Help Desk Manager

*Factors that may be used to determine your actual salary include your job specific skills, education, training, job location, number of years of experience related to this role and comparison to other employees already in this role.DSG is seeking a Help Desk Manager to join their IT team.Inthis full time, salaried, exempt position, work is typically performed during standard business hours, Monday through Friday, but will vary on occasion according to business needs. As a Help Desk Manager, you will be responsible for leading DSG’s help desk operations, end-user support experience, technical support standards, and continuous improvement of IT service delivery across the organization. This role includes both people leadership and hands-on technical guidance to ensure employee owners receive secure, reliable, efficient, and customer-focused technology support.This position is accountable for the performance, development, and technical readiness of the Help Desk team, including ticket management, escalation handling, service-level performance, process improvement, knowledge management, and end-user satisfaction. The Help Desk Manager will serve as a technical coach and escalation resource for the team, with strong proficiency in the Microsoft technology ecosystem, including Microsoft 365 administration, identity and access management, endpoint support, collaboration tools, security administration, and automation.The Help Desk Manager will also help modernize help desk operations through automation, AI-enabled support tools, self-service capabilities, ticket analytics, and repeatable remediation workflows. This includes identifying recurring issues, developing automated fixes where appropriate, improving first-contact resolution, reducing ticket volume, and enabling the team to resolve issues faster and more consistently.DSG is a people-centric, customer-obsessed, and growth-focused wholesale distributor. With over 130,000 (and growing!) products, not only are we one of the most diversified suppliers in the upper Midwest, we also have expertise in electrical, HVAC, plumbing, waterworks, utility, communications, and more! We have fun, we are friendly, and we embody a culture that genuinely cares for people far beyond their job title. Our purpose is to serve fellow employee owners, our partners, and communities toward building a better America, one job at a time. We are proud to be 100% employee owned, with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that gives our employee owners a unique opportunity to build their personal wealth in addition to a traditional retirement plan.A Typical Day in the Life of a Help Desk Manager at DSG:Leadership and Help Desk OperationsLead, coach, mentor, and develop the Help Desk team to ensure strong technical capability, customer service, accountability, and professional growth.Establish and maintain operating standards, service expectations, escalation procedures, and support processes for DSG’s Help Desk.Oversee daily help desk operations, including ticket intake, prioritization, triage, assignment, escalation, resolution quality, and service-level performance.Monitor ticket queues, service trends, backlog, aging tickets, recurring issues, and team workload to ensure timely and effective resolution.Take ownership of escalated technical issues that require advanced troubleshooting, coordination, or leadership follow-up.Define, track, and report on key performance indicators, including response time, resolution time, first-contact resolution, customer satisfaction, ticket volume, escalation trends, and recurring incident patterns.Develop and maintain standard operating procedures, support playbooks, escalation paths, and knowledge base documentation.Lead continuous improvement efforts to improve service quality, employee owner satisfaction, operational efficiency, and technical consistency.Partner with IT leadership to align help desk priorities with DSG’s business objectives, technology roadmap, cybersecurity requirements, and employee experience goals.Provide reporting, recommendations, goals, and service improvement plans to the IT Leadership Team.Improve customer service, perception, and satisfaction through consistent communication, timely resolution, and proactive support practices.Participate in the planning and execution of IT projects, ensuring Help Desk readiness, documentation, training, and support.Technical Leadership and Microsoft 365 AdministrationServe as a hands-on technical leader and escalation point for complex Tier 2 and Tier 3 support issues involving hardware, software, identity, access, endpoints, collaboration tools, enterprise applications, and Microsoft 365 services.Administer and provide technical oversight for Microsoft 365 services, including Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft 365 Groups, licensing, and service health.Manage and support identity and access administration within Microsoft Entra ID / Azure Active Directory, including user accounts, groups, authentication, role-based access, MFA, conditional access, and access reviews.Ensure help desk practices follow appropriate security, compliance, change management, and access control standards.Provide technical coaching to help team members improve troubleshooting skills, root-cause analysis, Microsoft 365 administration knowledge, security awareness, and customer communication.Maintain a strong working understanding of DSG’s technical stack, core enterprise systems, business applications, and support requirements.Work closely with engineers, cybersecurity, infrastructure, business systems, and cross-functional teams to resolve escalations and improve support outcomes.Automation, AI, and Service ModernizationLead the implementation of automation and AI-enabled capabilities to improve help desk efficiency, reduce repetitive tickets, and accelerate issue resolution.Identify recurring ticket types and develop automated remediation workflows, scripts, self-service tools, knowledge articles, or guided resolution processes.Partner with IT engineering, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and business teams to automate common fixes while maintaining appropriate controls, testing, approval, and documentation.Develop, maintain, or