Application Support Engineer at Cresta – AI SaaS Growth Role in Columbus
Career & Market Insight
This Application Support Engineer role at Cresta sits at an interesting intersection of customer success and technical engineering — a growing niche in the AI/SaaS industry. Here's what career-minded candidates should consider:
Compensation & Market Rates: The $90K–$105K base + bonus + equity range is on the lower end for a senior technical support engineer in the US (market rates for 4+ years' experience typically run $100K–$130K at funded startups), though equity in a $270M+ funded AI company adds meaningful upside. The multi-level hiring note suggests room to negotiate based on experience.
Skills Development: This role builds highly marketable skills:
- Deep SaaS/CCaaS integration knowledge (Avaya, Five9, Genesys) — in high demand as enterprises modernize contact centers
- Cloud infrastructure exposure (AWS, Kubernetes, Datadog) — transferable to DevOps or SRE paths
- VoIP/SIP telephony expertise — a specialized, less-crowded skill set
- AI platform familiarity in a fast-moving segment
Company Signals: Cresta is a well-funded, Stanford AI Lab–originated startup with Tier 1 VC backing (a16z, Sequoia, Greylock) and enterprise-grade clients. This is a growth-stage company with real revenue and credibility — lower risk than early-stage, but with startup upside.
Green Flags: Flexible PTO, equity participation, and a clear escalation path to Engineering/Product — good for visibility and career growth. Watch for: on-call rotation demands and fixed hours may indicate a more traditional support culture than pure async engineering roles.
Cresta unlocks the true potential of the customer experience, turning every conversation into a competitive advantage. Cresta's unified AI platform combines conversational AI agents, real-time human agent augmentation, and comprehensive conversation intelligence to drive revenue and efficiency gains across every channel. The world's leading companies, including United Airlines, Cox Communications, and Marriott, use Cresta to power world-class customer experiences every day.
Born from the Stanford AI Lab, Cresta has raised more than $270 million from the world's leading investors, including a16z, Greylock, and Sequoia. Our CEO, Ping Wu, founded and led Google's Contact Center AI and Vertex AI platforms before joining Cresta to build the future of AI-driven customer experiences.
Over the next few years, AI is going to redefine how people all over the world interact with businesses every day. Come build that future at Cresta.
About the Role:
Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm with a one-hour lunch, plus a rotating on-call week shared with 3 others.
We are seeking a highly motivated and technically proficient Application Support Engineer to join our growing Customer Success team. This role is ideal for individuals who enjoy solving complex technical challenges, assisting customers, and serving as a crucial link between our customers and product development. You will be instrumental in ensuring a smooth and successful customer experience by transforming complex issues into clear, actionable solutions.
What You'll Do:
- Technical Issue Resolution: Investigate, diagnose, and resolve intricate technical issues related to API integrations, databases, servers, microservice performance, web hosting, telephony and network technologies, and containerized applications.
- Customer Advocacy: Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customer inquiries, providing clear, concise, and empathetic communication via email and our support portal.
- Collaboration & Escalation: Partner closely with Engineering, Product, and Sales teams to escalate bugs, feature requests, and critical incidents, ensuring timely resolution and feedback.
- Knowledge Management: Create and maintain comprehensive documentation, FAQs, and knowledge base articles to empower both customers and internal teams.
- Issue Reproduction & Testing: Replicate customer environments and issues to identify root causes and verify solutions.
- Product Expertise: Develop deep product knowledge, understanding architecture, functionality, and common use cases.
- Process Improvement: Identify recurring issues and contribute to process enhancements that improve the customer support experience and product quality.
- On-Call Support: Participate in a rotational on-call schedule for urgent issues outside regular business hours.
What You'll Bring:
- 4+ years of experience in a technical support, helpdesk, or customer-facing engineering role.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to deconstruct complex issues.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of translating technical details for both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Proficiency in:
- Web hosting technologies.
- APIs (automation, collaboration, and data extraction/changes through HTTP methods).
- Network architecture and components.
- Server OS and hardware troubleshooting.
- Application log analysis.
- Telephony signaling protocols for VOIP (SIP/SIPrec, H.323) and media control protocols (RTP).
- Experience with support ticketing systems (e.g., Zendesk, Linear, JIRA).
- A customer-centric mindset with a genuine desire to deliver excellent service.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
Bonus Points If You Have:
- Experience managing or integrating SaaS applications or CCaaS platforms (e.g., Avaya, Five9, Genesys) and telephony infrastructure.
- Experience with cloud-based hyperscaler solutions (e.g., AWS S3/RDS/EKS for file repositories and databases).
- Familiarity with Kubernetes for containerized applications.
- Basic scripting skills (e.g., Python, PowerShell, Bash) for automation or data analysis.
- Experience with logging and monitoring tools (e.g., Datadog, Grafana, Groundcover).
- Fluency in additional languages.
- A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
Perks & Benefits:
We offer a comprehensive and people-first benefits package to support you at work and in life:
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with plans to fit you and your family
- Flexible PTO to take the time you need, when you need it
- Paid parental leave for all new parents welcoming a new child
- Retirement savings plan to help you plan for the future
- Remote work setup budget to help you create a productive home office
- Monthly wellness and communication stipend to keep you connected and balanced
- In-office meal program and commuter benefits provided for onsite employees
Compensation at Cresta:
Cresta's approach to compensation is simple: recognize impact, reward excellence, and invest in our people. We offer competitive, location-based pay that reflects the market and what each individual brings to the table.
Salary Range: $90,000–$105,000 base + Bonus + Equity
We are hiring for multiple levels for this role, so base salary will be determined based on level of experience.
We have noticed a rise in recruiting impersonations across the industry, where scammers attempt to access candidates' personal and financial information through fake interviews and offers. All Cresta recruiting email communications will always come from the @cresta.ai domain. Any outreach claiming to be from Cresta via other sources should be ignored. If you are uncertain whether you have been contacted by an official Cresta employee, reach out to [email protected].