Manager, IT Service Desk

The Pokémon Company•Bellevue, WA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, IT Service Desk leads The Pokémon Company International’s North America Service Desk, providing reliable technology support to more than 1,400 employees. The role is accountable for daily operations, service performance, and continuous improvement, helping the Service Desk keep pace with business growth and changing needs through effective use of the team, technology, automation, and service partners. The manager is responsible for building a strong, collaborative team through clear expectations, thoughtful coaching, trust, and opportunities for professional growth. The manager owns Service Desk operations and performance, including daily operations, escalations, service quality, operational priorities, and improvements informed by service performance, employee feedback, and demand trends. The role leads and develops Service Desk professionals, plans staffing and coverage, defines and scales services, and improves processes, knowledge, self-service, automation, approved AI capabilities, and service partnerships. The position also oversees technology purchasing, inventory controls, and budget tracking for employee hardware and Service Desk services. It manages vendor service delivery and partners with IT leadership and Procurement on purchasing and service agreements. Success means a capable and engaged team, consistent service, less technology friction for employees, and capacity to support business growth.

Requirements

At least 4 years leading an IT Service Desk or comparable technical support team, with direct responsibility for people management, staffing and coverage, team priorities, and service performance.
A record of building healthy team culture and developing people with different strengths and experience levels through clear expectations, candid feedback, coaching, and meaningful growth opportunities.
Ability to earn trust, lead with empathy, address performance issues, and balance employee needs, team capacity, operational risk, and business priorities.
At least 7 years of progressive experience in enterprise IT support.
Experience owning and scaling enterprise Service Desk operations, including service definition, demand management, incidents, requests, escalations, performance, and continuous improvement.
Clear, practical communication and sound judgment when working with technical teams, business partners, and leaders on performance, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations.
Strong working knowledge of Windows, macOS, Microsoft 365, identity and access, endpoint management, collaboration tools, and IT service management practices.
Technical judgment to assess complex issues, challenge recommendations, guide escalations, and lead technology or process changes through adoption and ongoing support.
Experience evaluating and implementing one or more support models, such as self-service, automation, AI-enabled support, or external service partnerships, with measurable improvements to capacity, cost, quality, speed, or employee experience.
Experience managing technology assets, purchasing, budgets, vendors, and service agreements as part of a cohesive support model.

Nice To Haves

ITIL certification.

Responsibilities

Own the overall performance of the North America Service Desk, set operational priorities, and hold the team accountable for consistent, effective employee support.
Oversee daily operations, escalations, and service quality, partnering with technical owners to resolve recurring issues.
Use service performance, employee feedback, and demand trends to identify gaps, communicate results and risks, and prioritize improvements that reduce employee downtime and improve resolution times.
Inform capacity and spending decisions using service performance and demand information.
Lead and develop Service Desk professionals by setting clear expectations, providing coaching, and holding individuals and the team accountable for results.
Plan staffing, support coverage, and team development to meet service demand and support business growth.
Build a trusted, collaborative culture where people share ownership, work effectively together, and have opportunities to grow.
Define Service Desk offerings, support channels, service expectations, and ownership to deliver a clear, consistent service to the business.
Improve processes, knowledge, self-service, automation, approved AI capabilities, and service partnerships to increase capacity and reduce repetitive demand.
Oversee technology purchasing, inventory controls, and budget tracking for employee hardware and Service Desk services.
Manage vendor service delivery and hold partners accountable for cost, quality, and performance.
Partner with IT leadership and Procurement on purchasing and service agreements.