Help Desk Manager

 

1   THE WORK -

A global retail company in the northeast US is looking to hire a Manager for their Retail Help Desk team.  This team provides internal support for the company’s retail stores that covers multiple hardware and software platforms. The Help Desk Manager will lead and motivate a high performance team of approximately 60 people to deliver excellent technical support with a high degree of customer satisfaction.   Will direct the team’s activities to ensure store system problems and service requests are handled efficiently and effectively.   Will develop, plan, and implement methods of improving the department’s performance.

 

Responsibilities include:

Help Desk Procedures and Metrics

•       Manages the design, implementation and operation of the Retail Help Desk including the company’s retail and distribution environments, as well as network monitoring.

•       Develops, implements, and maintains policies and procedures for client problem resolution.

•       Manages day-to-day operations of the Retail Help Desk to assure proper service levels are provided to all users.  Ensures that the Help Desk Service Level Objectives are met by developing metrics to quantify success to the business, including Customer Satisfaction Surveys when appropriate.

•       Monitors the impact of new software and hardware on the quantity of calls to the Retail Help Desk as a result of the implementation of new software and hardware.  Develops partnerships with support groups and / or vendors to reduce call volumes, improve system recoveries, or develop service improvements.

•       Manages the efforts of the Retail Help Desk to ensure critical, high impact problems are escalated to management and business users.

•       Ensures proper staffing levels are maintained in a 24 X 7 environment.

•       Coordinates the efforts of IT’s Applications Development, Technology Support, and Store Operations teams to identify, recommend, and develop resolution for those applications that generate a high number of Help Desk calls or system alerts.

 

Vendor Management

•       Develops vendor management reports to track vendor performance against the Service Level Agreements for all hardware products.

•       Negotiates  SLA’s with internal and external support groups and vendors.

•       Negotiates vendor service contracts for all ISP store related hardware.

 

People Management

•       Directs, motivates and develops a staff of approximately 60 people, including 4 supervisors to maximize their individual contribution, their professional growth and their ability to function effectively with their colleagues as a team.

•       Establishes realistic and attainable annual goals and objectives for the Department.

•       Recruits, trains and evaluates the performance of the Help Desk staff.

•       Prepares and manages the Retail Help Desk Department budget.  Creates long-term strategies for growth and maintenance of Help Desk Department with recommendation for new tools and /or technologies.

 

Training

•       Manages the development and implementation of Help Desk training programs to maximize team’s effectiveness in delivering customer service and identifies future training needs.

 

 

 

2 MUST HAVES 

•               College degree preferred, preferably MIS degree or equivalent, formal training in Information Systems. 

•               Five to ten years related experience in Help Desk Support and Management

•               General knowledge of retail operations, PC’s, hardware, software and data communications. 

•               Managing technical people, good problem-solving, negotiating, analytical and communication skills

 

 

 

3 IDEAL CANDIDATE

Experience in the retail industry would be a strong plus.  Client is looking for a strong "people" manager with the ability to use metrics to resolve issues.

 

 

 

4 URGENCY Immediate

 

 

 

5 TRAVEL/LOCATION

Client office is in the Boston area.  Will involve occasional travel to company’s stores, mostly in the New England area.