Service Desk Lead

Title: Senior Manager Service Desk Lead
Location: San Francisco, CA Hybrid
Duration: 9+ Months of Contract

Must-have skills:
1. Service Desk Management
2. SLA Management
3. Quality Management
4. Knowledge Management

Position Overview:
We are seeking an experienced Senior Manager Service Desk Lead to provide end-to-end leadership for a large-scale Service Desk supporting both Retail Store operations and Corporate employees.
This is a highly visible, client-facing role responsible for overall service delivery, operational performance, customer experience, and governance of an offshore delivery organization based in the Philippines.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on Service Desk leader with strong retail support experience, excellent client-management skills, and a proven track record of leading large, high-volume, globally distributed Service Desk operations.

Key Responsibilities:
Lead end-to-end Service Desk operations and service delivery across Retail Store and Corporate support.
Provide leadership, direction, and governance to offshore Service Desk teams in the Philippines.
Serve as the primary client-facing Service Desk leader and escalation point.
Own and drive performance across SLAs, KPIs, FCR, AHT, CSAT, quality, ticket backlog, aging, and escalations.
Establish strong operational governance, performance reviews, and executive reporting.
Drive Quality Management, customer experience improvements, and targeted coaching initiatives.
Lead Knowledge Management practices to improve agent effectiveness, FCR, and resolution times.
Provide Service Desk leadership during major incidents and business-critical escalations.
Partner closely with Infrastructure, Application, Product, and IT Service Management teams.
Identify and drive continuous improvement opportunities through shift-left, self-service, automation, and AI-enabled Service Desk capabilities.

Must-Have Qualifications:
10+ years of experience in Service Desk, IT Service Management, or IT Operations.
Proven experience leading a large-scale, high-volume Service Desk.
Strong Retail / Store Service Desk experience, preferably combined with Corporate Service Desk support.

Strong expertise in:
Service Desk Management
SLA & KPI Management
Quality Management
Knowledge Management
Client & Executive Stakeholder Management
Offshore / Global Delivery Management
Demonstrated ability to manage operational escalations and drive service recovery.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate operational data into actionable improvements.
Excellent executive communication and presentation skills.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications:
ITIL certification / strong IT Service Management background
Major Incident Management experience
ServiceNow experience
Retail technology support experience, including POS, store devices, mobility, and store infrastructure
Contact Center / Service Desk analytics experience
Experience with automation, GenAI, Virtual Agents, Agent Assist, or automated Quality Management

Ideal Candidate Profile:
We are looking for a senior, hands-on Service Desk leader, not simply an ITSM process manager.
The successful candidate should be comfortable operating directly with senior client stakeholders while simultaneously driving accountability and performance across an offshore delivery organization. They should bring a data-driven, customer-focused and continuous-improvement mindset, with the ability to stabilize operations while also advancing the Service Desk through automation, knowledge, self-service, and AI-enabled capabilities.

What are some nice-to-have skills:
Service Management
Major Incident Management
Service NOW