Service Desk Manager

Pathstone•San Francisco, CA

4h•$110,000 - $130,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Pathstone is seeking a hands-on Service Desk Manager to lead its service desk function and improve the end-user support experience across the company. The role manages a service desk team distributed across the country, serves as an escalation point for ticket resolution, sets and enforces SLAs, develops and reports KPIs to IT leadership and executives, oversees the ticket lifecycle and escalations, drives continuous improvement, and delivers ongoing training for service desk analysts and companywide technology adoption. The manager will lead remote and hybrid operations, including staffing, scheduling, time-zone-aware coverage, after-hours/on-call rotations, and handoffs. The role also directs service processes, tooling, automation, knowledge management, satisfaction surveys, training and enablement, security and compliance practices, and vendor coordination. The position uses ManageEngine Service Desk Plus and partners with infrastructure, cloud, development, security, and vendors to maintain service quality and prevent recurring issues. Pathstone is a wealth management firm serving ultra-high-net-worth families, single-family offices, foundations, and endowments. It has more than 20 office locations and over $185 billion in client assets under management, advisory, administration, and related services. The expected starting base compensation range is $110,000–$130,000 per year. The successful candidate may also be eligible for a discretionary bonus. Pathstone cannot provide employment visa sponsorship.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience managing a service desk, including team leadership, performance management, and process ownership.
Proven experience defining SLAs, creating KPIs, and reporting performance to IT leadership or executives.
Demonstrated success improving service desk maturity across processes, governance, tooling, knowledge, and automation.
Direct experience managing remote or distributed teams, including time-zone coverage, asynchronous workflows, and virtual performance management.
Hands-on expertise with ManageEngine Service Desk Plus or similar systems.
Strong understanding of ITIL principles, including incident, request, problem, and change management, and full ticket lifecycle management.
Experience building training programs for analysts and business users.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Data-driven mindset and advanced analytics and dashboarding skills, such as Power BI, Tableau, or ITSM dashboards.
Excellent troubleshooting skills.

Nice To Haves

Extensive experience with Microsoft 365, Intune, Azure AD/Entra ID, identity and access management, and endpoint management.
Background in automation or scripting, such as Power Automate or PowerShell, and virtual agents or chatbots.
Experience scaling support in a medium-size environment of approximately 250–2,000 team members, multisite operations, and highly distributed workplaces.
Exposure to compliance frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, or SOX and audit readiness.
Familiarity with or hands-on experience using AI-powered productivity tools to enhance efficiency, collaboration, and work quality.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and develop service desk analysts, including workload distribution, coaching, performance reviews, and career paths.
Manage staffing plans, scheduling, time-zone-aware shifts, after-hours/on-call rotations, and follow-the-sun handoffs.
Establish remote-ready practices, including escalation paths, asynchronous communication norms, documentation-first practices, and high-quality ticket notes.
Manage the ticket queue from triage and prioritization through assignment, escalation, resolution, and closure.
Define and maintain a ticket lifecycle covering intake, categorization, diagnosis, resolution, documentation, and closure.
Support team health and engagement through structured one-on-ones, virtual standups, outcome-based goals, and transparent performance dashboards.
Define, publish, and manage SLAs by priority and request type; monitor compliance and address breaches.
Create and maintain departmental KPIs, recurring dashboards, and executive reports.
Use data to identify trends, repeat incidents, bottlenecks, and deflection opportunities, and drive measurable improvements.
Track remote-specific performance, including time-zone handoff quality, response by support channel, and backlog aging across shifts.
Improve processes, tooling, automation, and knowledge base quality and coverage.
Conduct root cause analysis for major incidents and partner with infrastructure, cloud, development, and security teams to prevent recurrence.
Advance shift-left strategies, including self-service, knowledge-base deflection, automated fulfillment, chat or virtual agents, and asynchronous knowledge materials.
Design and administer end-user satisfaction surveys, including transactional CSAT and periodic NPS; analyze results and take action.
Ensure ongoing technical, soft-skills, remote collaboration, and security-awareness training for the service desk team.
Develop and deliver training on company software and technology systems through virtual workshops, on-demand microlearning, and office hours.
Standardize remote onboarding playbooks for new analysts and team members, covering tools, SOPs, knowledge-base usage, and shadowing plans.
Uphold IT policies, asset management, access controls, and security standards in partnership with the Security team.
Maintain audit trails and documentation and support compliance requirements.
Ensure remote-work controls, including secure remote-support tools, MFA/conditional access, least privilege, and privacy-aware support practices.
Administer and optimize ITSM, remote-support, and knowledge-base tools, including ManageEngine Service Desk Plus.
Coordinate with vendors and managed services to ensure SLA alignment and quality delivery, including off-hours coverage.