Information Technology Support Manager

Description

Collegis Education is a marketing and technology education solutions company that offers industry-leading services for colleges and universities of every size in every sector. Using a proactive and data-driven approach, Collegis Education empowers institutions to make a broader impact by providing insights that help grow enrollments, improve student outcomes and optimize expenses. With several decades of experience working within the higher education industry, the team at Collegis Education was founded within the walls of a college and expanded to help change more lives through education. Currently, the infrastructures established by Collegis Education support more than 40,000 students nationwide. For more information about Collegis Education, please visit www.CollegisEducation.com.

Position Summary:

Collegis provides IT management services to colleges and universities across the United States. We are seeking an IT manager to lead multi-site end-user support delivery for up to six partner institutions. This role manages up to six site leaders (IT Support Specialist Supervisors) and provides leadership direction, standards, and operational oversight for local IT Support Specialists (“ITSS”) at supported schools. The role includes overseeing service-level delivery and quality, as well as the operating budget and functional performance. The IT Support Specialists teams provide local support for end-user systems, classroom technologies, including audio-video, remote hands for servers, networking, voice, and application support teams.

This role is leadership-forward and outcomes-driven. The ITSS Manager owns service delivery performance—customer satisfaction, SLA attainment, escalation leadership, consistent execution across campuses, and continuous improvement. The ITSS Manager sets expectations, coaches leaders, and ensures the right staffing, skills, processes, and tools are in place. The role partners closely with infrastructure, networking, voice, and application support teams to coordinate efficient dispatch, remote-hands coverage, and timely resolution for complex issues.

Primary Responsibilities, Essential Functions and Requirements:

• Lead, organize, and oversee the operations of the IT Support Specialist (ITSS) teams to ensure a consistent, high-quality customer experience across supported schools.
• Own service performance and accountability via metrics (e.g., customer satisfaction, productivity, ticket quality, cycle time, and closure times); use data to drive actions and results.
• Coach, develop, and enable ITSS Supervisors and teams through clear expectations, regular feedback, career development, and training plans; build a culture of ownership and service excellence.
• Deliver to service-level targets governed by SLAs and contracts by proactively adjusting staffing, schedules, skills, processes, and workflows; partner with other teams to reduce repeat issues and improve outcomes.
• Serve as an escalation and stakeholder leader in collaboration with vCIOs and Partner Managers; run effective incident communications, set expectations, and maintain trusted relationships with campus leadership.
• Manage operating expenses for the function; forecast, track, and control spend while ensuring the service is resourced appropriately and delivered efficiently.
• Drive operational excellence and continuous improvement: standardize service practices across sites, maintain playbooks, improve knowledge management, and implement quality assurance to improve consistency.
• Ensure support tools and workflows enable efficient service delivery (ITSM, workflow management, ticket triage, and related technologies) in partnership with tool owners; identify gaps and champion improvements.
• Lead process adoption and change management for new or improved support processes and enablement initiatives; recommend technology investments that improve experience and efficiency.
• Expand and improve end-user self-service and knowledge content to reduce avoidable contacts and improve first-contact/first-resolution outcomes.
• Collaborate with other technology and support teams to identify root causes and resolve recurring issues through problem management practices.
• Communicate and escalate risks, trends, and service-impacting issues to leadership; provide concise, executive-ready updates and mitigation plans.
• Use sound judgment and critical thinking to make timely management decisions; balance customer impact, risk, and service commitments.
• Plan, prioritize, delegate, and oversee the quality of work across sites; ensure consistent standards, documentation, and follow-through.
• Hire and retain top talent; manage performance, including recognition and corrective action when needed; build a high-performing, accountable team.
• Manage end-user communications for service-impacting activities; ensure messaging is clear, timely, and appropriate for the audience.
• Model professionalism and calm, effective leadership—especially during escalations and incidents; represent Collegis well with internal and campus stakeholders.
• Enforce information security policies and operational controls; ensure teams follow the right handling, escalation, and reporting practices for sensitive data.
• Reduce risk of misuse of information assets by ensuring teams follow asset controls and security requirements, and by coordinating with appropriate teams on patch/compliance processes that support services delivered.
• Travel to supported schools as needed (typically up to 20%).
• Participate in an after-hours escalation rotation for major incidents and critical campus needs; act as an escalation leader when on-call.

Requirements

Experience and Qualifications:

• 10 years of experience in information technology, including 5 years leading end-user support / helpdesk operations (multi-site, distributed, or enterprise environments preferred). Experience leading leaders/managers strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of IT service delivery and customer service best practices; ability to translate service goals into measurable execution.
• Demonstrated people-leadership strength: coaching, performance management, hiring, development planning, and building accountable, high-performing teams.
• Financial management skills to manage an operating budget, staffing plans, and service efficiency initiatives.
• Ability to perform in an agile, fast-paced environment and lead through ambiguity, change, and competing priorities.
• Ability to collaborate with technology and business leaders and present ideas in a user-friendly, non-technical manner.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to communicate effectively with campus leadership, vCIO partners, and Collegis leadership, including during escalations and incidents.
• Availability for occasional evening/weekend support for critical incidents and escalation leadership.

Education, Certifications and Licensures:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required. ITIL/HDI and/or leadership development training preferred.

Remote/Hybrid Policy: This role offers the flexibility of a fully remote environment. However, in alignment with our commitment to collaboration and team engagement, candidates within a 60-mile radius of our Chicago, IL headquarters will be expected to follow a hybrid schedule, working onsite 1-2 days per week to support in-person connection and cross-functional partnership.

Beware of scams: Please note that all inquiries regarding Collegis Education job postings will come from an email domain of @mail.paylocity.com or @collegiseducation.com, or alternatively through LinkedIn.

Collegis Education is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.