Service Desk Manager

The Role

The Service Desk Manager will manage a team of Service Desk Analysts and IT support personnel, ensuring efficient resolution of technical issues, optimal user experience, and adherence to ITIL best practices for GTI staff across all locations, including retail, cultivation, office environments and the HQ office. This role will oversee IT support operations, ensuring high-quality service delivery and continuous improvement in IT service management. This position requires a motivated, dedicated and personable IT professional capable of managing multiple projects and support requests with minimal supervision. The manager will mentor and guide junior team members, fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented environment.

This is a remote position, but Chicagoland area candidates are preferred. Service Desk Analysts operate in a 12x7x365 model across all US time zones, so the role requires night and weekend support as needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the IT Service Desk team, ensuring timely and effective resolution of IT support requests.

• Develop and implement SLAs and KPIs to measure and improve support efficiency.

• Provide coaching, training and mentorship to Service Desk staff to enhance their technical and customer service skills.

• Oversee ticketing system management, ensuring proper categorization, prioritization and escalation of incidents.

• Implement knowledge management strategies, including self-service resources, to enhance end-user support.

• Define, implement and continuously improve IT service management processes based on ITIL frameworks.

• Ensure high-quality IT services are delivered consistently across the organization.

• Monitor service performance and identify areas for improvement to enhance end-user satisfaction.

• Collaborate with IT leadership to align service delivery with business objectives and technology roadmaps.

• Manage IT service incidents, problems and changes to minimize disruption to business operations.

• Develop and enforce IT policies and procedures related to service desk operations and service delivery.

• Lead IT audits and risk assessments related to service support functions.

• Ensure the end-to-end customer experience, acting as a single point-of-contact for escalated issues.

• Monitor and respond to issues via our Service Desk ticketing system.

• Proactively and reactively address alerts from our system monitoring platform.

• Communicate effectively during outages and priority incidents, ensuring stakeholders are informed and updated.

• Mentor and train junior IT Service Desk Analysts, sharing knowledge and best practices.

• Occasionally visit retail stores and grow/manufacturing facilities for general maintenance and incident response.

• Support overall information systems planning, implementation and administration in a variety of IT functional areas.

• Follow internal procedures and guidelines to troubleshoot and resolve IT issues across different systems and technologies, including hardware, software and networks.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in IT service management, with at least 2 years in a leadership role.

• Strong knowledge of ITIL frameworks; ITIL certification (Foundation or higher) is preferred.

• Experience with IT Service Management platforms.

• Strong leadership, team management and customer service skills.

• Excellent problem-solving abilities and a proactive approach to IT service improvement.

• Experience managing vendors, contracts, and SLAs.

• Excellent judgment and the ability to operate with little oversight.

• Resourceful and responsive to employee’s needs, with excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

Additional Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Must pass any and all required background checks
• Must be and remain compliant with all legal or company regulations for working in the industry
• Must possess valid driver’s license
• Must be a minimum of 21 years of age

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