IT Service Desk Lead

Description

Sargent & Lundy is a leading consulting engineering firm specializing in the power and energy sectors. Since 1891, we have provided comprehensive engineering, design, and consulting services for both traditional and renewable power generation, grid modernization, nuclear power, and more. Our mission is to help clients achieve their energy goals effectively by adopting advanced technologies and sustainable practices. We are looking for a motivated Service Desk leader to join our growing IT organization to improve our service capabilities and frictionless end user experience.

Role Overview

The IT Service Desk Lead is responsible for overseeing daily operations of the IT Service Desk team to ensure timely and effective resolution of technical issues and service requests. This role combines hands-on technical support with leadership responsibilities, including team management, process improvement, and coordination with other IT functions to deliver high-quality end-user support.

Team Leadership & Operations

• Supervise a team of Help Desk Technicians, providing guidance, mentoring, and performance feedback.
• Schedule and manage help desk coverage to ensure adequate support during business hours and on-call rotations.
• Monitor ticket queues, assign priorities, and ensure timely resolution according to SLA targets.
• Conduct regular team meetings to review performance metrics, open issues, and improvement areas.
• Perform quarterly performance check-ins and end of year evaluations for agents.

Technical Support

• Provide advanced troubleshooting and escalation support for complex incidents or requests.
• Oversee remote technical support at other S&L office locations.
• Ensure accurate documentation of issues, resolutions, and knowledge base updates.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, applications, and security teams for escalations and cross-functional issue resolution.
• Maintain asset and user account management standards in alignment with IT policies.
• Manage Help Desk phone system, chat and self-service channels to track agent performance, join/shadow calls for advanced support.

Process & Continuous Improvement

• Identify recurring issues and propose solutions or process improvements.
• Increase first call resolution rate of all incidents reported and maintain a ratio of 70% or better.
• Promote use of AI tools and self-service options to deflect common incidents.
• Perform quality audits on tickets for documentation and compliance with best practices and to improve overall user experience.
• Develop and maintain helpdesk procedures, documentation, and standard operating processes (SOPs).
• Assist in developing and implementing IT service management (ITSM) best practices.
• Analyze metrics (ticket volume, response times, customer satisfaction) to report performance and trends.

Customer Service & Communication

• Ensure a high level of customer satisfaction by fostering a customer-first culture.
• Communicate effectively with users at all levels to provide updates and manage expectations.
• Develop internal communications and training materials to improve user self-service.

This position offers the flexibility of a hybrid schedule with the expectation of 3 days per week in our downtown Chicago office, and 2 days remote from home.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience).

• 10+ years of experience in IT support, with a minimum of 2 years in a team lead or supervisory role.

• Experience in supporting Windows, macOS, Office 365, Active Directory, and enterprise ticketing systems (e.g., Service Now, Ivanti Cherwell, Freshworks, etc.).

• Working knowledge of diagnostic and digital experience tools such as Nexthink, Sys Track, WXP, etc.

Key Competencies

• Strong leadership and people-management skills.

• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and interpersonal skills.

• Good knowledge of Microsoft tool stacks such as Office suite, Outlook, SharePoint and Teams administration

• Strong understanding of ITIL principles and ITSM processes.

• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.

• Customer-focused mindset with a…