Service Desk Lead: SLA & Customer Experience Leader

ASM Research; Lorton (AL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 117,000; Full time

Job summary

ASM Research seeks a Service Desk Lead to oversee the external-facing service desk, blending hands-on customer support with team leadership. You will supervise analysts, manage queues, and ensure service levels and customer satisfaction targets are met.

You will coordinate with Product, Engineering, and Account Management to address recurring issues and drive improvements in processes and documentation. A strong focus on coaching and escalation management is essential.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in customer-facing technical support or service desk role.
• Strong customer service and de-escalation skills; experience handling escalated/upset customers.
• Experience with CRM/ticketing platforms (Zendesk, Salesforce, Freshdesk, ServiceNow, etc.).
• Must have an active Secret Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Supervise, schedule, and mentor Service Desk Analysts/Agents handling customer calls, chats, and tickets.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex, sensitive, or dissatisfied-customer issues.
• Monitor queues (calls, chat, tickets) in real time to ensure SLAs and response-time targets are met.
• Track and report on key metrics: CSAT/NPS, average handle time, first-contact resolution, SLA compliance, ticket backlog.
• Monitor and support Tier 0 deflection for external users.
• Develop and maintain customer-facing support procedures, macros/canned responses, and knowledge base articles.
• Handle escalated customer complaints professionally, aiming for first-contact resolution and retention.
• Coach agents on product knowledge, communication skills, and de-escalation techniques.
• Coordinate with Product, Engineering, and Account Management teams on recurring or high-impact customer issues.
• Identify trends in customer inquiries and recommend improvements to processes or documentation.
• Administer the ticketing/CRM system — queue setup, routing rules, tagging.
• Ensure compliance with SLAs defined in contracts and service agreements.
• Support onboarding and training of new customer support agents.
• Assist in after-hours/weekend coverage planning as needed.

Skills

Customer service

De-escalation

Team leadership

Communication

Coaching

Multitasking across channels

Security clearance (Active Secret)

Education

Bachelor's degree

Associate degree + 2 years relevant experience

Tools

Zendesk

Salesforce

Freshdesk

ServiceNow

Job description

ASM Research seeks a Service Desk Lead to oversee the external-facing service desk, blending hands-on customer support with team leadership. You will supervise analysts, manage queues, and ensure service levels and customer satisfaction targets are met.

You will coordinate with Product, Engineering, and Account Management to address recurring issues and drive improvements in processes and documentation. A strong focus on coaching and escalation management is essential.