Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Service Desk Team Leader

🎯 Role Definition

Are you a natural leader with a deep passion for technology and a relentless drive for service excellence? This role requires a dynamic and experienced Service Desk Team Leader to guide, mentor, and empower our front-line IT support team. In this pivotal role, you will be the engine of our daily support operations, ensuring all technical issues are addressed promptly, effectively, and with a customer-first mindset. You will not only manage people and processes but also act as a key player in shaping our support strategy, driving service improvements, and fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture. If you thrive on solving complex problems and enabling others to succeed, we invite you to apply.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Service Desk Analyst
IT Support Specialist (Level 2/3)
Lead Technical Support Engineer

Advancement To:

Service Desk Manager
IT Operations Manager
Incident & Problem Manager

Lateral Moves:

IT Project Coordinator
Change Manager
IT Business Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Service Desk Analysts, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and exceptional customer service.
Oversee the day-to-day operations of the IT Service Desk, ensuring that all support tickets are handled effectively from initial logging to final resolution.
Act as a primary point of escalation for complex technical issues, user complaints, and high-priority incidents, providing advanced troubleshooting and ensuring swift resolution.
Develop, monitor, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) to measure team performance and service quality.
Manage team scheduling, including shift patterns, on-call rotations, and PTO coverage, to ensure adequate support availability during business hours.
Conduct regular performance reviews, one-on-one meetings, and team huddles to provide feedback, set goals, and address any performance issues.
Generate and analyze service desk performance reports to identify trends, pinpoint recurring problems, and present actionable insights to IT leadership.
Champion a customer-centric support culture, actively seeking feedback and implementing initiatives to enhance the end-user experience.
Oversee the entire lifecycle of IT support tickets within the ITSM system (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira), ensuring accurate categorization, prioritization, and documentation.
Develop, maintain, and enforce a comprehensive knowledge base of technical documentation, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and support articles.
Coordinate with other IT teams, including Infrastructure, Networking, and Security, to facilitate the resolution of cross-functional and escalated issues.
Lead and contribute to service improvement projects aimed at enhancing support efficiency, automating tasks, and improving user satisfaction.
Ensure strict adherence to company policies, IT security standards, and ITIL/ITSM best practices across all service desk activities.
Manage major incidents by coordinating technical resolution teams, handling stakeholder communications, and documenting post-incident reviews to prevent recurrence.
Onboard and train new Service Desk team members on internal processes, support tools, technology stack, and company culture.
Perform hands-on technical support for escalated issues related to hardware, software, network connectivity, and user accounts when required.
Analyze ticket data to identify underlying root causes of recurring incidents and formally transition them to the Problem Management process.
Manage IT hardware and software procurement, inventory tracking, and asset lifecycle management for end-user computing devices.
Act as a subject matter expert on the service desk toolset, driving adoption of new features and ensuring the team leverages the platform effectively.
Facilitate the resolution of VIP support requests with a high degree of professionalism, urgency, and confidentiality.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory analysis of service desk metrics to inform strategic decisions.
Contribute to the organization's broader IT support strategy and technology roadmap by providing front-line insights.
Collaborate with business units to understand their upcoming technology needs and translate them into support readiness requirements.
Participate actively in sprint planning, retrospectives, and other agile ceremonies within the wider IT department.
Assist in the evaluation and implementation of new support tools and technologies to improve service delivery.
Develop and deliver training sessions to end-users on new software, hardware, or IT processes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

ITSM Platforms: Advanced proficiency in managing ticket queues, reporting, and configuration in tools like ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, or Zendesk.
Directory Services: Strong experience with Active Directory and Azure AD, including user account management, group policies, and permissions.
Operating Systems: Expert-level troubleshooting skills for Windows 10/11 and macOS environments.
Collaboration Suites: In-depth knowledge of administering Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) and Google Workspace, including Exchange Online, SharePoint, and Teams.
ITIL Framework: Strong understanding of ITIL principles, particularly in Incident, Problem, Change, and Service Request Management. ITIL Foundation certification is highly desirable.
Endpoint Management: Experience with Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM) solutions such as Microsoft Intune or Jamf.
Networking: Solid understanding of fundamental networking concepts, including TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, and Wi-Fi troubleshooting.

Soft Skills

Leadership & Mentorship: Proven ability to lead, inspire, and develop a technical team, fostering a positive and productive work environment.
Exceptional Communication: Superior verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
Customer Service Excellence: A deep-seated commitment to delivering outstanding customer service and managing user expectations effectively.
Analytical Problem-Solving: Advanced analytical and critical-thinking skills to diagnose complex issues, identify root causes, and implement effective solutions.
Conflict Resolution & De-escalation: Adept at handling frustrated users and resolving conflicts calmly and professionally.
Process Improvement: A continuous improvement mindset with the ability to identify inefficiencies and successfully implement changes.
Decision Making: Ability to make sound, data-driven decisions under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
Adaptability: Flexible and able to adapt to shifting priorities, new technologies, and evolving business needs.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Associate's Degree or equivalent combination of relevant certifications (e.g., A+, Network+, ITIL) and practical experience.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's Degree.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Information Technology
Computer Science
Management Information Systems
Business Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

4-6 years of progressive experience in an IT support or service desk environment, with at least 2 years in a senior, lead, or supervisory role.

Preferred:

Demonstrable experience leading a technical support team within an ITIL-based operational framework.
Proven track record of successfully improving key service desk metrics such as First Call Resolution (FCR), Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR), and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT).
Experience managing support for a hybrid workforce (remote and in-office).