Helpdesk Manager

Role: Helpdesk Manager

Position Type: Contract (06 months)

Location: Carson City, NV (40% onsite (adjustable) & 60% offsite (adjustable))

Role Overview

• Provide strategic leadership for statewide help desk services supporting the Voter Registration and Election Management Solution (VREMS). Drive process improvement, advocate for county users, and serve as liaison with system vendors. Lead a team of up to five agents, ensuring high standards in customer service, technical support, and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Set and communicate the help desk's overall strategy, aligning with organizational goals and both functional and technical requirements.
• Establish a vision for the help desk's role in supporting VREMS, ensuring alignment with the needs of county election officials, SOS elections staff, and Nevada's registered voters.
• Lead the strategic redesign and ongoing optimization of the Zendesk ticketing process, establishing standard procedures and best practices.
• Develop and maintain strategic and tactical roadmaps for help desk services, ensuring future readiness and value.
• Foster a proactive, service-oriented culture focused on continuous improvement.

Service Delivery

• Oversee the end-to-end operation of the help desk, ensuring effective triage, assignment, and resolution of all requests.

• Oversee and ensure effective triage, escalation, and resolution of critical issues by the help desk team, coordinating appropriate remedial actions and maintaining focus on overall service quality and team performance.
• Set, monitor, and enforce Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with vendors and internal teams.
• Ensure the help desk adapts to evolving needs and maintains exceptional customer service.
• Build and maintain a knowledge base for user self-service and internal reference.
• Lead regular communication with county stakeholders, including reports and alignment calls.
• Serve as the technical subject matter expert and final escalation point for unresolved issues.
• Ensure emergency planning and business continuity measures are established and communicated.

People Management

• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing, diverse help desk team.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and regular feedback to support staff development.
• Manage performance reviews, development plans, and staff attendance in line with agency policy.
• Promote innovation, collaboration, and a positive, inclusive team culture.

Financial Management

• Monitor and manage the help desk budget, balancing innovation with financial constraints.
• Optimize service contracts and ensure value for money at each renewal.

Criteria Knowledge

• Deep understanding of service support procedures and effective service delivery in complex tech environments.
• (Desirable) Knowledge of performance management and modern service standards.

Skills and Abilities

• Proven ability to manage the full lifecycle of help desk tickets and enforce SLAs.
• Experience developing and maintaining training programs for help desk agents.
• Strong communication skills for providing clear updates and preparing user-facing reports.
• Analytical skills to use KPIs and metrics for continuous improvement.
• Ability to build and maintain a comprehensive help desk knowledge base.
• Technical proficiency in supporting end-user technologies and overseeing the escalation process to ensure timely and effective resolution of complex issues.
• Strong organizational, prioritization, and change management skills.
• (Desirable) Project leadership, risk management, and advanced people management skills.

Experience

• Experience leading a multi-disciplined, customer-facing technical support team.
• Proven track record managing live support services, including incident response and operational support.
• Experience managing a remote technical call center or help desk.
• (Desirable) Experience developing teams and systems for excellent customer service in large organizations, vendor management, and clear management reporting.