Manager - Service Desk

Ferris State University•Big Rapids, MI

19h•$51,126 - $55,846•Onsite

About The Position

The Service Desk Manager leads and advances service desk operations in a higher education environment, aligned with the HDI Support Center Maturity Model and leveraging the Team Dynamix IT Service Management (ITSM) platform. This role oversees several full-time employees and numerous part-time student employees. The manager is responsible for the walk-up service desk, contact center, ITSM workflows, knowledge management, and hardware repair services supporting faculty, staff, and students. The position emphasizes service quality, operational efficiency, staff and student development, data-driven decision-making, and continuous service improvement. This is a highly visible area of ITS and a highly customer service-driven team. The selected candidate for this position must be authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire without employer assistance or sponsorship now or in the future. The university will not assist with any F-1 EADs, OPT, H-1 B, etc.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
Two years of work experience in an IT-related technical customer support area and supervisory experience of full-time, part-time, and/or student employees.
Hands-on experience in a call center, service desk, or help desk operation.
HDI Support Center Manager certification within one year of employment.
Be a highly motivated individual who works well in a team environment or independently.
Direct and instruct technical staff effectively, efficiently, and professionally.
Use a broad understanding of ITIL’s ITSM core methodologies.
Communicate effectively and follow best practices for customer service.
Possess leadership skills in both technical and process-oriented initiatives.
Interact effectively with all levels of organizational personnel and with outside vendors.
Plan, organize, and make independent decisions with sound judgment.
Assist with customer conflict resolution.
Assist with employee-related issues when necessary.
Use excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as analytic, technical problem-solving, and research skills.
Express technical information in a clear and understandable way.
Manage multiple initiatives and assignments concurrently to completion in a timely and logical manner.
Demonstrated successful experience working directly with people from diverse backgrounds, including cultural, educational, socioeconomic, and life experiences.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree or Advanced Degree.
Five years of progressive experience in an IT organization
Work experience as a call center supervisor or manager.
Experience working in a higher education IT environment.
Experience with hardware support and repairs.
HDI Service Desk Manager, HDI Support Center Director, or ITIL certification.
Experience implementing knowledge-centered support (KCS) practices.
Advanced experience with Team Dynamix reporting, automation, and service catalog configuration.
Experience managing endpoint lifecycle, asset management, or depot repair operations.

Responsibilities

Lead Service Desk operations aligned with HDI Level 3–4 (Customer-Led / Business-Led) maturity practices.
Establish a strong customer experience culture focused on empathy, first-contact resolution, and measurable service outcomes.
Use metrics and performance indicators to proactively improve services and reduce demand.
Oversee workforce planning, scheduling, and capacity management to match academic cycles.
Develop staff and student employees through structured onboarding, coaching, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement practices.
Administer and enhance the Team Dynamix ITSM platform, including ticketing, request forms, workflows, automation, and service offerings.
Maintain the service catalog in Team Dynamix, ensuring clear service definitions, ownership, SLAs, and user-friendly request experiences.
Create and manage reports and dashboards in Team Dynamix, including ticket aging, backlog, resolution trends, and demand analysis.
Use Team Dynamix data to identify systemic issues, service improvement opportunities, and demand reduction strategies.
Collaborate with IT partners to ensure consistent process adoption across departments.
Lead a knowledge-centered support (KCS-aligned) approach using Team Dynamix knowledge base capabilities.
Oversee creation, review, and lifecycle management of internal and end-user knowledge articles.
Promote self-service and automation to reduce walk-up visits and call volume.
Analyze repeat incidents and work orders to drive documentation and process improvements.
Works to ensure the walk-up, hardware support, and contact center teams are informed of, trained, and working together to provide the highest level of service and support possible.
Oversee the full-time staff member who is the front-line contact for any walk-up student, faculty, and staff requests.
Works to improve operations of the walk-up area.
May need to back up the walk-up employee during breaks, lunches, and absences, as well as times of high volume.
Oversee the full-time staff and students that make up the contact center.
Works with this team to develop the employees through coaching and training on routine issue resolution as well as escalation processes.
Manages the third-party support company utilized for after-hours support.
Manages and administers the contact center – Ring Central- to ensure the system is meeting the needs of the team and reviews for operational enhancements.
May need to directly oversee the student employees or jump into the call queues to provide leadership and or additional support as needed.
Oversee the hardware repair technician and support team that provides services for faculty, staff, and student computers.
Ensure consistent intake, repair tracking, user communication, and resolution documentation within Team Dynamix.
Coordinate hardware lifecycle planning, inventory tracking, and repair metrics.
Align endpoint support with institutional standards and security practices.
Carries out responsibilities in accordance with university policies and applicable laws.
Cultivates an environment of belonging that values, respects, supports, and celebrates individual similarities and differences, allowing students, faculty, and staff to thrive authentically.
Support, promote, and develop university student enrollment and retention initiatives.
Approve time off requests from team members.
Approve time cards for direct report non-exempt staff.
Assist with or complete employee performance evaluations of team members.
Serve on committees as assigned.
Perform back-up responsibilities of the Desktop Support Coordinator/Manager as needed
Develop and/or refine internal processes and related training and participate in new employee on-boarding for ITSC specific topics.
Provide leadership for group collaborations on such things as knowledge management, and problem management/major incident management.
Monitor open work tickets and project tasks to assure timely and accurate resolution.
Perform other duties as assigned.