Technical Support Specialist Lead
Northwestern University
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
The Technical Support Specialist Lead at Northwestern University’s Feinberg IT leads the Remote Support team, supervising 10 specialists who provide Windows, macOS, and Microsoft 365 support for faculty, staff, students, and researchers. This hands-on role owns queue management, staffing coverage, escalations, and service quality to ensure rapid, secure, and user-friendly help.
Reporting to the Director of Customer Support, the candidate will mentor staff, refine intake and routing in ITSM, and
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or related field.
- 5 years' experience in consulting, project management, training, technical support, or user service.
- Progressively responsible leadership experience in IT service delivery.
- Experience as both end-user and administrator in service areas like help desk management.
Responsibilities
- Supervise and mentor a team of 10 remote support specialists.
- Own day-to-day operations: queue management, staffing, escalations and service quality.
- Coordinate with Field, Application, and Infrastructure teams to resolve issues.
- Maintain knowledge base content and improve first-contact resolution.
- Lead ITIL-aligned incident, request, and knowledge management practices.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Department: MED-Central IT
Salary/Grade: ITS/79
The Technical Support Specialist Lead serves as the supervisor and operational leader of the Remote Support team within Feinberg IT's Customer Support group. Reporting to the Director of Customer Support, this hands-on leadership position is responsible for supervising, mentoring, and developing a team of 10 support specialists who provide phone, chat, email, and remote technical support to the faculty, staff, students, and researchers of the Feinberg School of Medicine.
The position owns the day-to-day operation of Feinberg IT's front-line support: queue management, staffing coverage, escalations, and service quality. Responsibilities include monitoring ticket volume and response metrics, improving first-contact resolution, maintaining knowledge base content, refining intake and routing in the ticketing system, and partnering with Field Support, Application Support, and Infrastructure teams to resolve complex issues. The successful candidate will possess experience supporting Windows and macOS endpoints and Microsoft 365 in an enterprise environment, working within an IT service management (ITSM) platform (Feinberg IT uses TeamDynamix), and applying ITIL-aligned incident, request, and knowledge management practices.
The Remote Support Lead collaborates closely with Customer Support leadership, information security and infrastructure, central Northwestern IT, and clinical partners such as Northwestern Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, along with their service desks, to coordinate escalations and deliver consistent, secure, and user-centered support to faculty and staff who work across academic and clinical environments. Experience with endpoint management tools such as MECM and Jamf, Active Directory or Entra ID, and supporting users in a research or academic medical environment is desirable. Familiarity with service desk reporting, Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS), or workflow automation tools such as Power Automate is beneficial. The ideal candidate combines strong troubleshooting skills with effective leadership, clear written and verbal communication, and a commitment to developing staff, improving processes, and delivering a high-quality support experience to the Feinberg community.
Leads projects designed to accomplish an organizational area's systems requirements in regard to workplace endpoint technology. Develops, schedules and coordinates activities ensuring adherence to NU standards and information systems goals and objectives. Coordinates and ensures completion of contracted work. Oversees staff resolving service requests and incidents on a daily basis per University standards.
This specific role will be one of the three technical support specialist leads for the Feinberg IT team. The team will be organized into three groups, remote support, field support and procurement, and application support.
- Researches and anticipates industry change and impact onworkplace endpoint technology.
- Analyzes user's computing environment and recommends or coordinates changes as necessary
- Determines work strategies and assignments to meet department workload
- Assist staff in answering questions or supporting faculty and staff.
- Consults with users to assess needs and provide guidance and support regarding workplace endpoint technology.
- Manages change through collaboration with staff organizations, administrative units and other invested University service divisions.
- Develops project plans and partners with users to prioritize projects, daily work, and plans for future initiatives.
- Utilize information technology systems to meet specific client goals.
- Leads projects partnering with users to deliver optimum service in regard to installation and maintenance of workplace endpoint technology.
- Leads projects to diagnose and resolve complex problems, questions and inquiries from clients using judgment and extensive experience.
- Demonstrates application of advanced knowledge of skills, methods, practices, policies, and procedures.
- Independently plans and prioritizes project and operational work.
- Mentors, trains, evaluates performance, and conducts annual performance reviews.
- Provides work direction and/or supervises staff such as team members, subordinates, contractors, vendors, students, etc.
- Coaches and mentors staff.
- Manages projects ensuring timelines and deliverables are met and meet expectations.
Performs other duties as assigned.
- Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as computer science, information technology, or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
- 5 years' experience in consulting, project management, training, technical support, or user service, in an information technology environment or other relevant experience required.
- Work history demonstrating increasing levels of responsibility and leadership.
- Experience as both an end-user and administrator in service areas such as user support, desktop support, help desk management, and documentation or other relevant experience required.
- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
- Box Collaborative Storage
- identity management/provisioning
- information security
- Linux Operating System
- Mac OS X Operating System
- Microsoft Exchange
- Microsoft Lync
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook)
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Server hardware
- Storage hardware
- Windows Operating System
- FERPA
- FISMA
- HIPAA
- HITECH
- critical thinking
- Debugging
- decision making
- judgment
- problem solving
- read & interpret technical drawings
- Troubleshooting
- use‑case analysis
- collaboration and teamwork
- cost/benefit analysis
- facilitate collaboration
- functional documentation
- organizational skills
- planning
- workflow development & documentation
- Experience in customer service / customer support environment
- Experience in an academic medical center
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, organizational skills, management of own time, and respect for the time of others
- Excellent planning and scheduling skills
- Demonstrated ability to effectively control and participate in multiple projects of varying priorities in a consistently professional manner
- Ability to establish and maintain respectful and effective relationships with management, co‑workers and customers
- Bachelor's degree in a related field.
- 2+ years of management experience.
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful and competitive benefits. The available benefits package for this position will include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; paid medical/sick and parentalleave;tuition benefits for the employee and dependents; pre-tax and flex spending accounts for commuting and dependent care; generous retirement savings options; and wellness programs. For a comprehensive overview of available benefits, including eligibility details, visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.
Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process.
Target hiring range for this position will be between $80,300 to $115,115 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.
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