Zendesk Platform Optimization Specialist

TEKsystems•Kansas City, MO

2d•$40 - $55•Remote

About The Position

At this client, your work goes beyond a traditional consulting engagement. In this role, you will partner closely with Wave and this cleint leadership to evaluate, optimize, and scale our Zendesk support environment. You’ll bring both strategic perspective and hands-on expertise to ensure our support operations are efficient, data-driven, and built to support long-term growth. You will assess how Zendesk is currently configured and used across support operations, identify opportunities to improve agent productivity and customer outcomes, and help leadership gain clearer visibility into operational performance. This role plays a critical part in shaping how we deliver scalable, high-quality support experiences. This role is focused on optimizing a customer‑facing digital platform and how it enables business operations. Zendesk Platform Assessment • Conduct a comprehensive review of Wave’s Zendesk configuration, including workflows, automations, triggers, macros, and ticket lifecycle management. • Evaluate queue structure, routing logic, and ticket categorization to ensure they support efficient case management and operational visibility. • Identify configuration gaps or inefficiencies contributing to ticket backlog or delayed resolution. Operational Efficiency & Case Management • Analyze end-to-end ticket handling processes to identify opportunities to improve agent productivity and resolution times. • Help define cases-per-hour productivity benchmarks and other operational metrics to support workforce planning and performance management. • Recommend improvements to ticket triage, escalation management, and case resolution workflows. Reporting & Insights • Design Zendesk reporting frameworks for multiple audiences, including: o Executive leadership (operational health, backlog trends, SLA performance) o Operational teams (queue health, daily performance, agent productivity, aging tickets) • Evaluate current use of Zendesk Explore and recommend improvements, enhancements, or integrations. • Recommend dashboards that enable leadership to monitor workload distribution and performance in real time. Workflow & Queue Optimization • Assess Zendesk queue architecture and recommend improvements that enhance routing efficiency and reporting clarity. • Evaluate the use of tags, fields, ticket types, and automations to ensure scalability. • Recommend best practices for organizing queues to improve ownership, visibility, and escalation pathways. Agent & Leadership Enablement • Identify opportunities to improve agent productivity through macros, automation, workflows, and knowledge base integration. • Recommend ways to streamline agent workflows and reduce manual effort. • Improve management visibility through dashboards, monitoring tools, and reporting cadences. Enterprise Platform Strategy • Evaluate whether Zendesk is optimally configured to support current and future support strategy. • Provide guidance on scalability, integrations, and architectural improvements. • Assess whether Zendesk remains the right long-term platform or if alternative solutions should be considered. • Develop strategic recommendations and supporting analysis for potential platform evolution or migration. What you’ll deliver… • A comprehensive Zendesk environment assessment report • Recommendations for queue structure and workflow optimization • A proposed operational reporting and dashboard framework • Agent productivity benchmark recommendations • Identified opportunities for automation and efficiency gains • A platform strategy recommendation outlining the long-term suitability of Zendesk

Requirements

5+ years of hands-on experience administering or consulting on Zendesk environments
Demonstrated expertise with Zendesk Support, Zendesk Explore, and workflow automation
Experience designing support operations reporting for both operational teams and executive leadership
Proven track record of improving support productivity and ticket resolution efficiency
Strong understanding of support metrics, including SLAs, backlog analysis, and agent productivity
Experience evaluating and redesigning queue structures, routing logic, and escalation processes
Ability to balance strategic consulting with practical, actionable recommendations
Strong communication skills and comfort partnering with high level stakeholders

Responsibilities

Conduct a comprehensive review of Wave’s Zendesk configuration, including workflows, automations, triggers, macros, and ticket lifecycle management.
Evaluate queue structure, routing logic, and ticket categorization to ensure they support efficient case management and operational visibility.
Identify configuration gaps or inefficiencies contributing to ticket backlog or delayed resolution.
Analyze end-to-end ticket handling processes to identify opportunities to improve agent productivity and resolution times.
Help define cases-per-hour productivity benchmarks and other operational metrics to support workforce planning and performance management.
Recommend improvements to ticket triage, escalation management, and case resolution workflows.
Design Zendesk reporting frameworks for multiple audiences, including:
Evaluate current use of Zendesk Explore and recommend improvements, enhancements, or integrations.
Recommend dashboards that enable leadership to monitor workload distribution and performance in real time.
Assess Zendesk queue architecture and recommend improvements that enhance routing efficiency and reporting clarity.
Evaluate the use of tags, fields, ticket types, and automations to ensure scalability.
Recommend best practices for organizing queues to improve ownership, visibility, and escalation pathways.
Identify opportunities to improve agent productivity through macros, automation, workflows, and knowledge base integration.
Recommend ways to streamline agent workflows and reduce manual effort.
Improve management visibility through dashboards, monitoring tools, and reporting cadences.
Evaluate whether Zendesk is optimally configured to support current and future support strategy.
Provide guidance on scalability, integrations, and architectural improvements.
Assess whether Zendesk remains the right long-term platform or if alternative solutions should be considered.
Develop strategic recommendations and supporting analysis for potential platform evolution or migration.