Helpdesk Escalation Manager

Helpdesk Escalation Manager & IT Support Process Improvement Lead

Location: Hybrid in NYC (Local NY/NJ only) Duration: 1 year

Seeking an experienced Helpdesk Escalation Manager and IT Support Process Improvement Lead to transform how we deliver technology support across our enterprise. This role sits at the intersection of hands-on escalation management and strategic service delivery improvement, owning both the day-to-day resolution of complex, high-impact incidents and the long-term redesign of support processes that serve two distinct and demanding user populations. Our internal corporate workforce and our distributed car rental branch office employees — counter agents, fleet coordinators, and location managers — depend on consistent, fast, and knowledgeable IT support. The person in this role will assess our current support model end-to-end, identify gaps across our Tier 1 through Tier 3 structure, optimize our ServiceNow environment, and build the processes, SLAs, and vendor governance frameworks that elevate the entire support experience across Budget brands.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary escalation point for complex, high-priority, and executive-impacting incidents across all tiers of support.
• Triage and drive resolution of major incidents (P1/P2), coordinating across internal IT teams, rental branch operations, and external managed service partners.
• Establish and enforce escalation paths, on-call rotations, and communication protocols for critical events — ensuring impacted branch offices and corporate users receive timely, accurate updates.
• Conduct post-incident reviews (PIRs) and root cause analyses; translate findings into preventive process changes and knowledge base articles in ServiceNow.
• Develop and maintain escalation runbooks, decision trees, and standard operating procedures for both corporate and field-office issue types.

• Conduct a comprehensive current-state assessment of the end-to-end IT support lifecycle — from intake and triage through escalation, resolution, and closure — for both internal employees and car rental location staff.
• Design and implement a professional, scalable support model based on ITIL best practices, incorporating clear tier definitions, SLA frameworks, and measurable KPIs.
• Identify and eliminate process redundancies, communication gaps, and handoff failures between Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and external vendor support teams.
• Build repeatable frameworks for common rental-office scenarios including POS system failures, reservation platform outages, handheld/mobile device issues, and network connectivity problems.
• Develop and track a continuous improvement roadmap with defined milestones, ownership assignments, and measurable outcomes, reporting progress to IT leadership quarterly.

• Own the design, configuration, and optimization of ServiceNow workflows supporting incident, problem, change, and request management.
• Establish and enforce ticket quality standards — categorization, priority alignment, resolution documentation, and SLA adherence — across all support groups using the platform.
• Partner with the ServiceNow platform team to implement improvements including: automated routing rules, escalation triggers, customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys, and executive dashboard reporting.
• Build and maintain a robust Knowledge Management program within ServiceNow to reduce repeat contacts and improve first-contact resolution rates.
• Define and produce recurring operational reporting: weekly ticket aging reports, monthly SLA scorecards, trend analyses, and quarterly business reviews.

• Manage day-to-day performance and accountability of external IT support partners, MSPs, and OEM vendors delivering support services across the enterprise.
• Define and enforce SLAs, KPIs, and contractual obligations with each external partner; conduct monthly and quarterly business reviews.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for vendor escalations; hold partners accountable for resolution quality, response times, and customer satisfaction benchmarks.
• Identify gaps in third-party service delivery and work with vendor management and procurement to address them contractually or operationally.

• Act as a visible, credible IT support advocate for both corporate business units and field operations leadership.
• Collaborate closely with rental operations, HR, finance, and fleet management teams to understand their unique support needs and translate them into scalable support design.
• Communicate clearly and proactively during incidents, process changes, and service improvements to a non-technical audience, including branch managers and regional directors.
• Champion a customer-first service culture within the IT support organization, reinforcing quality standards through coaching, feedback loops, and recognition programs.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive IT support or service desk leadership experience, with at least 3 years in an escalation management, service delivery, or ITSM-focused role.
• Demonstrated track record of designing and implementing enterprise-wide IT support processes for organizations with 2,000+ users, preferably across multiple locations or business units.
• Hands-on proficiency with ServiceNow — including incident management, problem management, change management, CMDB, and reporting modules; experience configuring workflows or working with platform teams is strongly preferred.
• Deep familiarity with ITIL v4 frameworks; ITIL Foundation certification required (Practitioner or Managing Professional a plus).
• Experience managing third-party IT support vendors and MSPs, including SLA enforcement, performance reviews, and escalation governance.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate ticket data and trend analysis into actionable process improvement recommendations.
• Proven ability to manage major incidents under pressure, including executive communication, cross-team coordination, and post-incident review facilitation.
• Experience supporting operational or field-based workforces (retail, hospitality, transportation, rental, or similar industry) in addition to corporate office users.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfortable presenting to IT leadership and non-technical business stakeholders alike.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the car rental, travel, transportation, or hospitality industry with exposure to POS systems, fleet management platforms, or reservation systems.
• Lean Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or above) or equivalent process improvement methodology training.
• Familiarity with remote device management tools (SCCM, Intune, JAMF) and branch-office network support (SD-WAN, VPN, wireless).
• Prior experience in a contract-to-hire or consulting engagement delivering process transformation for an IT support organization.
• Working knowledge of ITAM (IT Asset Management) processes and how they intersect with support delivery.
• HDI Support Center Manager (HDI-SCM) or similar service desk leadership certification.