Sr. Service Desk Specialist

Creating a world where pets live longer, healthier lives, from their very first meal. Learn more about our brands. We’re Looking For A(n): Sr Service Desk Specialist Location: Hybrid (El Segundo, CA and/or Burbank/North Hollywood, CA) What You’ll Be Doing: This role will report to the Director of Information Technology and will own the day-to-day operations, performance, and continuous improvement of the company’s Service Desk function. As the IT organization continues to grow, this role will help build and lead a scalable service desk operation, including establishing ITSM compliant processes, developing service standards, and ensuring employees receive a consistent, high-quality support experience. You will work with the Director of Information Technology to design and implement the service desk operating model, including ticket intake and prioritization, SLAs, KPIs, escalation pathways, knowledge management, SOPs, and reporting. You will partner closely with L2/L3 technical support resources and the broader Technology team to ensure issues are appropriately triaged, escalated, and resolved, while identifying trends and opportunities to improve the overall employee experience and reduce recurring issues. This role will serve as a key liaison between business units and IT, ensuring technology services effectively support organizational objectives. The role is ideal for someone who enjoys building structure in a growing IT environment and brings a strong background in IT service management, service desk operations, technical support leadership, and process improvement. Service Desk Operations & Leadership Own the day-to-day operations and performance of the Service Desk, including ticket intake, triage, prioritization, assignment, escalation, and queue management through an ITSM platform. Establish and maintain service desk processes, SLAs, KPIs, service standards, escalation pathways, and operating procedures. Monitor ticket volume, backlog, response/resolution times, SLA performance, and customer satisfaction; provide regular reporting and insights to Technology leadership. Lead continuous improvement initiatives based on service desk data, employee feedback, and recurring support trends. Establish appropriate escalation processes between the Service Desk, L2/L3 technical resources, and other Technology teams. Help build, mentor, and manage the Service Desk team as the function scales, including hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, and professional development. Serve as the primary point of escalation for complex, sensitive, or executive-level support matters, coordinating with the appropriate technical resources through resolution. Maintain a high standard of customer service and ensure the Service Desk provides a professional, responsive, and consistent employee experience. Partner with Technology leadership to establish service desk goals, capacity planning, staffing models, and operational priorities. Participate in an on-call rotation and respond to occasional after-hours incidents as required. Travel to company locations and manufacturing sites as needed to support service delivery, team operations, and technology initiatives. IT Service Management & Process Improvement Own and continuously improve ITSM processes, including incident management, request fulfillment, problem management, knowledge management, and escalation workflows. Develop and maintain SOPs, troubleshooting runbooks, service standards, and user-facing knowledge resources. Identify recurring incidents and service trends, partner with technical teams on root cause analysis, and drive initiatives to reduce ticket volume and improve service reliability. Build and maintain a user-facing Service Desk knowledge base and self-service resources. Evaluate and optimize ITSM workflows, automation, categorization, prioritization, and reporting within Jira Service Management or a comparable platform. Partner with the Director of Information Technology on ITSM tooling, service delivery strategy, operational improvements, and technology initiatives. Technical Oversight & Escalation Maintain a strong technical understanding of the company’s endpoint, SaaS, collaboration, identity, and workplace technology environments. Provide technical guidance and oversight for escalated incidents without serving as the primary resolver for routine L1/L2/L3 tickets. Experience with reporting and analytics tools to drive performance insights Understand and help oversee support for Microsoft 365 and/or Google Workspace, endpoint management/MDM, identity and access management, and enterprise SaaS applications. Coordinate escalated issues involving platforms such as Slack, Salesforce, NetSuite, Microsoft 365, and other company-wide applications. Partner with L2/L3 technical resources to ensure complex incidents are appropriately documented, communicated, and resolved within established service expectations. Support executive and high-priority users through a white-glove service model, coordinating technical resources as needed. Ensure technical documentation and knowledge resources remain accurate, current, and accessible to the Service Desk team. Reporting & Stakeholder Management Develop and present regular Service Desk reporting to Technology leadership, including SLA performance, ticket trends, backlog, response/resolution times, customer satisfaction, and recurring issues. Translate service desk data into actionable recommendations for staffing, tooling, process improvements, and technology investments. Partner cross-functionally with HR, Finance, Operations, and other business teams to understand