document new processes, lessons learned, troubleshooting steps, and support procedures.
• Create and maintain runbooks, knowledge base articles, resolution templates, and escalation checklists.
• Convert repeated support issues into reusable guidance for the team and end users.
• Train and coach team members on new processes, tools, automation workflows, and client-specific learnings.

Core Technical Skills

Production Support & Troubleshooting

• 3+ years supporting enterprise web applications in production.
• Strong incident triage skills across L1–L3: reproduction, impact assessment, root cause analysis, and escalation.
• Experience with ITSM tools, preferably Jira Service Management (JSM), for ticket management, SLA tracking, and automation.
• Understanding of web application architecture: APIs, microservices, frontend/backend interactions, batch processing, and data validation workflows.
• Exposure to .NET/C# applications helpful but not required.

Data, SQL & Cloud Diagnostics (required; min. 1 year Azure experience)

• Strong SQL skills for data investigation, validation, reporting, and controlled data correction in MS SQL Server and/or Cosmos DB.

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• Hands-on experience with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application Insights for troubleshooting production issues.
• Ability to trace requests, identify bottlenecks, and connect application symptoms to data, infrastructure, or configuration causes.
• Familiarity with Azure Active Directory or similar identity platforms for access support.

AI & Scripting (nice to have)

• Python or similar scripting for automation, API integration, data analysis, and support tooling.
• Working knowledge of AI/ML, LLMs, or AIOps use cases: ticket classification, summarization, retrieval, anomaly detection, or chatbot workflows.
• Familiarity with Azure AI services such as Azure OpenAI or Cognitive Services.
• Basic understanding of RAG architectures, vector search, prompt engineering, and knowledge retrieval.
• Familiarity with workflow automation tools: Power Automate, Logic Apps, GitHub Actions, or equivalent.

Communication, Documentation & Team Enablement (required)

• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to explain technical issues to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong customer service orientation with empathy, professionalism, and sound judgment under pressure.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent tickets and prioritize by business impact and urgency.
• Experience working in a globally distributed team across time zones.
• Strong documentation habits: runbooks, process capture, knowledge articles, and teammate training.
• Attention to detail when working with sensitive financial, tax, or client data.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years in production application support, technical support, or operations engineering in a client-facing role.
• Experience supporting financial services, tax, or accounting applications strongly preferred.
• Proven SLA track record in a high-volume, client-facing support environment.
• Experience with Azure and SQL databases.
• Familiarity with tax compliance concepts (K-1, 1065, 8865, partner allocations) a significant plus.
• Availability for on-call shifts, including weekends.

What Success Looks Like

• Tickets are triaged quickly and resolved within SLA expectations.
• End users consistently receive clear, helpful, and professional communication.
• Escalations to development are well-documented, actively managed, and validated before closure.
• New processes, troubleshooting steps, and lessons learned are documented and shared.
• Global handoffs and peak-season coverage are managed with minimal disruption.
• Recurring issues are addressed through automation, product feedback, or process improvements.
• Practical automation reduces manual effort on access requests, data checks, diagnostics, and user guidance.
• AI-assisted triage and knowledge retrieval improve support consistency and speed.
• Knowledge base and runbooks are actively maintained and reduce escalation rates over time.
• Strong working relationships are built with engagement teams and development partners.