Service Desk Manager

Central Washington University is recruiting a Service Desk Manager to join our CWU Service Desk team in Ellensurg, Washington. This role is an important member of our team as they enhance for the University. The role is a campus-based position, which means you get to see the lives you are impacting. We’re offering a competitive salary plus the awesome CWU benefits. Who we are: We are a team of individuals committed to Changing Students’ Lives. No matter what job, each of us plays a part in supporting and empowering our students to fulfill their dreams. Working in higher education provides career growth and career choice. Think of a university campus like a mini city, operating across 380 acres. You’ll find diverse academics, libraries, athletics and sporting events, full service and quick serve dining, conferences and events from small to large, recreation centers, housing, health services, police and public safety for the campus population of ~8,300 students. Central Washington University has been named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Top Producing Institution for the 2022-2023 academic year. In addition, for seven out of eight years, CWU was a recipient of the prestigious Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. RentCafe has also named CWU #13 of the Top 20 Best College Towns in the U.S. in 2025. Come join us on our journey to encourage, inspire, and create spaces where all identities thrive on campus. What we offer Our investment in you begins the day you join our team, a healthy and successful future for you is important to us. We offer medical, dental, life and disability insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, tuition assistance for you and your dependents, discounts across town, an employee assistance program for individualized counseling, and a wellness incentive program. Learn more: Benefits, Perks, and Leave and Total Rewards Calculator. The Role The Service Desk Manager is a working manager responsible for leading a team of staff focused on providing technical support to the entire CWU campus community. This position also serves as the senior technical resource for the Service Desk to assist in troubleshooting issues, providing support coverage when team members are absent and during times of high call volume, and monitoring incoming calls during off–hours (weekends, evenings, and holidays). The Service Desk Manager also serves as the Change Management Manager for the IS Change Management process, and Incident Manager for the IS Incident Management process. All employees are expected to uphold and contribute to CWU’s vision, mission, and values, fostering a culture of student success and institutional excellence. This position directly affects the vision, mission, and values of Central Washington University by practicing and promoting responsible stewardship of our technology resources, creating a welcoming and supportive environment, and through sustainable procedures that ensure the economic health of the university. Job Duties Service Desk Management Responsible for ensuring excellent customer service, coordinating timely support resolutions, performing request fulfilment, and for appropriately communicating IS initiatives to Service Desk staff and customers Schedules employee work hours/shifts; monitor hours worked; approve payable time and absence requests Manage department budget, create and maintain forecasts, and ensure spending does not exceed revenue. Identify opportunities for cost savings and/or new investments Actively engages in recruiting, evaluating, and developing staff Leads a performance culture through appraisals and other coaching Oversees and directs the work of staff; serves as mentor, coach and leader Takes corrective action or recognizes exceptional performance in a timely manner Adjusts leadership style as needed to achieve results Communicates regularly with campus departments about IS resources and department support needs; act as an advocate for the campus community within IS Communicates information to staff on an ongoing basis to influence staff engagement and to be a part of a larger community Establish, manage, track, and report the daily metrics on all incidents and requests coming through the Service Desk Establish, manage, track, and report on service/organization level agreements related to IS services Identify opportunities for the Service Desk to improve its ability to resolve incidents and fulfill requests without escalating to other IS teams; work with IS leadership to transition responsibilities to the Service Desk as appropriate Differentiate between incidents and problems, inform appropriate technical teams when problems are identified, and coordinate problem resolution Technical Duties Receive and respond to incoming calls, service desk tickets, email, or chat regarding technical incidents or campus support coordination. Provide critical support for end‑user technology Provide technical assistance to faculty, staff, and students Make decisions on which tier support can respond and handle a service request, project or incident Takes ownership of unresolved technical issues, and escalates as necessary Operate a telephone system, route calls and provide outstanding support over the telephone Maintain technical skills and ability to support new technologies Identify, maintain, and support tools to enable remote assistance (including Remote Desktop, SCCM/MECM, VNC, Teams, Zoom, etc.) Create, maintain and update incident response information via the IS Service Desk website Responsible for the communication aspects of the Incident Management process and the corresponding reporting using ITIL best practices Administration of the Incident module in CWU’s ITSM system Act as first stage of escalation for incidents when not resolved within agreed service levels Monitor IS change activity to ensure compliance with established policies and procedures; communicate compliance and non‑compliance metrics to leadership ITSM Administration Administration of the CWU IT Service Management system, TeamDynamix Maintain awareness of competing ITSM platforms, propose changes as appropriate or necessary Responsible for creating, maintaining, consulting, and updating the IS Service Catalog Responsible for creating, maintaining, and updating an effective IS Knowledge Base Responsible for creating, maintaining, and updating reports, self‑service forms, service level agreements, and automations Collaborate and consult with internal Information Services (IS) teams to ensure that the platform configuration and processes support organizational needs, and build customer requirements and design documentation for enhancements on the platform Responsible for user interface design and administration to maintain and/or improve usability Identify and champion opportunities for user self‑service options through the platform, decreasing the number of calls, emails, and tickets submitted by users Work with other departments at CWU (HR, FMD, etc.) to identify opportunities to leverage the ITSM tool for other functions and implement as appropriate Other duties as assigned Minimum Qualifications Five (5) years’ related work experience, with a minimum of 2 years as a manager of staff Technical experience with high‑volume, mission‑critical applications and systems Experience using an enterprise‑level ITSM platform Working level knowledge of ITIL v3 (or later) processes and best practices Experience providing effective and efficient customer service Strong communication and organization skills Demonstrated strong analytical and problem solving skills Ability to work independently on tasks and monitor progress against defined parameters Demonstrated ability and/or experience fostering a supportive and effective workplace while working with students and/or colleagues to uphold institutional excellence OR any combination of education and experience which clearly demonstrates the ability to accomplish the essential functions of the job Preferred Qualifications BA/BS from an accredited four‑year college or university with major course work in business operations/management information systems, computer science or related field ITIL Foundations and/or advanced ITIL certifications Experience defining, developing, and reporting SLAs, OLAs, metrics, and KPIs related to Service Desk operations Experience working in an environment with a formal change management process Work experience in a higher education environment Experience administering the TeamDynamix, ServiceNow or another similar ITSM platform Life experiences that demonstrate an ability to contribute to CWU’s vision, mission, and values Pay Salary : The Hiring Department’s expected hiring range is $97,000 – $113,328 annually. Individual placement within the hiring range is based on the candidate’s current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position. In accordance with RCW 49.58.110, the full annual salary range for this position is $90,662 to $135,993. Schedule/Appointment : Monday – Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, hours may vary (1‑hour lunch) CWU is an EEO/AA/Title IX/Veteran/Disability Employer. #J-18808-Ljbffr