Service Desk Leader: Build & Elevate IT Support

EPMA; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

EPMA is seeking a Service Desk Manager to lead a transforming IT support function and build a capable team in a hybrid Houston environment. You will assess current operations, stabilize queues, and implement practical service-management practices that restore confidence in IT support across the business.

You will hire, coach, and develop four professionals, establish clear roles, and drive metrics and knowledge management to sustain improvements long-term.

Qualifications

• Significant experience managing a Service Desk, Help Desk, IT Support, or IT Service Delivery function.
• Experience building, rebuilding, stabilizing, or materially improving a Service Desk operation.
• Proven ability to lead, coach, train, and develop technical support professionals.
• Experience managing ticket queues, backlogs, escalations, service levels, and customer communications.
• Strong understanding of IT service management and Service Desk best practices.
• Experience developing and implementing operational processes, SOPs, knowledge management practices, KPIs, and service-level expectations.
• Ability to assess an existing support environment, identify gaps, and translate findings into an actionable improvement plan.
• Strong customer-service mindset with demonstrated ability to build trust and productive relationships between IT and business users.

Responsibilities

• Assume day-to-day ownership and leadership of the Service Desk, including ticket queues, priorities, escalations, coverage, and customer communication.
• Assess the current Service Desk environment and develop a structured plan to stabilize and improve operations.
• Review the existing ticket backlog, identify trends and priorities, and establish an effective approach for resolution and ongoing queue management.
• Build and develop a Service Desk team of approximately four support professionals.
• Participate in interviewing and hiring Service Desk team members and provide onboarding, training, coaching, and ongoing development.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, performance expectations, and accountability across the Service Desk.
• Review existing processes and practices, retaining those that are effective while improving or replacing those that are not.
• Establish consistent practices for ticket intake, documentation, ownership, triage, escalation, response, and closure.
• Monitor and audit ticket quality, queue activity, escalations, and overall Service Desk performance.
• Establish practical service levels, KPIs, operating cadences, and management reporting.
• Strengthen relationships between IT and the business and help rebuild employee confidence in utilizing established IT support and ticketing channels.
• Review and improve existing knowledge base articles, SOPs, onboarding and offboarding procedures, and other Service Desk documentation.
• Improve handoffs and escalation procedures between the Service Desk and other IT teams, including Applications and Infrastructure.
• Identify staffing, skill, process, and service gaps and recommend appropriate improvements.
• Provide direct support for escalated issues when necessary while maintaining primary responsibility for leadership and management of the Service Desk.
• Establish documented processes, reporting, and operating practices that can support the long-term growth and sustainability of the Service Desk.]
• Ideal Candidate: The ideal candidate has previously stepped into a Service Desk environment that needed significant improvement and can demonstrate measurable results.

Skills

Service Desk leadership

People development

Ticketing management

ITIL knowledge

Education

ITIL 4 certification (not required)

Tools

SolarWinds Service Desk

Job description

EPMA is seeking a Service Desk Manager to lead a transforming IT support function and build a capable team in a hybrid Houston environment. You will assess current operations, stabilize queues, and implement practical service-management practices that restore confidence in IT support across the business.

You will hire, coach, and develop four professionals, establish clear roles, and drive metrics and knowledge management to sustain improvements long-term.