Manager, IT Service Desk

The Pokémon Company International•Bellevue, WA

7d•$120,000 - $214,000•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. This role is accountable for daily operations, service performance, and ongoing 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 builds a strong, collaborative team by setting clear expectations, providing thoughtful coaching, building trust, and creating opportunities for growth. Success means an engaged and capable team, consistent service, reduced technology friction for employees, and sufficient capacity to support business growth. The role owns Service Desk operations and performance, leads and develops the team, defines and scales service offerings, and oversees technology assets, spending, and vendors. It works with technical owners, IT leadership, Procurement, business partners, and service providers to improve employee support and service outcomes.

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 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 new 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 North America Service Desk performance, set operational priorities, and hold the team accountable for consistent and 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.
Use service performance and demand information to inform capacity and spending decisions.
Lead and develop Service Desk professionals through clear expectations, coaching, and accountability for individual and team results.
Plan staffing, support coverage, and team development to meet service demand and support business growth.
Build a trusted, collaborative team culture that encourages shared ownership and professional growth.
Develop the Service Desk as a clear and consistent business service, with defined offerings, support channels, service expectations, and ownership.
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.