Advanced Traveler Escalations Manager
At Vrbo, part of Expedia Group, we're committed to delivering world-class travel experiences by ensuring every customer interaction is handled with care, empathy, and excellence. Our mission is to support travelers and partners by resolving complex issues efficiently, while continuously improving our service standards.
Introduction to the team
The Product Team creates high-quality, end-to-end experiences for travelers, partners, and Expedia Group. Our focus on customer-centric innovation enables us to develop products that build loyalty and repeat business. We partner closely with teams across Expedia Group to drive growth and achieve results for our customers and the company.
We're looking for a Advanced Traveler Escalations Manager, a dynamic, people-first leader who thrives in fast-paced, high-impact environments. In this role, you'll oversee a team that manages Expedia Group's most complex traveler situations in real time, ensuring every experience is handled with empathy, expertise, and resolution ownership.
As part of the VRBO Care leadership team, you'll play a key role in building and scaling a premium capability designed to support our most valued travelers across all Expedia Group brands. This is an opportunity to shape the traveler experience at its most critical moments and contribute directly to our mission of making travel easier and more joyful for everyone.
In this role, you will:
As a Advanced Traveler Escalations Manager, you'll lead a passionate team that resolves our most complex traveler cases with empathy, accountability, and care. You'll help shape an exceptional service experience ~ one that earns traveler loyalty and reinforces Expedia Group's mission & vision to make travel easier and more joyful for everyone. You thrive in ambiguity, excel at cross-functional collaboration, and are motivated by the opportunity to make an impact in the global travel industry.
•Build and nurture a high-performing team that's connected to our mission of serving travelers with heart.
•Create an inspiring environment where people feel trusted, supported, and motivated to deliver their best.
•Coach and develop supervisors to grow as people leaders—fostering open, honest conversations that support individual development and team success.
•Champion a diverse and inclusive culture where every voice is heard, respected, and valued.
•Lead day-to-day operations with a clear focus on performance, quality, and traveler experience.
•Define and communicate KPIs, OKRs, and success metrics that keep the team aligned and accountable.
•Use data and operational reporting to identify opportunities, optimize processes, and drive continuous improvement.
•Translate real-world frontline insights into smarter workflows, better tools, and scalable solutions.
•Foster a culture of ownership and resolution—ensuring every traveler issue is handled end-to-end with care and accountability.
•Empower your team to make confident decisions that prioritize traveler trust and satisfaction.
•Champion traveler advocacy by listening, empathizing, and finding creative solutions that turn challenges into positive experiences.
•Strive to deliver service so great, it becomes the reason travelers choose Expedia again and again.
•Build strong, trusted relationships across partner teams, Operations, Training, Workforce, and beyond—to align on goals and remove roadblocks.
•Representing the Escalations function as a voice of expertise and insight, ensuring business and traveler needs stay connected.
•Collaborate across regions and function to drive consistency and share best practices across our global network.
•Review resource and skill requirements across teams, ensuring coverage, readiness, and cross-training for peak moments.
•Maintain business continuity plans that keep teams and travelers supported ~ even during unexpected disruptions.
•Anticipate future needs and build flexible, scalable solutions that keep the business running smoothly.
•Model Expedia Group's values in everything you do ~ trust, accountability, inclusion, and transparency.
•Promote a sense of shared purpose ~ we're all Expedians, working together to deliver on our commitments.
•Listen to team feedback, act on engagement insights, and drive initiatives that improve connection, trust, and retention.
•Celebrate wins, learn from challenges, and create an environment where people grow and thrive.
Qualifications & Experience:
•Bachelor's or Master's degree from an accredited university, or equivalent professional experience
•Minimum 8 years of relevant work experience, including 3+ years in a people management role
•Proven experience managing customer service or escalations teams in a large-scale, fast-paced environment
•Strong understanding of process optimization, performance management, and operational excellence principles
•Demonstrated success in building, leading, and developing high-performing teams
•Excellent analytical, strategic planning, and problem-solving abilities
•Solid understanding of local employment laws and regulations
•Experience in cultivating cross-functional relationships and collaborating effectively across business and technical teams
•Familiarity with call center technologies and tools (CRM, telephony, workflow systems, etc.)
•Experience working across multiple geographies and adapting to diverse cultural contexts
•Willingness and ability to travel periodically, both domestically and internationally
•Travel industry experience preferred
•Willingness to work a rotating schedule across weekdays, and shifts as needed; adaptable to business needs across voice, chat, and email.
If you are passionate about elevating customer experience, driving operational excellence, and shaping the future of travel, this is the role for you.
About Expedia Group
Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.
