Service Desk Manager

NCI; United States; Remote; USD 83,000 - 128,000; Full time

Job summary

Empower AI is seeking a Service Desk Manager to lead the external-facing Tier 0 / Tier I Service Desk for a DoD-adjacent enterprise IT environment with ~13,000 users across multiple security enclaves. You will decide resolution strategy, own queue management, and drive First Contact Resolution and CSAT.

This salaried, exempt role requires TS/SCI, DoD 8570 IAT Level I, and a 10+ year track record in enterprise IT service desk operations. Remote work is available in the United States.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of related IT service desk experience; DoD certifications preferred.
• U.S. Citizen with TS/SCI security clearance required.
• Current DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level I baseline certification required.
• Proven ability to lead Tier I support, manage queues, and improve first contact resolution.
• Strong experience with ServiceNow or comparable ITSM platform and cross-enclave support.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior decision-maker for Tier I incidents and requests across multiple security enclaves.
• Own shift-level queue management and ensure SLAs and escalation paths are followed.
• Design and implement QA processes, knowledge bases, and self-service content.
• Lead trend analyses, After-Action Reviews, and problem resolution plans.
• Develop onboarding and training for analysts and provide shift leadership in the supervisor's absence.
• Analyze performance data for dashboards and reports, driving service improvements.

Skills

Leadership

Analytical thinking

Communication

Independent judgment

Mentoring

Training delivery

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree

DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level I

TS/SCI clearance

Tools

ServiceNow

Active Directory

VPN

Office 365

ITSM reporting

Job description

Open Full-time 82,980–128,440 USD per year as stated in the posting Remote

Open — NCI has a posting for this job. Posted 2 Oct 2026.

About this job

Overview

Empower AI is AI for government. Empower AI gives federal agency leaders the tools to elevate the potential of their workforce with a direct path for meaningful transformation. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Empower AI leverages three decades of experience solving complex challenges in Health, Defense, and Civilian missions. Our proven Empower AI Platform® provides a practical, sustainable path for clients to achieve transformation that is true to who they are, what they do, how they work, with the resources they have. The result is a government workforce that is exponentially more creative and productive. For more information, visit www.Empower.ai.

Empower AI is proud to be recognized as a 2024 Military Friendly Employer by Viqtory, the publisher of G.I. Jobs. This designation reflects the company’s commitment to hiring and supporting active-duty and veteran employees.

Responsibilities

This position will support our newly awarded DCSA contract.

Description

Empower AI is seeking a Service Desk Manager to lead the external-facing Tier 0 / Tier I Service Desk serve as the senior technical decision-maker and lead analyst within Tier I on an enterprise IT Service Desk supporting a Department of War agency with approximately 13,000 users across multiple security enclaves. The Senior Analyst decides resolution strategy for the most complex Tier I issues, owns shift-level queue management and quality assurance decisions, designs the knowledge and procedures that raise First Contact Resolution and Tier 0 deflection, and leads the trend analysis that feeds Proactive Problem Management and the Customer Experience Roadmap. The role partners with the Service Desk Supervisor and Manager on performance reporting, quality, and analyst development and acts as shift lead in the Supervisor's absence. This is a salaried, FLSA-exempt position in which you will independently analyze situations, determine the appropriate course of action, and exercise discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance to the program and its customers.

Job Duties

• Serve as the senior technical decision-maker within Tier I, analyzing the most complex incidents and service requests to determine root cause and business impact, and deciding resolution strategy, priority, and escalation across Tier II, Tier III, and specialized resolver groups.
• Own shift-level queue management decisions: assess real-time contact volumes and ticket aging, rebalance work across analysts, and direct actions to protect PL1-PL4 SLAs, First Contact Resolution targets, and the acceptable quality level for aged tickets.
• Design and administer the Tier I quality assurance review process, evaluating tickets and customer interactions against standards, enforcing the Customer-Confirmed Ticket Closure process, and determining coaching and corrective actions for analysts.
• Lead analysis of Tier 0/I trend and escalation data to identify recurring and high-impact problems, and prepare After-Action Reviews, Root Cause Analyses, and Problem Resolution Action Plans with recommended permanent solutions.
• Design and govern knowledge base articles, standard operating procedures, and Virtual Agent (chatbot) content, deciding which issues are moved to Tier 0 self-service and how Tier I procedures should change to raise First Contact Resolution.
• Define and refine escalation criteria, resolver group routing rules, and Tier I enablement recommendations in coordination with Tier II, endpoint engineering, communications, and application teams.
• Analyze and validate Tier 0/I performance data for the Customer Support Metrics Dashboard, Monthly Customer Support Activity Report, and Quarterly XLA Performance Report, interpret CSAT and Customer Effort Score results, and recommend service improvements to leadership.
• Develop analyst onboarding and training programs, evaluate analyst readiness, and act as shift lead in the Supervisor's absence, including approving and publishing pre-approved situational awareness alerts.

Qualifications

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 10 years of related experience (a Master's degree with 8 years of related experience, or an additional 4 years of related experience in lieu of a degree, may be substituted).
• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must have an TS/SCI to start.
• Must be within investigation scope and/or currently enrolled in Continuous Evaluation / Continuous Vetting.
• Must possess and maintain a current DoD 8570/8140 IAT Level I baseline certification (e.g., CompTIA A+ CE, Network+ CE, Security+ CE, CCNA-Security, or SSCP) prior to performing cybersecurity-related duties.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, analyze problems, determine the appropriate course of action, and exercise discretion and independent judgment with limited day-to-day supervision.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in enterprise IT service desk, help desk, or end-user support, including experience as a lead or senior analyst.
• Expert troubleshooting skills across Windows 10/11, Microsoft 365, Active Directory, network connectivity, VPN, printers, mobile devices, and common enterprise applications.
• Extensive experience with an enterprise ITSM platform (e.g., ServiceNow), including reporting, knowledge management, and queue management.
• Demonstrated experience improving First Contact Resolution, SLA adherence, and customer satisfaction through process, knowledge, and coaching initiatives.
• Experience performing ticket quality reviews, mentoring analysts, and delivering training.
• Ability to work assigned shifts within a 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET core schedule, and willingness to work extended-hours shifts if assigned to the extended-hours team.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to brief supervisors and Government stakeholders on performance and trends.

Desired Skills

• HDI Support Center Team Lead, HDI Desktop Support Technician, or ITIL 4 Foundation / Practitioner certification.
• Experience using ServiceNow (incident, request, knowledge, CMDB, Service Catalog, Virtual Agent) or a comparable enterprise ITSM platform.
• Experience working across multiple security enclaves (NIPRNet, SIPRNet, JWICS) and with classified system handling procedures.
• Familiarity with customer experience (CX) measurement, including CSAT, Customer Effort Score (CES), and experience level agreements (XLAs).
• Experience supporting Department of War (DoW), DoD, or other compliance-driven Federal IT environments.
• Experience with AI-enabled service desk capabilities (ServiceNow Virtual Agent, AI Ops, predictive analytics) and measuring Tier 0 deflection.
• Experience contributing to Problem Management, Root Cause Analysis, and continuous improvement programs.

About Empower AI

All hiring and promotion decisions at Empower AI are based on merit to bring the best talent available to contribute to our firm’s overall success. It is the policy of Empower AI not to discriminate against any applicant for employment, or employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, or veteran status. Empower AI is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salaries may vary based on various factors including but not limited to work location, skills, experience, gov con contractual requirements, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Empower AI's total compensation package for employees.