Service Desk Manager

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

Service Desk Manager

ICF is seeking an experienced Service Desk Manager to lead delivery of a modern, AI-enabled IT service desk supporting a federal technology program. Reporting to the Program Manager, this role owns the full operational lifecycle of a single-tier service desk, with direct accountability for customer satisfaction, Tier Zero deflection performance, knowledge management, and continuous improvement. The ideal candidate has run federal IT service desk operations and understands what it takes to deliver AI-enabled service at scale. This is an operational leadership role. The right candidate is comfortable managing technicians, owning KPIs, and engaging directly with program leadership and client stakeholders.

Job Location: This is a hybrid position based in the Washington, DC Metro area. Onsite client support is required during regional business hours (0700 to 1800 local time). This position requires that the job be performed in the United States. If you accept this position, you should note that ICF does monitor employee work locations and blocks access from foreign locations/foreign IP addresses and also prohibits personal VPN connections.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead day-to-day operations of a single-tier service desk where technicians own incidents and service requests from intake through closure, minimizing handoffs and keeping accountability at the technician level.
• Own service desk performance metrics including CSAT, Customer Effort Score (CES), Tier Zero deflection rate, ticket resolution time, and first-contact resolution.
• Drive continuous improvement against contractual targets.
• Oversee the design, build-out, and ongoing improvement of Tier Zero self-service capabilities, including virtual agents, knowledge portals, and automated troubleshooting tools.
• Coordinate with AI and automation teams to support implementation.
• Maintain a wiki-style, role-based knowledge base with accurate, plain-language content for both end users and technicians.
• Conduct regular content reviews and enforce quality standards to keep the knowledge base current.
• Ensure all tickets are properly categorized, prioritized, documented, and analyzed for root cause.
• Maintain data integrity for reporting and trend analysis.
• Coordinate staffing and resource allocation to maintain appropriate customer-to-technician ratios, including surge coverage and specialized onsite support for executive and leadership needs.
• Coordinate end-to-end IT and AV support for client meetings and events, including setup, testing, troubleshooting, and event staff coordination.
• Prepare and present service desk performance reporting for governance forums, program management reviews, and client stakeholders.
• Apply ITIL-based service management practices across the service desk.
• Promote an automation-first approach using AI for predictive maintenance, intelligent routing, and proactive issue detection.
• Support after-hours on-call coverage for mission-critical and high-priority incidents as directed by client leadership.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• 7+ years of experience managing IT service desk or end-user support operations, including at least 3 years in a federal or government-adjacent environment
• 2+ years of experience designing or operating Tier Zero and AI-enabled self-service capabilities, including virtual agents or chatbot-based resolution tools
• 2+ years supporting federal programs in HHS, NIH, FDA, or other health-focused agencies
• ITIL Foundation certification or equivalent
• 3+ years of 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
• Candidate must reside in the US, be authorized to work in the US, and work must be performed in the US

Preferred Qualifications

• HDI Support Center Manager certification or equivalent
• Experience using data and analytics to manage service desk performance, including dashboard-driven reporting and ticket trend analysis
• Familiarity with Section 508 and WCAG accessibility compliance requirements for digital content and tools
• Familiarity with modern endpoint environments such as Intune or Jamf as context for service desk triage and escalation

We are an equal opportunity employer.

Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process.

All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair interview process for all candidates based on their own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate or assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is not permitted. However, we understand that some candidates may require accommodation that involves the use of AI. If such an accommodation is needed, candidates are instructed to contact us in advance at [e-mail]. We are dedicated to providing the necessary support to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position. The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: $89,261.00 - $151,744.00 DC Remote Office (DC99)

ICF is a global advisory and technology services provider, but we’re not your typical consultants. We combine unmatched expertise with cutting-edge technology to help clients solve their most complex challenges, navigate change, and shape the future. We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building a workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals.

About ICF ICF is a global consulting and technology services company with approximately 9,000 employees, but we are not your typical consultants. At ICF, business analysts and policy specialists work together with digital strategists, data scientists and creatives. We combine unmatched industry expertise with cutting-edge engagement capabilities to help organizations solve their most complex challenges. Since 1969, public and private sector clients have worked with ICF to navigate change and shape the future. Learn more at icf.com.