Help Services Coordinator

Commonwealth of VA Careers; Charlottesville (VA); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

UVA Information Technology Services (ITS) seeks a Help Services Coordinator to lead and optimize the University of Virginia’s Help Desk operations. You will oversee incident handling, knowledge management, and service quality, partnering with vendors and UVA teams to drive improvements and customer satisfaction.

This role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration, onboarding for departments, and strategic initiatives in service transitions and tool implementations within a university environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 2+ years relevant professional experience required.
• Experience in IT support, service desk, or technical operations.
• Experience with incident management, ticket handling, and escalation procedures.
• Experience analyzing operational data and driving process improvements.
• Experience coordinating with vendors and business partners.
• Experience developing or using knowledge articles and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Directs day-to-day Help Desk operations and ensures high-quality service.
• Drives incident management, escalation, and ticket handling practices.
• Maintains knowledge of supported IT services to guide troubleshooting.
• Monitors ticket aging and collaborates with support groups for timely resolution.
• Leads escalation coordination for complex issues and major incidents.
• Participates in on-call rotation for major incidents affecting Help Desk services.
• Administers QA and continuous improvement initiatives across training, knowledge, and processes.
• Coordinates with Help Desk vendor on maintenance, outages, and service updates.
• Produces operational reports and analyzes metrics to inform decisions.
• Facilitates stakeholder communications and onboarding for departments adopting Help Desk services.
• Leads training sessions for Help Desk staff and UVA personnel.
• Maintains accurate knowledge documentation and content.

Skills

Operational leadership

Incident management

Knowledge management

Vendor coordination

Communication

Project coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in information technology or related field

Tools

ServiceNow

Help Desk tools

Ticketing systems

Job description

UVA Information Technology Services (ITS) does more than support the UVA community - we empower and move it forward. With every partnership and every solution, we are shaping a culture and ecosystem where learning and discovery thrive.

Position Overview

The Help Services Coordinator provides operational leadership and quality oversight for the University’s Help Desk, ensuring high-quality, consistent, and efficient support for the UVA community. This position directs day-to-day Help Desk operations, monitors service performance, and advances continuous improvement across processes, tools, and support practices.

Serving as a subject matter expert in incident and knowledge management, the Coordinator drives effective ticket handling, escalation, and resolution practices while ensuring support documentation remains accurate, accessible, and actionable. The role partners closely with vendors, UVA support teams, and subject matter experts to strengthen service quality, deliver targeted training, and elevate the customer experience.

The Help Services Coordinator also administers Help Desk tool access, supports onboarding and compliance activities, and delivers operational reporting and analysis to inform decision-making. Operating with a high degree of independence, this position leads quality assurance efforts, supports major incident response, and advances strategic initiatives such as service transitions, tool implementations, and the onboarding of departments to Help Desk services.

This role is ideal for a service-oriented professional who thrives on improving operations, solving complex support challenges, and partnering across technical and business teams to deliver outstanding customer experiences. It offers the opportunity to shape service quality, influence process improvements, and contribute to high-impact initiatives that support the University community.

Essential Responsibilities

Help Desk Operations Management

• Directs day-to-day Help Desk operations, ensuring Help Desk partner staff follow established support processes to deliver consistent, high-quality service to the UVA community.
• Serves as the subject matter expert for end-to-end incident management and ticket handling practices.
• Maintains working knowledge of supported IT services to guide support activities and troubleshooting practices.
• Monitors ticket aging and collaborates with assigned support groups to promote timely resolution.
• Leads escalation coordination for complex, high-impact, or unresolved issues, to promote timely resolution, effective communication, and appropriate stakeholder engagement.
• Participates in an on-call rotation for major incidents affecting Help Desk services and related technologies.

Quality Assurance & Service Improvement

• Administers the Help Desk quality assurance program by reviewing customer feedback and service interactions, identifying performance, process, and customer satisfaction issues, determining root causes, and driving corrective actions across training, knowledge, and process improvements.
• Identifies recurring service issues and partners with technical teams to drive trend analysis, root cause review, and long-term corrective actions.
• Monitors ticket flow between the Help Desk and referral groups; reviews referrals for compliance with established procedures; identifies and corrects misrouted cases, categorization errors, and process breakdowns; and works with referral groups and technical teams to support timely resolution.
• Leads continuous improvement initiatives for Help Desk and user support processes in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.

Vendor & Service Level Management

• Coordinates with the Help Desk vendor on operational activities, including scheduled maintenance, service updates, unplanned outages, major system upgrades, and other events requiring specialized support, to ensure effective communication and minimal service delivery disruption.
• Monitors vendor performance and ensures Help Desk service-level targets are met.

