Technical Service Desk Manager - M365, Azure | AU | WFH
Summary
Leads and manages a technical service desk team for an Australian managed services (MSP) client — overseeing L1/L2 engineers, SLAs/KPIs, major incidents, and staying hands-on with complex escalations. Core stack: Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, Intune, Entra ID, Azure, Windows Server, VMware/Hyper-V, and PowerShell automation.
- Service Desk Leadership & Operational Management
- Own the day-to-day operation and performance of the technical service desk.
- Lead and coordinate Level 1, Level 2, and technical support resources.
- Ensure tickets, incidents, requests, and escalations are appropriately prioritised and allocated.
- Monitor workload, queues, aged tickets, and resource capacity.
- Ensure appropriate coverage across business hours, after-hours, and critical support requirements.
- Establish clear ownership and accountability for incidents and customer requests.
- Ensure tickets are progressed proactively and do not remain unattended or unnecessarily delayed.
- Review operational processes and identify opportunities to improve service efficiency.
- Ensure the service desk operates consistently across multiple customer environments.
- Act as the escalation point for complex technical, customer, and operational issues.
- People Leadership & Team Management
- Lead, coach, and develop service desk and technical support engineers.
- Set clear performance expectations, objectives, and individual KRAs.
- Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and development discussions.
- Monitor individual and team performance against SLA, utilisation, ticket quality, customer service, and operational KPIs.
- Identify skills gaps and develop appropriate training and certification plans.
- Provide technical mentoring and guidance to engineers.
- Manage performance issues through structured coaching, feedback, and performance management processes.
- Recognise high performance and create opportunities for team members to grow.
- Build a culture of ownership, accountability, collaboration, and customer focus.
- Ensure engineers understand that they represent the organisation directly when interacting with customers.
- Develop technical capability and succession planning within the service desk team.
- Provide technical leadership for complex L2/L3 incidents and escalations.
- Remain hands-on when required to troubleshoot critical or complex technical issues.
- Review technical escalations and ensure appropriate ownership through to resolution.
- Provide guidance across Microsoft 365, Intune, Entra ID, Azure, Windows Server, networking, virtualisation, backup, and security technologies.
- Ensure technical solutions are appropriately designed, documented, and implemented.
- Review recurring technical issues and identify underlying causes.
- Ensure appropriate escalation to Technical Team Leads, infrastructure, security, vendors, or project teams.
- Support engineers during P1/P2 incidents and major customer-impacting events.
- Ensure technical standards and support procedures are consistently followed.
- Microsoft 365, Intune & Identity
- Provide technical oversight of Microsoft 365 environments.
- Oversee support for Exchange Online, including mail flow, delivery, permissions, and security filtering.
- Provide technical leadership for Microsoft Intune device enrolment, compliance, configuration, and policy management.
- Oversee Microsoft Entra ID identity and access management.
- Ensure appropriate escalation and resolution of authentication, access, and endpoint management issues.
- Support the team in maintaining secure and compliant Microsoft cloud environments.
- Identify opportunities to improve Microsoft 365 and endpoint management standards across customers.
- Infrastructure, Server & Cloud Operations
- Provide technical oversight of Windows Server environments across on-premises and Azure infrastructure.
- Provide guidance on Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and RDS/Terminal Services.
- Oversee Azure and hybrid cloud infrastructure support.
- Ensure infrastructure incidents are investigated and resolved within agreed SLAs.
- Review infrastructure health, performance, and capacity issues.
- Work with technical teams to identify and remediate recurring infrastructure problems.
- Ensure infrastructure changes are appropriately assessed, documented, and communicated.
- Provide technical oversight of VMware and Hyper-V environments.
- Review virtual infrastructure performance, capacity, and availability.
- Ensure proactive identification of infrastructure risks.
- Support technical teams with complex virtualisation and infrastructure incidents.
- Ensure infrastructure maintenance activities are planned and appropriately communicated.
- Provide operational oversight of SOC/SIEM alerts and security-related escalations.
- Ensure security alerts are appropriately triaged, investigated, and escalated.
- Work with SOC and security teams on incident investigation and remediation.
- Review recurring security events and identify opportunities for improved controls.
- Support endpoint, identity, and Microsoft security investigations.
- Ensure security-related incidents are handled according to organisational and customer procedures.
- Maintain awareness of cybersecurity risks affecting managed service customers.
- Ensure appropriate escalation of security incidents to management and specialist security teams.
- Own service desk oversight of backup monitoring and operational health checks.
- Ensure backup failures are identified, investigated, and escalated.
