Service Desk Manager

Service Operations Manager

West Chester, OH (On-site)

Bonus eligible based on company performance, No commission

The Service Desk Manager leads KiZAN’s front-line support organization with primary accountability for people leadership, service performance, and data-driven improvement. This role develops Tier I and Tier II engineers, maintains healthy ticket flow and service levels, and uses operational data to identify trends, risks, and coaching opportunities. A strong technical background is required to understand ticket quality, assess troubleshooting progress, and ensure issues are escalated to the right technical resources.

• Establish and maintain a consistent management cadence, including regular one-on-ones, team communication, coaching, feedback, career development, and follow-through on commitments.
• Own daily Service Desk performance, including contractual Response SLA and internal SLO results, CSAT, queue health, backlog and ticket aging, scheduling, staffing coverage, workload balance, and recurring operational issues.
• Lead recurring Service Desk performance reviews using Connect Wise, Bright Gauge, and related reporting tools; document owners, action items, timelines, and follow-through.
• Translate operational data into clear recommendations regarding service risk, capacity, staffing, and continuous-improvement priorities.
• Provide leadership oversight for complex or sensitive issues, ensuring tickets are properly triaged, documented, escalated, and assigned.
• Use technical knowledge to evaluate troubleshooting progress and escalation quality without serving as the primary Tier III resolver.
• Partner with CSMs, Escalation Engineers, and consulting/project teams to maintain smooth handoffs and consistent client communication.
• Identify recurring service issues and lead measurable improvements in ticket flow, documentation quality, escalation consistency, backlog health, and client experience.
• Identify capacity, coverage, and skill gaps and recommend staffing, training, cross-training, or process changes to address operational risk.
• Support client and engineer onboarding and maintain SOPs, runbooks, documentation standards, quality reviews, training, and knowledge sharing.

• 5+ years of IT Service Management or Managed Services experience, including 2+ years in a people leadership role.
• Demonstrated success coaching technical teams, managing performance, building accountability, and maintaining a consistent management cadence.
• Demonstrated experience independently managing Service Desk operations and driving measurable service improvements.
• Experience leading recurring operational reviews and communicating performance, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Experience identifying staffing, capacity, and skill gaps using operational data.
• Ability to translate technical and operational information into clear business impact and action plans.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft 365, Azure, Active Directory / Entra , and Intune sufficient to understand issues and support escalation decisions.
• Experience with PSA, reporting, and documentation platforms such as Connect Wise Manage, Bright Gauge, and IT Glue.
• Working knowledge of ITIL, incident management, SLA tracking, and service escalation processes, with strong communication and conflict-resolution skills.

• ITIL certification or formal IT Service Management training.
• Experience managing a Service Desk within a Managed Services Provider environment.
• Experience with Connect Wise Manage, Bright Gauge, and IT Glue.
• Experience presenting operational performance, risks, and recommendations to…