Reporting, Metrics & Analysis

• Produces and shares operational reports, metrics, and service analyses; identifies trends affecting service levels and customer experience; investigates root causes; and coordinates improvements and mitigations with ITS and University partners to support management decision-making and continuous improvement.

Stakeholder Coordination & Operational Alignment

• Facilitates communication and operational alignment between Help Desk partner staff and internal Tier 2/3 support teams by coordinating stakeholder forums, communications, and communities of practice to promote shared understanding of processes, changes, priorities, and service expectations.
• Coordinates outreach and onboarding for departments adopting UVA Help Desk services.
• Participates in or leads initiatives and projects that have a user support impact, ensuring operational readiness and clear communications.

Training & Knowledge Transfer

• Coordinates or leads training and informational sessions for Help Desk partner staff on service support topics.
• Provides training to UVA staff on incident management and ticket-handling procedures.

Knowledge Management

• Serves as a subject matter expert for knowledge management processes as a backup to the Knowledge Coordinator role.
• Ensures the Help Desk maintains accurate, current documentation to resolve or appropriately refer incidents and requests and partners with technical subject matter experts and knowledge authors to create, maintain, and improve support content.

Help Desk Tools and Access

• Administers support groups, and onboarding/offboarding UVA staff into Help Desk tools and systems.
• Manages onboarding/offboarding Help Desk partner staff, including managing access to UVA systems and recordkeeping.
• Collaborates with internal teams to maintain service categorizations, Help Desk tool configurations, and resolution of tool configuration or process issues that affect service delivery.
• Hosts and moderates Help Desk Community of Practice teams or groups.
• Ensures Help Desk processes and tool administration activities align with applicable University policies, security requirements, and operational standards.
• Provisions, audits, and periodically recertifies access to tools and privileged systems to support compliance with University policies.

Major Incident Management

• Serves as a rotating Incident Coordinator for major incidents, leading cross-team communication and resolution activities.
• Coordinates communication to customers and stakeholders during service disruptions, major incidents, and planned changes affecting support services.

Minimum and Preferred Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree required.

Experience: 2+ years relevant professional experience required.

Licensure: None.

Experience

• 2+ Years of relevant works experience that demonstrates experience in IT support, service desk, help desk, or technical operations.
• Demonstrated experience providing operational leadership, functional guidance, or coordination in a service desk or technical support environment.
• Demonstrated experience with incident management, ticket handling, escalation procedures, and service delivery in a customer support environment.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing operational data, monitoring performance metrics, and advancing process improvement opportunities.
• Experience coordinating with multiple stakeholders, including technical teams, vendors, and business partners.
• Experience developing, maintaining, or using technical documentation, knowledge articles, or procedural materials.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to organize and prioritize multiple tasks, manage competing demands, and work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to customer service, continuous improvement, and collaboration.
• Ability to participate in after-hours support, on-call responsibilities, or major incident response activities, as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, business administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Relevant certifications, such as ITIL, HDI, CompTIA A+, or ServiceNow certification.

Experience

• Experience working in higher education, healthcare, or another complex service-oriented organization.
• Experience with IT service management frameworks or practices, such as incident, problem, change, or knowledge management.
• Experience with service management and ticketing platforms, such as ServiceNow or similar systems.
• Experience supporting vendor-managed services or coordinating performance against service-level targets.
• Experience supporting quality assurance reviews, service evaluations, or service quality improvement activities.
• Experience facilitating staff training, onboarding, or knowledge-sharing activities.
• Experience contributing to or administering knowledge management practices, technical documentation, or support content in a service environment.
• Experience supporting or coordinating response activities for major incidents, service disruptions, or other high-impact operational issues.
• Experience with access administration, compliance-related documentation, or periodic access reviews.
• Experience leading small projects, service transitions, or operational readiness efforts.

Skills and Competencies

Education & Certifications: see above

Physical Demands / Working Conditions

This position primarily works in an office or hybrid environment involving sedentary work using standard office and computer equipment and technology. Occasional after-hours support may be required. Occasional lifting of equipment up to 25 pounds may be required.

Salary Range

Commensurate with education and experience.

Position Type & Work Location

Full-time, Exempt position. Hybrid work arrangements may be available in accordance with University policy. Position based in Charlottesville, Virginia.

About UVA and the Community

The University of Virginia is consistently ranked among the top public universities in the nation and is recognized worldwide for excellence in education, research, healthcare, and public service. Charlottesville offers an outstanding quality of life with access to outdoor recreation, arts, culture, and an exceptional food scene.

To learn more about UVA and the surrounding community, visit: University of Virginia Life in Charlottesville.

This position will remain open until filled.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Learn more about UVA’s commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity employment.