IT Helpdesk Manager

YOUR MISSION

We're seeking an experienced IT Helpdesk Manager to lead our Denver helpdesk team and serve as the primary management presence for our Colorado-based technicians. This is a player-coach role where you'll develop and guide a team of technicians while staying close enough to the work to spot problems, unblock your team, and lead by example. If you love building process from scratch, developing early-career talent, and delivering consistently great IT service, this is your role. You'll be joining at a pivotal moment:

• A young, technically strong team that needs real leadership and structure
• Rapid company growth with a COO mandate to scale IT operations significantly
• A greenfield opportunity to establish runbooks, SLAs, and specialty tracks
• Real career growth potential as the team and company scale together.

Responsibilities

Team Management

• Lead and mentor Denver-based helpdesk technicians through an existing Team Lead who manages the Denver technicians day-to-day
• Invest in your Team Lead's growth as a first-time people manager
• Conduct regular 1-on-1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations
• Manage workload balancing, on-call rotation, and coverage planning
• Cookordination with the Long Beach Helpdesk Manager for consistent cross-site service delivery

Operations & Service Delivery

• Own tier 1 SLA compliance and service quality for Denver and Colorado Springs
• Triage and assign incoming tickets for optimal resolution
• Escalate appropriately to IT Infrastructure Engineering when needed
• Ensure the knowledge base and runbooks are maintained, current, and actually used
• Drive first contact resolution rates and user satisfaction

Process Improvement

• Identify systemic issues in ticket trends and build solutions, not workarounds
• Partner with the Enterprise Applications Engineer to automate manual workflows
• Build out standard operating procedures for the team's most common work
• Develop specialty tracks so each technician builds real depth, not just breadth
• Champion self-service tooling to improve the employee experience

Reporting & Communication

• Deliver weekly metrics and insights to the Director of IT
• Communicate service disruptions and incidents clearly to stakeholders
• Participate in IT leadership team meetings
• Represent helpdesk in cross-functional projects

Qualifications

• 5+ years in a technical support or helpdesk environment
• 2+ years managing technical teams, ideally in a high-growth or startup context
• A genuine player-coach mindset; you're comfortable leading and still comfortable getting your hands dirty
• Experience with Jira Service Management or a comparable ticketing platform
• Solid working knowledge of Windows and macOS support, cloud identity platforms (Okta, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), hardware lifecycle management, and remote support tooling
• Strong instincts for prioritization and process; you don't just put out fires, you figure out why they started
• Clear, proactive communicator who works well across teams and time zones

Nice to Have

• Experience in aerospace, defense, or a regulated industry
• Familiarity with specialized engineering tools (PLM, CAD, or similar)
• ITIL Foundation or equivalent

Compensation

Colorado Base Salary: $105,000-$140,000
Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave

Additional Requirements

Work Location: this is a fully onsite role. Candidates must be based in or able to commute to our Denver office daily.
Physical demands: the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.