Thanks for the replies.
I leveled Poe up to 55 and got him to gear level 6 and all his abilities to 5 (except leader). I'm not sure what to make of him. In the first battle he acted 2nd or 3rd but in the other 4 he went well after most of the other team. In all instances he was dead within a round or a little after from the start of his taunt. He's a little underleveled as my team is 58 but I wouldn't think that would be the main factor for his earlier demises. Is there something I'm missing?
I did manage to win all 5 squad battles moving from 179 to 95.