IT Technical Support (ARL) Supervisor

Penn State University • University Park, IL

2d • $62,304 - $93,504 • Onsite

About The Position

We are searching for a highly motivated and self-driven IT Technical Support (ARL) – Supervisor for our highly secured environments to join our Information Technology Services Division at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State University. ARL’s purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Intel Community (IC). ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply. This role will lead frontline ITS support and Service Desk operations—overseeing student hiring/supervision, business‑hours coverage, ARL collaboration, and daily metric‑driven improvements.

Requirements

• Team leadership & workforce management: proven ability to hire, schedule, coach, and evaluate Tier 1 staff and student employees
• Service desk operations & ITSM proficiency: experience with incident/problem/change management, major‑incident coordination, standardized triage, and escalation control
• Ticketing / ticket management proficiency: hands‑on experience with enterprise ticketing systems (intake, triage, assignment, workflow, SLAs), queue management, and backlog control
• Customer service excellence: strong empathy and active listening; clear written/verbal communication; ability to manage expectations, de‑escalate issues, and deliver high‑quality support for diverse user groups
• Technical troubleshooting: competence with Windows and Linux endpoints, common enterprise applications, and standard hardware/peripherals; ability to translate technical concepts for non‑technical users and deliver user‑focused training
• Knowledge management & documentation: ability to maintain KB articles, runbooks, playbooks, and standard operating procedures aligned to governance and audit needs
• Communication & stakeholder engagement: deliver timely status updates; collaborate across IT groups; effectively represent the Service Desk in meetings and project teams
• Metrics-driven improvement: define SLAs/KPIs, analyze dashboards/reports, and drive actions to improve CSAT, MTTR, first‑contact resolution, and backlog health

Nice To Haves

• Specific tools familiarity (preferred, not required): Jira Service Management (JSM); Active Directory/Group Policy; endpoint management platforms such as SCCM/MECM; Linux lifecycle tools including Red Hat Satellite; automation/orchestration via Ansible Automation Platform (AAP)
• Automation/scripting: (PowerShell/Python) to streamline triage, reporting, and routine tasks
• Knowledge of DoD regulations and standards: familiarity with DoD 8500.01 and NIST guidelines
• Security clearance: current eligibility for access to classified information at the Secret level or higher; may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required. Active Secret Clearance is a plus
• DoD 8140: The ability to certify and maintain information security related certification (Security+, CASP+, CySA+). Current CompTIA Security+ certification is a plus

Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise an IT support team (Tier 1): manage queues, assign/prioritize tickets, monitor SLAs, establish and maintain documentation, and provide coaching/performance feedback
• Coordinate operational governance: maintain the knowledge base/runbooks; standardize triage and escalation workflows; ensure adherence to incident/problem/change‑management policies and audit requirements
• Provide technical support and training on IT Services and end users systems; advise on computing policies and procedures for faculty, staff, and students
• Manage Service Desk performance and compliance: set KPIs/SLAs, review dashboards, publish regular reports, and drive corrective actions to improve Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR), and backlog
• Represent the Service Desk in IT/ARL meetings and project teams; collaborate to ensure support readiness for new services and initiatives
• Proactively monitor and report outages, changes, incidents, and problems; ensure timely, accurate communication to the Service Desk in accordance with established notification protocols
• Recruit, hire, onboard, and schedule student employees; deliver ARL-specific training (customer service, security, tools) with ongoing coaching and feedback to ensure coverage and quality support
• Own student development and performance management: conduct performance reviews; design training modules and assessments; map competency paths to support career growth within the student pipeline

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Robust retirement plans
• Substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time
• Generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree