Functional Lead - Service Desk

Department: Information Technology

Location: Gainesville, FL

Description

The Functional Lead – Service Desk is responsible for driving operational excellence within the IT Service Desk by optimizing processes, ensuring alignment with ITIL best practices, and addressing complex technical challenges. This hands-on role focuses on improving service delivery, resolving escalated incidents, and acting as a key liaison between the service desk and stakeholders. The Functional Lead also plays a critical role in coaching and mentoring service desk team members, fostering their professional growth and enhancing overall team performance.

The Functional Lead ensures end-to-end ownership of incidents, requests, and problems taking accountability for issues from identification to resolution, even when collaboration with other support teams is required. By monitoring and analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) to improve both team and service performance, the Functional Lead drives service excellence and alignment with organizational goals. Through continuous improvement initiatives and streamlined workflows, this role guarantees exceptional end-user experiences and operational efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and enhance service desk workflows, ensuring efficient handling of incidents, service requests, and escalations.


• Define and implement strategies to improve service delivery, aligning with ITIL best practices.


• Monitor service desk performance metrics (SLAs, KPIs) and identify opportunities for improvement.


• Act as the primary escalation point for complex or high-impact technical issues, ensuring timely resolution.


• Ensure end-to-end ownership of incidents, requests, and problems, taking accountability for their resolution, including when escalation to other support teams is required.


• Leverage automation and self-service tools to streamline workflows and reduce manual effort.


• Collaborate with IT leadership and business stakeholders to ensure service desk priorities align with organizational needs.


• Partner on special projects in collaboration with IT Operations to support execution and strategic IT initiatives.


• Coach and mentor service desk team members to foster professional growth and enhance team performance.


• Provide end-user training and education for Microsoft 365 (M365) to maximize adoption and efficient usage.


• Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices to propose innovative solutions.


• Own and manage the desktop and mobile environments, including asset management, procurement, and cell phone management.


• Oversee desktop environment purchasing to ensure alignment with organizational standards and budgets.


• Know and apply the Quality System regulations and any appropriate Federal and International standards.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field, or equivalent experience.
  

Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in IT support, with extensive expertise in resolving complex technical issues.
  

Functional/Technical Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Proficient in ITIL principles and IT Service Management (ITSM) tools (e.g., ServiceNow, Freshservice).


• Demonstrated ability to optimize processes and improve operational efficiency.


• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis skills.


• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with a strong focus on customer service.


• Experience mentoring and coaching IT team members to enhance professional growth and team performance.


• Experience managing desktop and mobile environments, including asset management, procurement, and cell phone management.


• Familiarity with procurement processes for IT assets, ensuring alignment with organizational standards and budgets.


• Preferred
  
  
  
  • TIL v4 Foundation Certification or higher.
  
  
  • Knowledge of scripting and automation to improve service delivery.
  
  
  • Familiarity with cloud-based platforms, modern IT infrastructures, and collaboration tools.