- Ensure restoration testing and disaster recovery activities are appropriately scheduled and tracked.
- Monitor patch compliance across servers, endpoints, and applications.
- Ensure non-compliant systems are identified and remediation is assigned.
- Review recurring patching and maintenance issues.
- Ensure operational maintenance activities are completed within agreed timeframes.
- Escalate material risks to customers and management where required.
- Own the service desk response to major and high-priority incidents.
- Act as the operational escalation point during P1/P2 incidents.
- Ensure appropriate resources are assigned during major incidents.
- Coordinate internal technical teams, vendors, and customers during critical incidents.
- Ensure customers receive timely and accurate communications.
- Maintain clear ownership throughout the incident lifecycle.
- Ensure incidents are properly documented and closed only when appropriate.
- Lead or coordinate post-incident reviews where required.
- Identify recurring incidents and initiate problem management activities.
- Ensure lessons learned are incorporated into processes and knowledge bases.
- Own service desk performance against agreed SLA and KPI targets.
- Monitor response and resolution performance.
- Review ticket ageing, backlog, SLA breaches, reopen rates, and escalation trends.
- Analyse customer complaints and recurring service issues.
- Identify trends and implement corrective actions.
- Produce and review service performance reports.
- Ensure underperformance is addressed promptly.
- Establish measurable team and individual performance expectations.
- Use operational data to improve service delivery and resource planning.
- Act as a senior operational contact for key customers and service-related escalations.
- Build strong relationships with customer IT teams, business stakeholders, and decision-makers.
- Participate in service reviews, customer meetings, and operational governance sessions.
- Explain technical issues and service performance clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Manage customer expectations during incidents, projects, and service changes.
- Identify customer concerns and ensure appropriate actions are tracked to completion.
- Support customer onboarding, transition, and service improvement activities.
- Identify opportunities to improve customer experience and service value.
- Ensure customer commitments are communicated internally and delivered.
- Coordinate with technology vendors and third-party service providers.
- Manage technical escalations with vendors where required.
- Ensure vendor tickets are actively monitored and progressed.
- Challenge vendor delays and ensure appropriate escalation.
- Coordinate vendor activities during major incidents and service changes.
- Maintain awareness of vendor support processes, contracts, and escalation paths.
- Drive continuous improvement across service desk processes and technical operations.
- Identify opportunities to reduce recurring incidents and manual workload.
- Promote automation using PowerShell and available management platforms.
- Identify opportunities to improve monitoring, alerting, and proactive remediation.
- Review recurring ticket categories and develop preventative solutions.
- Improve knowledge management and technical documentation.
- Establish and maintain standard operating procedures.
- Work with technical teams to improve service consistency across customers.
- Promote a proactive rather than reactive service delivery culture.
- Ensure technical documentation is accurate, current, and accessible.
- Ensure knowledge base articles are created for recurring incidents and common technical issues.
- Establish documentation standards across the service desk.
- Ensure customer-specific documentation is maintained appropriately.
- Review technical procedures and update them following major changes or incidents.
- Encourage engineers to contribute to knowledge sharing.
- Provide technical leadership during new customer onboarding and service transitions.
- Review customer technical information, documentation, and support requirements.
- Ensure service desk teams have appropriate access, documentation, and knowledge before go-live.
- Identify technical risks and gaps during onboarding.
- Coordinate with project, infrastructure, security, and account management teams.
- Ensure handover from project/implementation teams into managed services is complete and documented.
- Establish appropriate support procedures and escalation paths for new customers.
- Monitor service desk workload and resource utilisation.
- Forecast resource requirements based on customer growth and ticket volumes.
- Allocate technical resources according to priority, capability, and customer requirements.
- Identify capacity constraints and recommend additional resources where required.
- Support recruitment and technical assessment of service desk personnel.
- Participate in workforce planning and roster management.
- Ensure appropriate technical coverage for critical customers and services.
- The Technical Service Desk Manager is expected to maintain strong technical capability and be able to understand, troubleshoot, and provide leadership across:
- End-User Computing: Windows desktop environments, hardware and software troubleshooting, endpoint configuration and management, user onboarding and offboarding, remote support technologies.
- Microsoft 365 & Identity: Microsoft 365 administration, Exchange Online, mail flow and email security, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, endpoint compliance and policies, Microsoft security technologies.
- Server & Infrastructure: Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, RDS/Terminal Services, file and print services, server monitoring and troubleshooting.