coordinate scripts and workflows using approved tools such as PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, Microsoft 365 admin tools, endpoint management platforms, ITSM tools, or other automation technologies.Improve self-service capabilities for employee owners through knowledge articles, request forms, automated provisioning, guided troubleshooting, and proactive communications.Use ticket analytics and service data to identify root causes, training needs, system issues, automation opportunities, and process gaps.Ensure automation and AI-driven support processes are secure, auditable, reliable, and aligned with DSG policies.Continuously evaluate new support tools, AI capabilities, and workflow improvements that can improve service delivery and reduce manual effort.Team Development and Cross-Functional CollaborationRecruit, onboard, train, mentor, and evaluate Help Desk team members.Establish clear expectations, goals, development plans, and performance standards for each team member.Accomplish team results by communicating job expectations, planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; coaching, counseling, and motivating employee owners.Conduct regular coaching, feedback, performance reviews, and technical development sessions.Foster a team culture built on ownership, accountability, service excellence, curiosity, continuous learning, and collaboration.Lead and direct Help Desk employee owners to appropriate duties, tasks, priorities, and development opportunities.Monitor performance of employee owners according to established standards.Work closely with infrastructure, cybersecurity, business systems, application, and project teams to resolve escalations and improve support readiness.Participate in IT project planning and execution to ensure support readiness, support documentation, training, communication, and post-launch support.Communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.Build strong relationships with employee owners, department leaders, vendors, customers, and distributors as needed.Document internal processes and procedures related to duties and responsibilities.Perform other duties as assigned.A Successful Help Desk Manager Typically Has:Strong leadership, coaching, mentoring, and team development skills.Demonstrated ability to lead a help desk, service desk, end-user support, or technical support function.Strong interpersonal, telephone, and communication skills, with active listening and a customer care focus.Strong technical proficiency in Microsoft 365 administration, including Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft 365 Groups, licensing, and admin center operations.Working knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID / Azure Active Directory, including account administration, MFA, conditional access, security groups, role-based access, and identity lifecycle management.Understanding of Microsoft security administration concepts, including endpoint security, email protection, access controls, secure collaboration, and data protection.Experience with endpoint management, Windows support, hardware troubleshooting, software deployment, device configuration, and user access support.Proficient in diagnosing and resolving complex hardware, software, application, identity, access, network, endpoint, and application-level issues.Technical awareness and the ability to match resources to technical issues appropriately.Familiarity with support tools, techniques, IT service delivery methods, ticketing systems, and escalation processes.Experience developing or supporting automation using tools such as PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, ITSM workflows, endpoint management tools, or AI-enabled support platforms.Ability to identify recurring issues and convert them into documented processes, automated fixes, knowledge base articles, or self-service solutions.Strong understanding of IT service management practices, ticketing systems, escalation management, service-level reporting, and customer satisfaction measurement.Ability to use data, KPIs, and service trends to drive operational improvement and team accountability.Understanding of DSG’s IT solutions, business objectives, and employee owner support needs.Ability to balance people leadership with hands-on technical support and escalation ownership.Ability to explain technical solutions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.Ability to prioritize effectively and manage multiple operational, project-related, and escalation responsibilities.Strong team player who can collaborate with other employee owners and cross-functional teams.Adaptable to new or difficult situations with strong problem-solving skills.Self-motivated and capable of managing multiple tasks in a dynamic environment.High ethical standards, diligence, consistency, and sound judgment when handling access, security, confidential information, and business-critical systems.Ability to lift and move hardware as needed.Willingness to travel occasionally.At DSG, We Offer Benefits Built for You:We are proudly 100% employee owned, which means your hard work and decisions directly benefit not only the success of the organization, but also your individual Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).We are highly committed to your training and development, offering personal and professional development opportunities and unlimited growth potential.We offer competitive compensation packages based on your experience and potential.You will receive generous Paid Time Off (PTO) and Extended Medical Leave (EML) allowances.Our comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision, also offers a multitude of other perks such as life insurance, short- and long-term disability, paid parental leave, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA), and Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution, among many others.You will have the opportunity to prepare for your future through multiple retirement savings opportunities, including a 401(k) with employer match and ESOP.You will receive a discounton all DSG-supplied products.We believe in giving back to our communities and hope that you will too, which is why we offer paid volunteer hours in addition to PTO.