Service Desk Manager

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Role Purpose

The Service Desk Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and continuous improvement of Millgate's Service Desk function. The role ensures high-quality, consistent delivery of managed IT services, adherence to SLAs, and exceptional client experience.

You will lead the Service Desk team, manage escalations, drive operational excellence, and collaborate across departments to ensure that services are efficient, scalable, and aligned with Millgate's strategy.

This position is critical in maintaining strong client relationships while ensuring internal accountability, process discipline, and technical excellence.

Key Responsibilities

1. Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, develop, and mentor Service Desk Engineers across all levels.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, performance reviews, and development planning.
• Set and enforce expectations for:
  • Ticket quality
  • Communication standards
  • Professional conduct
  • Documentation discipline
• Foster a high-performance, accountable, and collaborative culture.
• Support succession planning and team growth in line with business demand.

2. Service Delivery & Operational Management

• Own the end-to-end delivery of Service Desk operations.
• Ensure tickets are prioritised, assigned, and managed effectively in line with SLAs.
• Maintain strict adherence to:
  • Ticket management standards
  • Escalation procedures
  • Communication expectations
• Act as the senior escalation point for high-priority incidents and client issues.
• Ensure proactive communication and clear expectations are set with clients throughout ticket lifecycles.
• Provide advice and technical expertise in the sale of new products and services to our clients
• Promoting current and future proof security and backup practices
• Drive consistency across all Service Desk processes and workflows.

3. SLA, KPI & Performance Management

• Monitor KPIs and SLAs across the Service Desk.
• Track and report on:
  • Response and resolution times
  • Ticket volumes and backlog
  • SLA performance and breaches
• Identify trends, risks, and areas for optimisation.
• Drive corrective actions to improve service performance and efficiency.

4. Incident, Problem & Escalation Management

• Take ownership of major incidents and ensure timely resolution.
• Lead post-incident reviews and root cause analysis activities.
• Ensure preventative measures are implemented to reduce recurrence.
• Oversee and refine escalation paths across service tiers and departments.
• Ensure high-quality escalation handling with appropriate context and documentation.

5. Client Relationship & Service Experience

• Act as a senior escalation point for key clients and service-related concerns.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders.
• Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction through:
  • Clear communication
  • Reliable delivery
  • Professional engagement
• Work closely with Account Management and Services Sales teams on service improvement and client growth opportunities.

6. Continuous Improvement & Process Optimisation

• Identify inefficiencies, recurring issues, and process gaps.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across Service Desk operations.
• Ensure all processes are:
  • Documented
  • Standardised
  • Audited regularly
• Support automation and tooling improvements within the tech stack of systems used.

7. Cross-Department Collaboration

• Work closely with:
  • Professional Services / Projects
  • Technical / Infrastructure teams
  • Sales and Account Management
• Ensure alignment between pre-sales, delivery, and support capabilities.
• Support onboarding of new clients into managed services.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Proven experience in a Service Desk Manager or similar leadership role within an MSP environment
• Strong knowledge of:
  • Microsoft 365 / Azure environments
  • Networking fundamentals
  • Service Desk tooling (e.g. PSA, RMM systems)
• Demonstrated experience:
  • Leading and developing technical teams
  • Managing high-pressure incidents and escalations
  • Driving SLA/KPI performance

Desirable

• Experience scaling service desk operations
• Knowledge of automation, AI or Copilot within service environments
• Experience contributing to service design and commercial alignment