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Incident roles bring structure to chaotic situations. Each role has a clear responsibility so people aren’t stepping on each other.

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Available roles

RoleResponsibility
Incident CommanderOwns the incident end-to-end. Makes final calls, coordinates the response, and runs the bridge call if needed.
Lead EngineerLeads the technical investigation and fix. Works closely with the Commander.
Communications LeadOwns external and internal communications — status page updates, customer emails, Slack announcements.

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Assigning a role

  1. Open the incident detail page.
  2. In the Roles panel, click Assign next to the role you want to fill.
  3. Search for the team member by name or email.
  4. Click Save.
When a role is assigned:
  • The assignee is invited to the incident’s Slack channel automatically (if a channel exists).
  • A timeline entry is added: “Jane Smith assigned as Lead Engineer”.
  • The member appears in the incident header and can be mentioned in Slack.

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Reassigning

Click the assigned member’s name in the Roles panel and select Reassign to pick someone else. The previous assignee is not removed from the Slack channel.

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Unassigning

Click the assigned member and select Remove to clear the role without assigning a replacement.

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Best practices

  • Assign the Incident Commander first — they should be the one calling for help, not jumping into the code.
  • If you’re a solo on-call engineer, you can hold all three roles. The structure still helps you stay organized.
  • The Communications Lead should update the status page within 5 minutes of an SEV1/SEV2 being declared.