IT Service Desk Lead

Location: Arlington, VA

Salary: $65.00 USD Hourly - $80.00 USD Hourly

Arlington, Virginia

Onsite, five days per week

We are seeking an experienced, hands‑on IT Service Desk Lead to lead day‑to‑day service desk operations while serving as a senior technical resource across a secure Microsoft government cloud environment. This is a player‑coach role for an IT professional who enjoys developing people, improving service delivery, and personally tackling complex technical challenges. Reporting to the IT Manager, you will lead a team of IT professionals while helping strengthen internal capabilities, enhance end‑user support, and maintain technology operations within a regulated federal contracting environment.

You will play a key role in supporting Microsoft 365 GCC High, Azure Government, identity and device management, compliance initiatives, and ongoing operational excellence efforts.

• Lead daily IT service desk operations, providing coaching, direction, and accountability to team members.
• Oversee Tier 1 through Tier 3 support activities, ensuring incidents and requests are prioritized, assigned, escalated, and resolved effectively.
• Manage ticket queues and workload distribution to drive timely resolution and outstanding customer service.
• Take ownership of complex technical issues that require deeper investigation and hands‑on troubleshooting.
• Build and maintain a service-focused culture centered on responsiveness, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Develop and refine service desk processes, workflows, documentation, and escalation procedures.
• Analyze recurring issues and service trends to improve support quality, reduce resolution times, and enhance the end‑user experience.

• Serve as a senior technical resource across Microsoft 365 GCC High, Azure Government, Microsoft Entra , Intune, Defender, Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, and related Microsoft technologies.
• Administer user accounts, access permissions, devices, applications, and core Microsoft cloud services.
• Manage end‑user computing operations, including device deployment, imaging, configuration, troubleshooting, and lifecycle management.
• Build, administer, and troubleshoot virtual machines and supporting infrastructure.
• Administer device and application management through Microsoft Intune.
• Manage identity and access functions through Microsoft Entra , including authentication, authorization, and account troubleshooting.
• Diagnose and resolve advanced Microsoft platform and infrastructure issues beyond standard service desk support.
• Maintain secure and compliant administration practices within government cloud environments.

• Apply practical knowledge of CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, and DoD IL4/IL5 requirements to daily IT operations.
• Support audit readiness activities by maintaining documentation, evidence, controls, and operational processes.
• Translate compliance requirements into sustainable service desk and systems administration practices.
• Partner with cybersecurity and IT stakeholders to ensure operational activities align with federal contractor requirements.
• Support identity management, device management, system configuration, documentation standards, and access controls with appropriate operational rigor.
• Assist in identifying and remediating gaps that may impact compliance requirements or assessment outcomes.
• Support internal and external assessments by providing technical expertise, documentation, and system evidence.

• Lead, mentor, and develop service desk team members.
• Establish clear…