Manager, Service Desk

Manager, Service Desk

At IHDA we strive to create and maintain a work environment that promotes diversity, recognition and inclusion. IHDA is committed to hiring and investing in individuals of diverse talents and backgrounds to ensure a range of perspectives and experiences inform and guide our work of financing affordable housing in the state of Illinois.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) is one of the Nation's preeminent Housing Finance Agencies and one of the State's ten largest financial institutions. Our mission is to finance the creation and preservation of affordable housing across the state. IHDA oversees more than 20 federal and state programs on behalf of the state of Illinois and serves as one of the state's primary resources for housing policy and program administration. For over 50 years, IHDA has led the state in financing and supporting affordable housing.

The Service Desk Manager serves as a critical liaison between end users, service desk agents, and IT support teams, providing expert guidance and hands-on support for both first- and second-level technical issues. This role functions as the primary escalation point for complex or unresolved incidents, ensuring timely and effective resolution to minimize disruption to business operations.

Departments across the organization rely on this individual to address service desk related technical challenges that hinder productivity. The Service Desk Manager is expected to respond swiftly and efficiently, while also collaborating with the team to implement sustainable solutions that prevent recurring issues. Through proactive leadership, technical expertise, and a commitment to continuous improvement, this role helps elevate the overall performance and reliability of IT support services.

Essential Functions:

• Serve as the primary escalation point for service desk agents when technical issues exceed first-level resolution capabilities, ensuring timely and effective support for end users.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration by working closely with internal departments and broader workgroups to maintain ownership of user-reported issues, driving resolution within established service-level expectations.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight by evaluating the effectiveness of current support methodologies, identifying gaps, and implementing innovative solutions to enhance service desk performance and user satisfaction.
• Assess training needs and deliver targeted learning sessions to strengthen the technical proficiency of service desk staff, ensuring the team remains current with evolving technologies, tools, and best practices.
• Use service management tools (e.g., ServiceNow, Fresh, Jira) to produce and present regular reports on IT service performance, budget, and improvement initiatives to senior management.
• Oversee lifecycle management of desktops, laptops, peripherals, and endpoint tools.
• Provide White Glove/VIP Support as needed.
• Possess strong leadership and stakeholder management managing escalations with clear communication, ownership, and timely resolution.
• Drive a culture of customer focus and innovation within the team and for customers.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor degree in Information Systems or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 10 years of hands-on experience supporting and administering Microsoft Windows environments.
• At least 5 years of experience in a call center or service desk support setting.
• Proven track record with 7–10 years in Tier 2/Tier 3 technical support, including 5 plus years in a management or supervisory role managing a service desk team.
• Strong experience managing end user support within a hybrid work environment.
• Moderate to Expert Level Proficiency with Automation technologies such as Powershell, Power Automate, or similar is required.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop team members, manage workloads and service-level agreements (SLAs), and deliver timely support for incidents and project-related tasks.
• Deep understanding of computer systems, hardware, software, and audio-visual equipment in enterprise environments.
• Experience with creating and deploying PC images is preferred.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to resolve complex technical issues efficiently.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across teams and engage with users at all levels.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 cloud services, Office Suite, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), Azure, Intune, and SharePoint is preferred.
• Functional knowledge and in-depth understanding of ITIL framework is highly preferred.

Physical Requirements: Alternating between sitting, standing, and walking. Ascending and descending stairs. Crouching and stooping. Pushing and pulling. Reaching overhead or below. Repetitive tasks movements (filing, keyboarding, copying). Lifting, carrying, and moving objects of up to 10 -15 pounds.

What We Offer:

• Paid time off, plus paid holidays
• Currently in a hybrid work arrangement, but candidates must reside in Illinois at time of hire.
• Medical/dental/vision/life insurance plans
• Short/long term disability
• Tuition reimbursement
• Flex spending
• 401K plan – immediate vesting
• IHDA employees may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs.
• Salary: $94,997.50 - $118,746.88

Must be a resident of Illinois or willing to relocate. Flexible scheduling is available, upon completion of a six-month probationary period. EOE