Customer Support Specialist (Technical)

Peraton • Sterling, VA

7d • $51,000 - $82,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Peraton is seeking a Customer Support Specialist (CSS) to support the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Technology Consular Affairs Enterprise Infrastructure Operations Program. The program provides global IT operations and maintenance services supporting the modernization, availability, reliability, and security of systems and services used in Consular Affairs operations.

The CSS is part of the Service Desk team supporting the CA Service Center, the central coordination point for IT service events affecting the CA IT infrastructure and user community. The role provides enterprise technical support and service management, independently assessing user-reported issues, determining resolutions or escalation paths, and coordinating with technical support organizations to restore services and fulfill customer requirements. The CSS applies IT service management practices and technical judgment to resolve incidents and requests, maintain service quality, identify recurring issues, and improve Service Desk operations while meeting service-level objectives.

The position is based at 44873 Falcon Place, Suite 150, Sterling, Virginia. The employee must be flexible to work first, second, or third shift. New hires complete a 12-week training program, Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, in Sterling. After training, the employee works the assigned shift in Sterling at least four days per week; with manager approval, the fifth scheduled workday may be remote. Onsite requirements may change according to government and program needs, including surge support.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and 2 years of experience, an associate degree and 4 years of experience, or a high school diploma/equivalent and 6 years of experience.
• U.S. citizenship and an active SECRET Government Security Clearance.
• 1 to 3 years of help desk or service desk experience.
• Demonstrated experience troubleshooting enterprise hardware, software, operating systems, applications, network connectivity, or mobile technologies.
• Experience using an enterprise IT service management or ticketing platform such as ServiceNow, Remedy, or a comparable system.
• Ability to independently assess technical issues, determine troubleshooting or escalation paths, and communicate technical information effectively to customers and technical support organizations.
• Experience applying IT service management practices, including Incident Management, Request Fulfillment, escalation, service restoration, and knowledge management.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, maintain ownership of assigned work, and meet service-level and operational requirements.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced enterprise IT environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and customer service skills.

Nice To Haves

• 2 or more years of progressively responsible experience in IT Service Desk, IT Service Management, technical support, enterprise IT operations, or a related discipline.
• CompTIA A+ certification.
• ITIL v3 or ITIL v4 Foundation certification.
• Microsoft IT Support or another Microsoft technical certification.
• HDI Support Center Representative (HDI-SCR) or equivalent certification.
• Experience with ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM), Remedy, or comparable enterprise service management platforms.
• Experience supporting Department of State IT environments.
• Experience supporting large-scale federal government enterprise IT environments.
• Experience analyzing incident trends, service-level performance, ticket aging, or other operational metrics.
• Experience contributing to Knowledge Management, Continual Service Improvement, Problem Management, or other ITIL service management processes.
• Experience supporting geographically distributed or international user communities.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical analysis and remote support for enterprise software, desktop computing, network connectivity, mobile devices, and related IT services through telephone, email, chat, and service management platforms.
• Assess incidents and service requests, gather technical and customer information, determine troubleshooting and resolution approaches, and implement or coordinate corrective actions.
• Diagnose and resolve common technical issues using documented procedures, knowledge resources, technical documentation, and IT service management practices.
• Determine when incidents require escalation based on complexity, business impact, security, service-level requirements, or available support capabilities; coordinate with appropriate technical organizations.
• Maintain ownership of assigned incidents and requests through resolution or escalation, keeping customers updated and documenting required actions.
• Communicate with customers to clarify issues, gather diagnostic information, provide status updates, explain resolutions, and confirm service restoration.
• Analyze incident details and recurring issues to identify trends, knowledge gaps, and opportunities to improve service delivery and first-contact resolution.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, incident records, troubleshooting information, and knowledge articles.
• Contribute to Knowledge Base content by documenting troubleshooting techniques, solutions, workarounds, and lessons learned.
• Apply ITIL-based Incident Management and Request Fulfillment practices and comply with government policies, procedures, security requirements, SLAs, and SLOs.
• Monitor ServiceNow dashboards and operational queues for unassigned, aging, pending, or at-risk incidents and requests, and take appropriate action.
• Analyze ticket status, workload, aging, and service-level information; identify customer-service risks and escalate concerns to Service Desk leadership.
• Participate in shift turnovers, communicating significant incidents, unresolved issues, service impacts, and operational concerns.
• Prepare and communicate scheduled operational reports and shift deliverables accurately and on time.
• Coordinate with Service Desk colleagues, CAEIO technical teams, and other stakeholders to resolve incidents, restore service, and fulfill customer requests.
• Maintain working knowledge of Service Desk processes, enterprise applications, support procedures, and operational responsibilities, and provide backup coverage across Service Desk functions.
• Identify and recommend improvements to processes, procedures, knowledge resources, and customer support practices.
• Support implementation of new or modified Service Desk processes, tools, technologies, policies, and procedures.
• Use sound judgment to balance customer requirements, technical considerations, service objectives, security requirements, and operational priorities.
• Perform other IT service management and operational support activities within the scope of the position.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Health savings account
• Short- and long-term disability
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Parental leave
• 401(k)
• Paid time off (PTO) for vacation
• Company-paid holidays
• Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level