What does a technical support manager do?
A Technical Support Manager is responsible for supervising the overall technical aspects of an organization to ensure efficient business solutions to support functions and operations. Technical support managers evaluate technical networks and systems, coordinating with the engineering team to identify techniques that would maximize the staff's productivity and enhance operational performance. They also review resolution reports and handle resource allocations to execute business plans according to company requirements and specifications. A Technical Support Manager must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in identifying process gaps and upgrading system infrastructures.
Technical support manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real technical support manager resumes:
- Manage Compellent SAN and VMware environment.
- Advertise and manage packages and collections in SCCM environment.
- Manage fast-pace service desk according to ITIL best practices and standard operating procedures.
- Authore and manage training guide updates for department best practices store on the department's SharePoint portal.
- Manage development of next generation product with extensive geometry details and testing, in collaboration with an OEM.
- Administer LINUX operating systems servers creating regions, users, installing products and applications to manage the servers and user needs.
- Improve all KPIs through ITIL best practices, CRM, CTI technology, quality monitoring, and workforce optimization.
- Front line phone support for Solaris, storage, backups, and general OS.
- Perform REGEN in-house extraction of the existing database, reformatting of the data to the new version of the switches.
- Coordinate the delivery of Ethernet AVPN services.
- Incorporate devices into client networks, and workstations.
- Web-Base evidence viewing and analysis framework with PHP and Javascript.
- Add users and workstations to the domain in server manager.
- Introduce Citigroup end users to Citrix thin client server base computing.
- Document all work instructions, procedures and policies utilizing ITIL best practices.
Technical support manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Technical Support Managers are proficient in Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Technical Support Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 16%
Participated in key account meetings, coached staff and promoted an environment that encouraged communication, learning and customer service excellence.
- Customer Satisfaction, 10%
Worked with delivery teams and IBM development to troubleshoot critical production exceptions resulting in improved database reliability and increased customer satisfaction.
- Project Management, 7%
Collected product feedback from manufacturers and funneled it to marketing and project management to improve existing and refine future product versions.
- Customer Support, 4%
Organized/developed customer support strategies/capabilities for field service organizations.
- Customer Complaints, 4%
Handled escalated customer complaints upon customer or executive request and utilized escalations as a method to train and develop staff.
- Technical Assistance, 3%
Collaborated with physicians and international territory managers to provide technical assistance to customers and patients in various environments.
"customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "project management" are among the most common skills that technical support managers use at work. You can find even more technical support manager responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a technical support manager to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Technical support managers often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "managed customer/company relations and technical packaging material recommendations for current drugs and those awaiting fda approval. "
Listening skills. Many technical support manager duties rely on listening skills. "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation.," so a technical support manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways technical support manager responsibilities rely on listening skills: "composed, amended, and communicated procedural service and repair manual updates for all product lines using photoshop. "
Speaking skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of technical support managers is speaking skills. This skill is critical to many everyday technical support manager duties, as "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "attended regional customer counsel meetings; presented and addressed customer support issues. "
Writing skills. For certain technical support manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "writing skills." The day-to-day duties of a technical support manager rely on this skill, as "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what technical support managers do: "assisted engineering and development department with technical writing and new product development. "
Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for technical support manager responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of technical support managers all the time, as "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." An excerpt from a real technical support manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a technical support manager does: "identified customer support issues and made recommended, developed and implemented solutions. "
The three companies that hire the most technical support managers are:
Choose from 10+ customizable technical support manager resume templates
Build a professional technical support manager resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your technical support manager resume.
Compare different technical support managers
Technical support manager vs. Support lead
A support lead is typically in charge of overseeing the performance of a technical support team, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, resolving complex issues, identifying customer needs and sales opportunities, and training new team members. They may also perform calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries, and resolve issues promptly. Furthermore, as a support lead, it is essential to perform clerical tasks such as preparing progress reports, managing schedules, and maintaining records of transactions.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, technical support manager responsibilities require skills like "project management," "customer complaints," "technical assistance," and "call handling." Meanwhile a typical support lead has skills in areas such as "cash management," "sales floor," "payroll," and "infrastructure." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Support leads tend to reach similar levels of education than technical support managers. In fact, support leads are 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Technical support manager vs. Senior technical analyst
A senior technical analyst specializes in performing research and analysis to optimize technical support procedures in a company. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with different departments to gather necessary data, analyzing feedback from clients and employees, assessing existing processes to determine areas needing enhancements, and devising strategies to improve operations. They are also in charge of providing technical support to internal and external parties, installing and repairing systems, and addressing inquiries or concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real technical support manager resumes. While technical support manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer satisfaction," "customer support," "customer complaints," and "technical assistance," senior technical analysts use skills like "infrastructure," "data analysis," "technical support," and "java."
Senior technical analysts earn a lower average salary than technical support managers. But senior technical analysts earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $109,498. Additionally, technical support managers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $107,173 annually.In general, senior technical analysts achieve similar levels of education than technical support managers. They're 2.8% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Technical support manager vs. Information technology technical services manager
An information technology/technical services manager is responsible for supervising the operations of the information technology team, assisting the technical staff in providing efficient performance by improving technology systems and network infrastructure to support business functions. This job requires extensive knowledge of the technology industry, as well as an excellent command of programming and system processes to ensure smooth navigation and consistent transitions. An information technology/technical services manager also handles the development of new network systems according to business requirements and client specifications.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from technical support manager resumes include skills like "customer support," "customer complaints," "technical assistance," and "call handling," whereas an information technology technical services manager is more likely to list skills in "service management," "itsm," "service delivery," and "technical support. "
Information technology technical services managers make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $124,604. On the other hand, technical support managers are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $107,173.information technology technical services managers typically earn higher educational levels compared to technical support managers. Specifically, they're 6.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Technical support manager vs. Lead support technician
Lead support technicians test and troubleshoot onboard systems by using various interface tools and proprietary software. Besides following instructions, lead support technicians also work hand-in-hand with managers to ensure all quality standards are implemented. Lead support technicians also oversee and support different technical tasks, including brackets, building weldments, fabricating, and modifying support structures. Moreover, lead support technicians troubleshoot and resolve hardware and software problems.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between technical support managers and lead support technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a technical support manager might have more use for skills like "project management," "process improvement," "call handling," and "product development." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of lead support technicians require skills like "java," "sql server," "tcp ip," and "user support. "
The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for lead support technicians, with average annual pay of $92,806. Comparatively, the highest technical support manager annual salary comes from the technology industry.In general, lead support technicians hold similar degree levels compared to technical support managers. Lead support technicians are 3.4% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of technical support manager
Updated January 8, 2025
