AI-Enabled Service Desk Manager (Federal)

ICF Olson; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 89,000 - 152,000; Full time

Job summary

ICF seeks an experienced Service Desk Manager to lead a modern, AI-enabled IT service desk for a federal technology program in the Washington, DC area. This operational leadership role requires overseeing Tier Zero self-service, knowledge management, and performance metrics while coordinating with AI/automation teams.

The ideal candidate has federal IT service desk operations experience, ITIL certification, and hands-on work with ServiceNow or Jira Service Management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• 7+ years of experience managing IT service desk or end-user support operations, including 3+ years in a federal or government-adjacent environment.
• 2+ years designing or operating Tier Zero and AI-enabled self-service capabilities (virtual agents/chatbots).
• 2+ years supporting federal programs in HHS, NIH, FDA, or health agencies.
• ITIL Foundation certification or equivalent.
• 3+ years hands-on experience with ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow or Jira Service Management.
• U.S. Citizenship required due to federal contract requirements.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust background investigation.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of a single-tier service desk, with technicians owning incidents from intake to closure.
• Own service desk performance metrics including CSAT, CES, Tier Zero deflection, ticket resolution time, and first-contact resolution.
• Drive continuous improvement against contractual targets.
• Oversee Tier Zero self-service capabilities, including virtual agents and knowledge portals.
• Coordinate with AI and automation teams to support implementation.
• Maintain a wiki-style knowledge base with accurate, plain-language content for users and technicians.
• Ensure proper ticket categorization, prioritization, and root-cause analysis; maintain data integrity for reporting.
• Coordinate staffing and resource allocation, including surge coverage and on-site support for leadership needs.
• Prepare and present service desk performance reporting for governance forums and client stakeholders.
• Apply ITIL-based service management practices and promote automation-first AI approaches.

Skills

Leadership

KPI management

Customer focus

Federal IT experience

AI-enabled service

Team management

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

ServiceNow

Jira Service Management

Job description

ICF seeks an experienced Service Desk Manager to lead a modern, AI-enabled IT service desk for a federal technology program in the Washington, DC area. This operational leadership role requires overseeing Tier Zero self-service, knowledge management, and performance metrics while coordinating with AI/automation teams.

The ideal candidate has federal IT service desk operations experience, ITIL certification, and hands-on work with ServiceNow or Jira Service Management.