Service Desk Manager - Managed IT Serivces (MSP)

We are seeking an experienced Service Desk Manager to lead a team of ten IT support technicians within an established Managed Service Provider (MSP) environment.

This is a hands-on IT leadership position with direct responsibility for service desk operations, ticket management, technician performance, customer escalations, service quality, and team development.

The ideal candidate has led technical support professionals and understands what it takes to operate a responsive, proactive service desk. You should know what’s happening across the support operation without waiting for a customer complaint or senior leadership to bring an issue to your attention.

You do not need to be the most senior engineer on the team. You do need enough technical experience to recognize when troubleshooting is not progressing appropriately, determine when an issue should be escalated, and engage the appropriate technical resources.

Responsibilities

• Directly manage, coach, and develop a team of 10 service desk technicians.
• Oversee daily service desk and help desk operations, including ticket assignment, prioritization, workload balancing, and escalation.
• Continuously monitor new, unassigned, aging, overdue, and high-priority support tickets.
• Ensure outages, security incidents, and other business-critical issues receive immediate attention.
• Identify stalled tickets and intervene before they become customer escalations.
• Monitor response times, resolution performance, stale tickets, workload distribution, SLAs, and other service-desk KPIs.
• Maintain ownership of customer issues through resolution, even when technical work has been delegated.
• Follow up on commitments and verify that assigned work has been completed.
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, provide coaching and feedback, and hold technicians accountable for performance.
• Develop technicians toward increased Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 responsibilities.
• Ensure customers receive timely, professional, and proactive communication.
• Step into sensitive or escalated customer situations and ensure clear ownership and next steps.
• Recognize when an issue has exceeded an appropriate troubleshooting window and engage senior engineering resources.
• Review tickets for troubleshooting quality, professionalism, documentation, and completeness.
• Identify recurring technical issues and drive appropriate root-cause investigation.
• Improve processes involving ticket handling, escalations, onboarding/offboarding, patching, documentation, and recurring operational responsibilities.
• Maintain clear, usable procedures and reduce single points of failure.
• Provide leadership with concise updates regarding significant customer, technical, or security issues.

Technical Experience

The Service Desk Manager does not need to be the organization’s highest-level engineer but should have sufficient hands-on IT knowledge to effectively lead technicians and oversee support involving:

• Microsoft 365 / Office 365
• Microsoft Entra ID / Azure Active Directory
• Microsoft Intune and endpoint management
• Active Directory
• Windows desktop and server environments
• Networking fundamentals, including DNS, DHCP, VPNs, and basic network troubleshooting
• Endpoint security and cybersecurity fundamentals
• Backup and disaster recovery
• Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) platforms
• User onboarding and offboarding
• MSP ticketing, PSA, and documentation systems

Experience with ConnectWise is highly relevant. Experience with comparable MSP technologies such as Autotask, HaloPSA, Datto, N-able, Kaseya, NinjaOne, IT Glue, or similar platforms is also valuable., * Previous experience directly managing IT service desk, help desk, technical support, or managed services professionals.

• Experience with a Managed Service Provider (MSP), outsourced IT provider, or similarly customer-facing IT services environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing ticket queues, technician workloads, escalations, service levels, and customer expectations.
• Experience coaching technical employees and holding team members accountable for performance and follow-through.
• Strong understanding of IT support operations and common Microsoft-based business technology environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to prioritize multiple customer and technical issues simultaneously.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to remain calm and make sound decisions during outages, escalations, and other high-pressure situations.
• Proactive approach to identifying and resolving problems before they become larger service issues.

The Right Person for This Role

We’re looking for a manager who takes personal ownership of the service desk.

You notice when a ticket has been sitting too long. You know when a technician is overloaded or struggling. You follow up rather than assuming something was completed. You recognize when troubleshooting has gone on long enough and bring in the right technical resource. You communicate with customers before they have to chase you for an update.

You also look beyond the immediate problem. If the same issue keeps occurring, you want to understand why and determine what should change to prevent it from continuing., * MSP: 2 years (Required)

• IT service desk management: 2 years (Required)

Shift availability:

• Day Shift (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Independence, OH 44131 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Independence, OH 44131: Relocate before starting work (Required)