IT Service Desk Manager

IT Service Desk Manager

Quick Summary

Our client is seeking an experienced IT Service Desk Manager to lead day-to-day Service Desk operations and a team of approximately six technicians and student workers. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can effectively manage people, ticket workflows, escalations, and customer relationships while keeping support operations running smoothly. The ideal candidate will be visible and approachable, comfortable handling difficult customer situations, and capable of operating independently with minimal oversight.

Daily Tasks & Key Responsibilities

• Lead the daily operations of the IT Service Desk, including Level I and Level II support technicians and student workers.
• Provide coaching, training, one-on-ones, performance feedback, and day-to-day direction to support staff.
• Monitor incoming incidents and service requests, establish priorities, delegate work, and ensure tickets are resolved within service-level expectations.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for complex technical issues and difficult or high-priority customer situations.
• Maintain a strong customer-service presence and support students, faculty, staff, and other users in a professional and approachable manner.
• Manage and improve ServiceNow workflows, ticket documentation, knowledgebase content, asset records, and service desk reporting.
• Monitor Service Desk metrics and identify opportunities to improve response times, ticket resolution, processes, and the overall user experience.
• Provide hands-on technical support when needed across Microsoft 365, Windows, macOS, hardware, software, VPN, VoIP, networking, and other end-user technologies.
• Oversee computer setup, configuration, software installation, deployment, and lifecycle activities.
• Escalate security-related concerns according to established security and incident-response procedures.
• Develop and maintain technical procedures, troubleshooting documentation, and support standards.
• Communicate priorities, issues, trends, and service performance to IT leadership.
• Work with other technical teams to escalate and coordinate issues requiring engineering or specialized support.
• Maintain daily Service Desk operations independently and ensure the team remains productive and supported.
• Promote continuous improvement, accountability, knowledge sharing, and a positive customer-service culture.

Required Qualifications

• Experience supervising, managing, or serving in a leadership capacity within an IT Service Desk or Help Desk environment.
• Experience leading technicians through daily ticket queues, triage, prioritization, delegation, and escalations.
• Strong experience coaching employees, conducting one-on-ones, providing feedback, and developing technical support staff.
• Strong customer-service and interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively with frustrated or demanding users.
• Experience with ServiceNow or a comparable ITSM/ticketing platform.
• Strong technical troubleshooting experience involving desktop hardware, software, and end-user technologies.
• Knowledge of Microsoft 365, Windows, macOS, VPN, VoIP, and general networking concepts.
• Ability to monitor SLAs, ticket metrics, workloads, and Service Desk performance.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently, make decisions, and maintain Service Desk operations with limited management oversight.
• Ability to work full-time onsite in Minneapolis.

Preferred Qualifications

• ITIL certification or working knowledge of ITIL/IT service management practices.
• CompTIA A+ or similar technical certification.
• ServiceNow administration, configuration, reporting, or workflow experience.
• Experience with IT asset management and knowledgebase administration.
• Experience using reporting and metrics to improve Service Desk performance.
• Experience supporting users within a college, university, or other higher-education environment.
• Basic scripting or automation experience.