Support Lead

Lesaka Technologies; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Lesaka Technologies in Johannesburg is seeking a Support Lead to direct IT support services with a customer-centric approach. You will lead and develop the support team, manage escalations and monitor performance to ensure service excellence.

The role emphasizes people leadership, service performance, incident management and continual improvement, while hands-on technical resolution is limited to guidance and escalation. Collaboration with IT Management is essential.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in IT Support or IT Service Management.
• Experience leading a technical support team.
• Knowledge of ITIL-aligned processes.
• Experience managing service performance against SLAs and KPIs.
• Diploma/degree in IT or related field or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the IT Support team, creating a high-performing, customer-focused culture.
• Oversee ITIL-aligned service delivery and ensure incidents/requests are logged, prioritized and resolved.
• Act as escalation point for complex or high-priority issues and coordinate with other teams.
• Monitor KPIs/SLAs, analyze trends and drive improvements in service performance.
• Promote automation, self-service and AI-enabled capabilities to reduce repetitive work.
• Support continual service improvement and knowledge management.

Skills

People leadership

Coaching and mentoring

Customer focus

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Decision making

Analytical thinking

Change management

Continuous improvement

Communication

Education

Diploma/degree in IT or related field

Job description

Job purpose

The Support Lead is responsible for leading the IT Support function and ensuring consistent delivery of efficient, customer-centric and ITIL-aligned support services. The Support Lead will lead and develop the support team, monitor service performance, manage escalations, identify opportunities for improvement and drive the adoption of self-service, automation and AI-enabled support capabilities.

The role is accountable for people leadership, service performance, operational effectiveness, customer experience, escalation management and continual improvement. The role is not primarily a hands‑on technical support position. While the Support Lead is expected to maintain sufficient technical knowledge to provide guidance and manage complex escalations, day‑to‑day technical resolution remains primarily the responsibility of the Support Team.

Key responsibilities

PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP & TEAM PERFORMANCE

• Lead and manage the IT Support team, creating a high-performing, customer‑focused support culture.
• Set clear expectations regarding service quality, productivity, customer experience and professional conduct.
• Provide coaching, mentoring and ongoing development to team members.
• Conduct regular performance reviews and manage performance in accordance with organisational processes.
• Identify skills gaps and implement appropriate development and training plans.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and development of new team members.
• Manage team capacity, workload allocation and resource planning to meet business demand.
• Manage schedules and rosters to ensure appropriate service coverage, including after‑hours requirements.
• Develop a pipeline of capable support resources and identify opportunities for career progression within the team.
• Promote collaboration, accountability and knowledge sharing across the support function.

SERVICE DELIVERY & ITSM

• Lead the day‑to‑day delivery of IT Support services in accordance with agreed SLAs, policies and ITIL-aligned processes.
• Ensure incidents and service requests are appropriately logged, prioritised, assigned, monitored and resolved by the Support Team.
• Monitor ticket queues, backlogs, ageing tickets and workload distribution.
• Ensure appropriate escalation of tickets that cannot be resolved within the Support Team.
• Ensure effective use of Jira Service Management and approved support channels.
• Monitor service performance and identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure appropriate adherence to Incident Management, Request Fulfilment, Escalation Management, Knowledge Management and Continual Improvement practices.
• Work with direct and internal IT Management team to identify and implement improvements to service delivery processes.

INCIDENT, ESCALATION & MAJOR INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

• Act as the operational escalation point for complex, high‑priority and business‑critical support issues.
• Provide technical guidance to the Support Team when incidents require additional expertise.
• Coordinate escalations with Infrastructure, Applications, Security, vendors and other relevant technology teams.
• Support the coordination and communication of major incidents affecting business operations.
• Ensure appropriate stakeholder communication during significant service disruptions.
• Monitor escalated incidents through resolution and ensure ownership is maintained.
• Participate in post‑incident reviews and ensure agreed corrective actions are followed through.
• Identify recurring incidents and trends and collaborate with relevant teams to support root‑cause analysis and problem management.

SERVICE PERFORMANCE & REPORTING

• Own and monitor IT Support performance against agreed KPIs and SLAs.
• Analyse service desk data to identify trends, performance gaps and opportunities for improvement.
• Provide regular performance reporting to the direct manager and relevant stakeholders.
• Use data to coach the team and improve individual and overall team performance.
• Monitor key indicators including:
  1. SLA achievement
  2. First Contact Resolution
  3. Mean Time to Resolve
  4. Ticket backlog
  5. Ticket ageing
  6. Reopened tickets

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE & STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

• Promote consistent, professional and customer‑centric support experience across all support channels.
• Monitor customer feedback and identify recurring service issues.
• Ensure customer complaints and escalations are managed professionally and appropriately.
• Ensure support communications are clear, timely and appropriate to the audience.
• Identify opportunities to improve the end‑user experience and reduce customer effort.

AUTOMATION, AI & SELF‑SERVICE

• Identify opportunities to reduce repetitive and avoidable support demand through automation, self‑service and AI.
• Drive adoption of approved AI‑enabled support capabilities, including AI chatbots, WhatsApp AI and other digital support channels.
• Monitor the effectiveness and quality of AI‑assisted support services.
• Identify gaps in AI responses, workflows and knowledge content and coordinate improvements with relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure appropriate human oversight of AI‑enabled support processes.
• Promote self‑service and knowledge‑based support to empower users to resolve appropriate issues independently.
• Own the effectiveness of the IT Support knowledge management capability.
• Ensure knowledge articles, FAQs, troubleshooting guides and support documentation are accurate and current.
• Ensure knowledge is readily accessible to both support teams and end users.
• Encourage the Support Team to contribute to and maintain the knowledge base.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT & OPERATIONAL OVERSIGHT

• Maintain sufficient technical knowledge to provide guidance and support escalation management.
• Provide technical direction to Support Team members when issues exceed their current capability.
• Review complex technical issues and ensure appropriate escalation where required.
• Oversee the effective delivery of desktop, endpoint, application and connectivity support by the Support Team.
• Support the planning and execution of technology upgrades and changes affecting end users.

SECURITY, RISK & COMPLIANCE

• Ensure Support Team activities comply with relevant information security policies, standards and procedures.
• Ensure security‑related incidents are appropriately identified and escalated.
• Collaborate with SecOps and other relevant teams on security‑related support matters.
• Ensure appropriate controls are considered when implementing automation, AI and self‑service solutions.
• Promote security awareness and good technology practices within the Support Team and user community.
• Ensure appropriate handling and escalation of security and data‑related risks.

CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT

• Identify opportunities to improve service quality, efficiency and customer experience.
• Use service data, customer feedback and operational trends to identify improvement opportunities.
• Lead or participate in initiatives to improve IT Support processes and services.
• Identify opportunities to eliminate repetitive work through automation and self‑service.
• Identify recurring incidents and support problems and work with relevant technology teams to reduce recurrence.
• Measure the impact of improvement initiatives and communicate outcomes to stakeholders.
• Promote a culture of continual improvement within the Support Team.

Experience and Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in IT Support, Service Desk, Technical Support, Customer Service or IT Service Management.
• Proven experience leading or supervising a technical support team.
• Working knowledge of IT Service Management principles and practices
• Experience managing service performance against SLAs and KPIs.
• Relevant IT, Business, Management or related diploma/degree, or equivalent practical experience.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Required

• People leadership
• Coaching and mentoring
• Customer focus
• Stakeholder management
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Analytical thinking
• Conflict resolution
• Change management
• Continuous improvement
• Communication
• Accountability
• Innovation and adaptability
• Ability to work effectively under pressure