support needs and improve the employee technology experience. Communicate effectively with executive stakeholders during high-priority incidents and service disruptions. Collaborate with the Director of Information Technology on broader infrastructure, security, service delivery, and operational initiatives. Qualifications (Note: We strongly encourage you to apply even if you don’t tick ALL of these boxes.): Required Proven SLA ownership and KPI reporting across a helpdesk or service desk function In-depth knowledge of ITIL frameworks and experience implementing best practices in service management Operational understanding of IT security fundamentals: MFA, principles of least-privilege access, RBAC, endpoint hygiene, phishing defense Proven experience in managing service desk tools and ticketing systems, such as ServiceNow, Zendesk, or similar platforms Experience with Jira Service Management (JSM) or a comparable ITSM platform Proven ability to operate independently in a hybrid, remote or distributed environment with minimal supervision Be in possession of a valid California driver's license, with a good driving record and 3 years of driving history Be able to lift 50 lbs safely on a regular basis and move computers, printers and other equipment Strong written and verbal communication skills; comfortable supporting and presenting to executive stakeholders Help with other duties and projects, as assigned Preferred (Nice to Have): ITIL Foundation experience, certification, and/or other demonstrated ITSM process discipline. Basic familiarity with best practices for hardware and software security, PCI compliance, CCPA, GDPR, and sensitive data laws Proficient in Microsoft 365 and/or Google Workspace management (Email, Collaboration, Cloud File Storage) or equivalent enterprise collaboration platform. Experience troubleshooting computers, printers/MFPs, basic network connectivity issues, computer peripherals, tablets, and mobile devices. Experience providing “white glove” or executive-level IT support. Experience supporting full user lifecycle management (onboarding, changes, and offboarding) through HRIS and directory/IAM integrations. Required Education :Bachelor's degree or equivalent. Required Experience :3-5+ years of IT support or IT operations experience, with at least 1-2+ years in a technical lead, manager, or senior-level operational capacity. Preferred Experience : 5+ years of progressive experience in IT support or IT operations with at least 2+ years in a technical lead, manager, or senior-level operational capacity. Preferred Licensure/Certification : ITILv4, ITILv4 Foundations, CSDM (Certified Service Desk Manager), HDI-SCM, SDI Service Desk Manager, ISO/IEC 20000, COBIT 2019, CompTIA A+, Google IT Support Traveling required? If yes, average % of travel per year required : 10-25% Golden Perks & Benefits: Comprehensive healthcare coverage – We cover 100% of premiums for medical, dental, and vision plans for employee-only plans. Annual bonus We match up to 3.5% of your 401k contributions , ensuring your retirement savings grow alongside your career. 6 paid sick and mental health days, an Employee Assistance Program, free weekly yoga and meditation classes, and additional mental health benefits, because we take a holistic approach to your well-being. Invest in your future with our Employee Stock Ownership Plan , where company contributions fund your retirement plan with company stock. Learn more. Reimbursements for a portion of personal cell phone and internet usage for eligible employees. Professional development opportunities with mentorship, continuous learning programs, and performance-based pay increases, empowering you to progress and excel in your career. Through our charity sponsorships, you can make a positive impact on communities worldwide. We’ve donated over $9 million to date. Potential for quarterly KPI bonuses. The base salary range is $83,200-$104,000, plus bonus potential. The posted salary range in this job posting reflects data based on California's cost of labor analysis. This salary range is subject to change per state; please click here to find the pay differential in your state of residence if the role is remote. Salary is based on a wide range of factors that include relevant experience, knowledge, skills, other job-related qualifications, and geographical location. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. A Note to Recruiting Agencies: At Golden Pet Brands, we handle all hiring through our internal Talent Acquisition team. Occasionally, we might use staffing or recruiting agencies to support our internal team in finding the right candidates. Agencies are not authorized to contact our hiring teams directly to present candidates. Our internal Talent Acquisition team is responsible for all candidate presentations to our hiring managers. Golden Pet Brands will need written approval and a signed agreement before submitting any candidate info for a specific job opening. Without this, we won’t pay any fees for placements. Thank you for your understanding. Candidate Safety: The safety of our candidates is our highest priority. When looking for a job, please be aware of cyber criminals, fake domains, and fraudulent job offers. Golden Pet Brands recruiters will only contact applicants from our official company e‑mail domain, (View email address on click.appcast.io) or through our internal Applicant Tracking System, Greenhouse. In addition, Golden Pet Brands recruiters will never send you checks, or ask you to disclose personal financial details. Click here to learn more about general internet safety and our hiring practices. #J-18808-Ljbffr Golden Pet Brands