IT Help Desk Manager

Job title: IT Help Desk Manager
Location: On Site - Mobile, AL

Duration: Full-Time

Altera Digital Health Managed Services located at Springhill Medical Center, Mobile AL.

Position: IT Help Desk Manager

The IT Help Desk Manager plays a critical leadership role in ensuring the smooth, day-to-day functionality of an organization’s technology environment. This position oversees the help desk team and serves as a key escalation point for end-users experiencing technical issues, helping to minimize disruptions to business operations and maintain productivity across the organization.

In this role, the manager is responsible for supervising and guiding a team that troubleshoots and resolves a wide range of technical problems, including hardware malfunctions, software issues, system access concerns, and network connectivity challenges. By ensuring the team applies strong diagnostic processes and technical expertise, the manager drives timely and effective issue resolution while maintaining high service standards. Complex or high-impact issues are managed directly or escalated appropriately to senior IT leadership or specialized teams.

A core responsibility of the IT Help Desk Manager is delivering and promoting exceptional customer service. The manager establishes service expectations, monitors performance metrics, and coaches team members to communicate clearly and professionally with users of varying technical skill levels. By fostering a culture of patience, empathy, and a solutions-oriented mindset, the manager ensures a positive user experience and high levels of client satisfaction.

Additionally, this role requires strong collaboration across IT and business units. The manager contributes to departmental objectives by implementing best practices, improving support processes, and ensuring proper documentation of solutions and procedures. They also oversee activities such as system updates, device deployments, and onboarding support, driving continuous improvement in IT service delivery.

Success in this position depends on a combination of technical expertise, leadership capability, strong interpersonal skills, and a strategic, proactive approach to problem-solving. By effectively balancing operational oversight with team development and service excellence, the IT Help Desk Manager ensures reliable technology support and plays a vital role in enhancing organizational efficiency.

1. Service Desk Operations Management

• Lead and manage day-to-day operations of the hospital IT help desk (24/7 support environment).
• Ensure timely resolution of Tier 1 and Tier 2 incidents, service requests, and system issues.
• Monitor ticket queues, service levels, and response times using ITSM tools.
• Establish and enforce service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Coordinate escalation procedures for critical clinical system outages.

2. Clinical Systems Support Oversight

• Oversee support for acute care applications such as EHR/EMR systems (e.g., Epic, Cerner), PACS, lab systems, and medication administration tools.
• Ensure minimal disruption to patient care by prioritizing clinical incidents.
• Collaborate with clinical informatics, nursing, and physician leadership on system issues and enhancements.
• Maintain downtime procedures and ensure readiness for system outages.

3. Team Leadership and Staff Development

• Hire, train, schedule, and supervise help desk analysts and support technicians.
• Provide coaching, performance evaluations, and professional development plans.
• Ensure staff competency in healthcare workflows, HIPAA compliance, and IT best practices.
• Foster a customer-focused, patient-centered service culture.

4. Incident, Problem, and Change Management

• Implement and manage ITIL-based processes for incident, problem, and change management.
• Lead root cause analysis for recurring or high-impact issues.
• Partner with infrastructure, application, and cybersecurity teams on change planning, troubleshooting  and issue resolution.
• Maintain documentation of known errors and solutions (knowledge base).

5. Customer Experience & Stakeholder Communication

• Act as the primary escalation point for hospital staff, clinicians, and leadership.
• Communicate system status updates, outages, and resolutions clearly and promptly.
• Measure and improve end-user satisfaction through surveys and feedback loops.
• Build strong relationships with clinical departments and operational leaders.

6. Compliance, Security, and Risk Management

• Ensure adherence to healthcare regulations, including HIPAA, HITECH, and internal security policies.
• Support audit activities and documentation requirements.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity teams to manage access issues, phishing incidents, and endpoint protection concerns.
• Enforce proper handling of sensitive patient data in all support activities.

7. Performance Monitoring and Reporting

• Track and analyze help desk metrics (e.g., call volume, resolution time, first-call resolution).
• Prepare regular reports for IT leadership and hospital administration.
• Identify trends and recommend process improvements or automation opportunities.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives aligned with hospital operational goals.

8. Technology & Vendor Management

• Evaluate and manage ITSM tools, call center systems, and remote support technologies.
• Coordinate with third-party vendors for system support and issue resolution.
• Participate in system upgrades, implementations, and go-live support planning.
• Ensure proper asset tracking and lifecycle management for end-user devices.

9. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

• Develop and maintain IT help desk support plans for disaster recovery scenarios.
• Ensure readiness to support clinical operations during emergencies and downtime events.
• Participate in hospital-wide emergency preparedness drills.

10. Strategic Planning & Innovation

• Align help desk strategy with hospital IT and operational goals.
• Identify opportunities to implement self-service, AI chatbots, or automation tools.
• Contribute to digital transformation initiatives within the acute care setting.
• Support expansion projects such as new units, facilities, or service lines.

Optional Qualifications / Experience (Preferred)

• Experience in healthcare IT or acute care hospital environment
• Knowledge of EHR systems (Epic, Cerner, Meditech)
• ITIL certification preferred
• Understanding of clinical workflows and hospital operations
• Strong leadership and communication skills

Salary range:

$80,000-$93,000. The salary range reflects the anticipated base salary for this position at the time of posting. Final compensation may vary based on factors including experience, skills, education