- Cloud & Virtualisation: Microsoft Azure, hybrid cloud environments, VMware, Hyper-V, virtual machines, storage and infrastructure performance.
- Security: SOC/SIEM alert monitoring and escalation, endpoint security, identity security, Microsoft security controls, security incident investigation, vulnerability and remediation processes.
- Backup, Patch & DR: Backup monitoring and verification, backup restoration testing, disaster recovery, server and endpoint patching, patch compliance, operational health checks.
- Automation & Monitoring: PowerShell scripting, RMM/monitoring platforms, proactive alerting, automation of repetitive service desk activities, reporting and operational dashboards.
- Note: The Manager does not need to be the deepest technical specialist in every technology; however, they must possess sufficient technical depth to challenge, guide, troubleshoot, and make informed operational decisions.
- Service desk SLA and KPI performance
- Customer satisfaction and service quality
- Reduction in aged and recurring tickets
- Effective incident and escalation management
- Successful management of P1/P2 incidents
- Team performance, development, and capability
- Technical quality and adherence to standards
- Effective customer communication and governance
- Backup and patch compliance
- Proactive monitoring and remediation
- Security alert and incident management
- Knowledge base and technical documentation quality
- Automation and reduction of manual processes
- Successful customer onboarding and service transitions
- Vendor performance and escalation management
- Continuous service improvement
- Resource utilisation and capacity management
Requirements
- Strong technical background in an MSP or managed services environment.
- Strong Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online experience.
- Strong understanding of Microsoft Intune and Entra ID.
- Strong Windows Server and Active Directory knowledge.
- Understanding of DNS, DHCP, Group Policy, and RDS.
- Experience with Azure and hybrid cloud environments.
- Experience with VMware and/or Hyper-V.
- Understanding of backup, patching, and disaster recovery.
- Exposure to SOC/SIEM and security operations.
- Strong troubleshooting and technical escalation capability.
- Understanding of monitoring/RMM platforms.
- PowerShell and automation experience desirable.
- Strong understanding of ITIL and service management principles.
- Experience managing SLAs, KPIs, and service performance.
- Experience with incident, problem, and change management.
- Strong understanding of service desk processes and workflows.
- Experience managing customer escalations.
- Ability to analyse service data and identify trends.
- Experience developing and improving operational processes.
- Proven people leadership and team management experience.
- Strong coaching and mentoring capability.
- Ability to set expectations and hold people accountable.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Strong customer service mindset.
- Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong decision-making and problem-solving capability.
- Ability to remain calm and structured during major incidents.
- Strong commercial and operational awareness.
- High level of organisation and attention to detail.
- Significant experience in IT service desk, technical support, or managed services environments.
- Previous experience leading or managing technical support teams.
- Experience managing multiple customers and technical environments.
- Experience handling customer escalations and major incidents.
- Experience with SLA/KPI management and service reporting.
- Experience working across infrastructure, cloud, endpoint, and security technologies.
- Experience in a fast-paced MSP or technology services environment preferred.
- ITIL Foundation or higher
- Microsoft certifications – Azure, Microsoft 365, Intune, or Security
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate
- CompTIA Security+, Network+, or equivalent
- Relevant vendor or cybersecurity certifications
- Strong ownership and accountability mindset.
- Technically credible and comfortable leading technical conversations.
- Customer-focused and commercially aware.
- Confident people leader who can coach, challenge, and support the team.
- Calm and structured during high-pressure situations.
- Proactive rather than reactive.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Highly organised with excellent follow-through.
- Comfortable making decisions and taking responsibility for outcomes.
- Strong communicator who can engage equally with engineers, customers, and senior anagement.
- Committed to continuous learning and improvement.
- Leads by example and creates a culture of ownership, accountability, and customer care.
Benefits
- HMO, Dental, and Life Insurance for you and one free dependent from day one (with the option to enroll additional dependents)
- Paid Leaves: Birthday, Vacation, Medical, and Maternity (up to 6 Vacation Leaves are convertible to cash on your anniversary)
- Employee Engagement Activities: Year-End Party, Family Day, Team Building, and more!
Skills
- Active Directory
- Authentication
- Automation
- Azure
- Cloud
- Corrective Action
- Customer Onboarding
- Cybersecurity
- DHCP
- DNS
- Entra ID
- Hyper-V
- IAM
- Incident Investigation
- Intune
- ITIL
- Microsoft Exchange
- Networking
- Performance Management
- PowerShell
- RDS
- Service Desk
- SIEM
- Stakeholder Management
- Succession Planning
- Virtualization
- VMware
- Windows Server