Service Desk Lead

At Ardent , we hire people who want more than a job — they want to serve a mission that matters. Our teams support the federal government’s most critical national security and defense priorities, helping protect the nation, strengthen resilience, and advance the technologies and capabilities that keep America secure. For veterans, cleared professionals, and purpose-driven innovators, Ardent is a place to continue serving alongside a team that understands the importance of the mission and the people behind it. We also know top talent has choices, which is why we back our mission with benefits and flexibility that stand out: competitive pay, comprehensive health coverage, flexible PTO, federal holidays off, tuition reimbursement, professional development support, wellness stipends, and a culture that values and rewards hard work, dedication, and adaptability. If you want to build something meaningful, while enjoying the kind of flexibility and support that you need to do your best work — Ardent is where your next mission begins. Ardent is seeking a Service Desk Lead to join our team. This is an on-site position located in New York. Position Description Ardent is seeking a Service Desk Lead to oversee day-to-day service desk operations, ensuring efficient delivery of end-user support services and maintaining high levels of system availability and user satisfaction. This role will provide leadership to service desk personnel, manage incident and request workflows, and ensure secure handling of enterprise systems and user access. Responsibilities and Duties Lead daily service desk operations, ensuring timely resolution of incidents and service requests. Supervise and support Service Desk Technicians, including task assignment, performance oversight, and escalation management. Manage user account provisioning, identity and access management, and privileged access controls. Oversee ticket management processes, ensuring accuracy, prioritization, and adherence to SLAs. Maintain and update system configurations, CMDB records, and asset tracking systems. Ensure proper handling of sensitive operational and financial data in accordance with security requirements. Coordinate with technical teams and stakeholders to resolve complex issues and improve service delivery. Monitor trends in incidents and requests, identifying root causes and implementing improvements. Enforce IT service management best practices and ensure compliance with contract and security requirements. Support continuous improvement initiatives to enhance service desk performance and user experience. Requirements Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent work experience. Minimum of 5 years of experience in service desk or IT support roles, including leadership responsibilities. Experience managing service desk operations in an enterprise environment. Strong knowledge of incident management, ticketing systems, and IT service management processes. Experience with identity and access management, including privileged account administration. Ability to obtain a Tier 4 (High Risk Public Trust) background investigation. Must be eligible for and capable of receiving privileged, administrative, or configuration-level system access. Preferred Qualifications Experience with ServiceNow or similar ITSM platforms. ITIL Foundation or higher certification. Experience supporting federal or highly regulated environments. Strong understanding of CMDB, asset management, and configuration control processes. Due to the nature of the work we support, all candidates in consideration for this role must be willing to undergo the government issued background investigation process prior to receiving system access. We highly encourage all Veterans and those with disabilities to apply. Ardent is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other basis protected by state, local, or federal law. #J-18808-Ljbffr