IT Service Desk Manager

Overview

The Service Desk Manager is responsible for the leadership, performance, and continuous evolution of the Service Desk function. This role ensures secure, reliable, and customer focused service delivery aligned to business needs, while balancing information security requirements with operational demand. The Service Desk Manager owns the ITSM platform and drives maturity from IT service management (ITSM) toward enterprise service management (ESM).

Responsibilities

• Service Desk Leadership & Operations
• Own day-to-day operations of the Service Desk, ensuring consistent service delivery across the organization
• Lead, coach, and manage Service Desk personnel, including internal staff, external resources, and third-party support partners
• Coordinate closely with infrastructure, applications, security, and business teams to ensure effective issue resolution and escalation
• Establish coverage models, escalation paths, and operational standards
• ITSM / ESM Platform Ownership
• Own the Service Desk solution (e.g., Freshservice), including configuration, governance, enhancements, and roadmap
• Act as process owner for ITIL and change enablement practices
• Drive ITSM to ESM evolution by enabling service delivery beyond IT where needed
• Ensure platform configuration aligns with best practices and organizational policies
• Process Development & Continuous Improvement
• Develop, document, and maintain operational procedures and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the Service Desk
• Define, manage, and enforce SLAs, SLOs, and OLAs
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) efforts for recurring incidents and systemic issues
• Identify and implement continual service improvement initiatives
• Metrics, Reporting & Business Communication
• Define and maintain Service Desk KPIs and performance metrics
• Deliver regular, business ready reporting on service performance, trends, risks, and improvement outcomes
• Communicate Service Desk performance and operational health to IT leadership and business stakeholders
• Change Enablement & Risk Balance
• Support and participate in change control activities
• Balance information security requirements with business and operational urgency
• Ensure Service Desk readiness for planned changes, releases, and major initiatives
• Automation & AI Enablement
• Identify, design, and implement automation opportunities to reduce manual effort and improve service efficiency
• Drive self service, workflow automation, and AI assisted capabilities within the Service Desk platform
• Promote ticket deflection and knowledge driven support to improve user experience and reduce volume
• Training & Service Desk Enablement
• Develop and maintain training materials and runbooks for Service Desk staff
• Ensure consistent process adoption and usage across all Service Desk resources
• Lead ongoing skills development to improve service quality, efficiency, and customer experience
  
  

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience

• ITIL v4 certification (or equivalent)
• Minimum 5 years of experience in IT support, with at least 2 -3 years in management/supervisory roles
• Proven experience managing a Service Desk in mid to large enterprise environment
• Hands on experience with ITSM platforms; Freshservice experience preferred
• Experience designing and operating ITSM processes (e.g., SLAs and change control)
• Strong understanding of service operations, metrics, and continuous improvement
  
  

Travel Requirements

• 5-10% of time will be spent traveling to job site(s)/office location.
  
  

Physical/Work Environment Requirements

• Remaining in a stationary position, often standing or sitting for prolonged periods
• Climbing stairs.
• Repeating motions that may include the wrists, hands and/or fingers
  
  

Environmental Conditions

• Quiet environment
  
  

Physical Demands

• Light work that includes adjusting and/or moving objects up to 20 pounds