What does a service desk manager do?
In the information technology industry, a service desk manager resolves technical issues and concerns, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They typically focus on addressing systems and application errors, troubleshooting problems, providing step-by-step solutions, or referring clients to other services. They may also provide administrative support to offices by managing schedules, preparing and processing documents, and providing technical support. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Service desk manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real service desk manager resumes:
- Manage key financial relationships, working with VIP reps in various institutions.
- Ensure efficient allocation of resources and skills to achieve contractual KPIs within financial constraints.
- Deploy and manage environmental controls, backup strategies, ITSM software, and monitoring systems.
- Manage staff and activities necessary to effectively coordinate the service request fulfillment life-cycle of base on ITSM best practices.
- Manage all incident and service requests and oversee all change management, configuration management, and release management ITIL processes.
- Manage LAN software/hardware installation and upgrade efforts.
- Track team goals and objectives on a daily basis with pace reports for sales, gross profit, and CSI.
- Launch manual trading desk in NMS and list equities.
- Perform show commands in routers and switches to identify problem.
- Implement the first ticketing system establishing clear visibility, KPIs, and reporting.
- Help enter orders into POS system; and perform heavy cash handling and reconciliation functions.
- Upgrade and maintain firm wide Citrix environment, including load balancing systems for virtual clients.
- Company liaison for VIP visits from large retail customers and Honeywell VIPs to include President/CEO.
- Quoted market levels and execute trades in commodities and equities for the MBF overnight order desk.
- Engage the support team in review of KPI's, which increase awareness and focus on define metrics.
Service desk manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Service Desk Managers are proficient in Customer Service, ITIL, and ITSM. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Business skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Service Desk Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 15%
Established performance measurement criteria necessary to facilitate Continual Service Improvement initiatives related to customer service, communication, and technical skill.
- ITIL, 8%
Implemented Incident management processes in the environment by establishing and defining criteria around daily incident management meetings according to ITIL standards.
- ITSM, 5%
Implemented ITSM Service-Now Incident/change and problem management software under time allocated for project.
- Infrastructure, 4%
Developed data center infrastructure, Windows servers and implemented email, file sharing and internet security protocols for the organization.
- Technical Support, 4%
Supervised staff, including supervisors, in providing technical support for networked and stand- alone computer users/systems.
- Service Delivery, 4%
Consolidated and reorganized the mainframe and PC Service Desks to establish centralized, more efficient service delivery
Common skills that a service desk manager uses to do their job include "customer service," "itil," and "itsm." You can find details on the most important service desk manager responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a service desk manager to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what service desk managers do because "it managers must analyze problems and consider and select the best ways to solve them." Additionally, a service desk manager resume shows how service desk managers use analytical skills: "managed an asset management project to get asset data and import into an asset tracking system. "
Business skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling service desk manager duties is business skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "it managers must develop and implement strategic plans to reach the goals of their organizations." According to a service desk manager resume, here's how service desk managers can utilize business skills in their job responsibilities: "developed technical design specs from business requirements for material management and asset management desktop applications. "
Communication skills. This is an important skill for service desk managers to perform their duties. For an example of how service desk manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "it managers must explain their work to top executives and give clear instructions to their subordinates." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a service desk manager: "provide accurate and timely communication to all applicable parties on any customer support issues. ".
Leadership skills. service desk manager responsibilities often require "leadership skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "it managers must lead and motivate it teams or departments so that workers are efficient and effective." This resume example shows what service desk managers do with leadership skills on a typical day: "provide guidance, supervision and leadership to the service desk staff to ensure that they provide high quality customer support. "
Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for a service desk manager to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what service desk managers relies on this skill, since "some it managers must coordinate the work of several different it departments to make the organization run efficiently." How this skill relates to service desk manager duties can be seen in an example from a service desk manager resume snippet: "key accomplishments: facilitated service management standards for ict department, which were implemented within other organizational support groups. "
The three companies that hire the most service desk managers are:
- Guidehouse11 service desk managers jobs
- Amazon6 service desk managers jobs
- Leidos6 service desk managers jobs
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Compare different service desk managers
Service desk manager vs. Information technology director
An information technology (IT) Director is an individual responsible for the management, strategy, and execution of an organization's IT infrastructure. He/She supervises a team of workers while working with the organization's management and external vendors and advisors. Aside from managing workers, an IT director should possess problem-solving skills and an aptitude for organizational thinking. An IT director must also identify new market opportunities and should lead an effort to improve the organization's IT process.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between service desk managers and information technology director. For instance, service desk manager responsibilities require skills such as "itsm," "infrastructure," "technical support," and "service delivery." Whereas a information technology director is skilled in "project management," "cloud," "network infrastructure," and "disaster recovery." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Information technology directors really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $145,076. Comparatively, service desk managers tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $112,177.On average, information technology directors reach higher levels of education than service desk managers. Information technology directors are 8.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Service desk manager vs. Director of managed services
A director of managed services is in charge of overseeing the business processes in an organization, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around setting goals and objectives, managing the workforce, spearheading projects and campaigns, devising strategies to optimize services, and coordinating with analysts to identify new business opportunities. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach new heights, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that service desk manager responsibilities requires skills like "customer service," "technical support," "incident management," and "continuous improvement." But a director of managed services might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "oversight," "cloud," "project management," and "portfolio."
Directors of managed services earn a higher average salary than service desk managers. But directors of managed services earn the highest pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $134,326. Additionally, service desk managers earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $112,177 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Directors of managed services tend to reach higher levels of education than service desk managers. In fact, they're 9.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Service desk manager vs. Vice president of information technology
A Vice President Of Information Technology supervises an organization's technology initiatives, IT changes, and updates to all projects. They also identify and propose new information technologies and systems to improve business processes and decision-making.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from service desk manager resumes include skills like "itsm," "infrastructure," "technical support," and "customer satisfaction," whereas a vice president of information technology is more likely to list skills in "project management," "architecture," "cloud," and "network infrastructure. "
Vice president of information technologies make a very good living in the automotive industry with an average annual salary of $162,421. On the other hand, service desk managers are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $112,177.When it comes to education, vice president of information technologies tend to earn higher degree levels compared to service desk managers. In fact, they're 11.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Service desk manager vs. Information technology operations manager
An Information Technology Operations Manager is responsible for the smooth running of the computer systems. They ensure the operation of computer systems in accordance with specifications, costs, and timelines.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between service desk managers and information technology operations managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a service desk manager might have more use for skills like "itsm," "infrastructure," "process improvement," and "continuous improvement." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of information technology operations managers require skills like "project management," "cloud," "network infrastructure," and "azure. "
In general, information technology operations managers earn the most working in the finance industry, with an average salary of $131,479. The highest-paying industry for a service desk manager is the finance industry.In general, information technology operations managers hold higher degree levels compared to service desk managers. Information technology operations managers are 7.1% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of service desk manager
Updated January 8, 2025
