IT Helpdesk Manager

YOUR MISSION

We're seeking an experienced IT Helpdesk Manager to lead our Long Beach helpdesk team and serve as the on-the-ground management presence for our most junior office. This is a player-coach role where you'll directly develop a small team of technicians, including a brand new hire, while staying close enough to the work to lead by example and solve real problems alongside your team. If you're energized by building something from the ground up and thrive in environments where your presence and judgment genuinely matter, this is your role.You'll be joining at a pivotal moment: - A young, technically capable team that needs hands-on leadership and structure - Rapid company growth with a COO mandate to scale IT operations significantly - A greenfield opportunity to establish runbooks, SLAs, and a self-sufficient satellite office - Real career growth potential as the team and company scale together.

Responsibilities:

Team Management

• Directly lead and develop a small Long Beach helpdesk team, including an experienced specialist and a newly onboarded technician
• Build a team culture of accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement
• Conduct regular 1-on-1s, performance reviews, and genuine career development conversations
• Manage workload balancing, on-call rotation, and coverage planning
• Coordinate with the Denver Helpdesk Manager for consistent cross-site service delivery

Operations & Service Delivery

• Own tier 1 SLA compliance and service quality for the Long Beach office
• 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, primarily via video with Denver
• Represent Long Beach 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 can bridge a satellite office to a distributed IT team

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:

• California Base Salary: $110,000-$145,000
• Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, location, and experience.

Additional Requirements:

Work Location: this is a fully onsite role. Candidates must be based in or able to commute to our Long Beach office daily. Work environment: the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.

Physical demands: the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving. This position will be open until it is successfully filled. To submit your application, please follow the directions below. #LI-Onsite