ITSM & ServiceNow Manager

A leading New York City Education Organization is seeking an experienced ITSM & ServiceNow Manager to own and mature their ServiceNow platform, lead IT Service Management (ITSM) excellence, and manage the Helpdesk function. This role blends hands-on ServiceNow platform ownership with ITSM process leadership and people management. The ideal candidate is a technical, service-oriented leader who is energized by building scalable service operations, modernizing workflows, and delivering high-quality support across a large, distributed organization.

• **This is a long-term contract opportunity with a potential to convert to a permanent role, with an in-office requirement three days per week in Downtown Manhattan***

About the Opportunity

The Technology Team at our client is responsible for delivering secure, reliable, and user-friendly technology solutions that support teaching, learning, and operations. Reporting into Technology leadership, the ITSM & ServiceNow Manager will play a critical role in elevating service quality, strengthening incident, request, problem, and change management processes, and advancing an AI-enabled ServiceNow roadmap across IT and HR. This is a highly visible opportunity to shape service delivery, influence cross-functional partners, and lead a team supporting thousands of end users across a growing network.

Responsibilities

ServiceNow Platform Ownership & Delivery

• Own the ServiceNow platform, including ITSM and HRSD modules, ensuring configuration quality, roadmap execution, and ongoing optimization.
• Lead remediation of existing ServiceNow issues such as workflow defects, data inconsistencies, SLA logic, and catalog or knowledge base maintenance.
• Manage environment strategy (DEV/UAT/PROD), release management, testing cycles, and go/no-go decisions.
• Define and enforce platform governance, including intake processes, standards, documentation, data quality, privacy, and change approvals.
• Partner with Systems, Networking, Security, and HR teams to implement and maintain integrations (e.g., Okta, Google Workspace, endpoint management, HRIS, identity lifecycle, monitoring tools).
• Maintain dashboards, KPIs, audit trails, and SLA reporting for Technology leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

IT Service Management Leadership

• Own and mature ITSM processes including Incident, Request, Problem, Change, and Knowledge Management.
• Establish, refine, and enforce SLAs, OLAs, routing rules, escalation models, and operational runbooks.
• Strengthen Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) practices by improving structure, retiring duplicates, enabling agent reuse, and driving self-service quality.
• Ensure alignment with ITIL v4 principles and process governance across Technology and HR partners.
• Produce regular reporting on service health, trends, root causes, and continuous improvement opportunities.

Helpdesk Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, coach, and develop the Helpdesk team to ensure consistent, high-quality support across schools and central offices.
• Oversee ticket queues, workload balancing, ticket quality, and aging to maintain operational excellence.
• Implement proactive support practices, including problem management, trend analysis, and targeted agent training.
• Collaborate with Infrastructure, Security, and Systems teams on escalations, major incidents, and cross-functional support strategies.
• Foster a culture of customer service, accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with HR, School Operations, and Academic teams to enhance end-user experience through improved workflows, communication, and self-service capabilities.
• Work closely with Systems and Security teams on identity, access, and automation initiatives.
• Serve as a key stakeholder for new site or school openings, ensuring service readiness across workflows, catalogs, SLAs, and support processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or equivalent professional experience.
• 3+ years of experience managing a Helpdesk or IT support organization at scale (multi-site, 1,000+ users).
• 3+ years of hands-on ServiceNow experience, including ITSM; experience with HRSD, ITOM, or ITAM is a plus.
• Strong understanding of ITIL v4 and ITSM best practices; relevant certifications are a plus.
• Demonstrated success implementing or maturing ITSM processes in a complex organization.
• Experience managing and improving service portals and knowledge bases.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and drive process improvements.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience supporting a Mac/iOS-heavy environment is a plus.

Desired Skills

• Hands-on technical leadership style with deep comfort configuring ServiceNow, troubleshooting issues, analyzing data, and working directly with tickets and ITSM workflows.
• Strong service mindset, demonstrating calm, clarity, and decisiveness in high-volume or high-impact situations.
• Operational thinker who can translate business needs into effective technical and process solutions.
• Enthusiasm for building, fixing, improving, and innovating using modern service management and AI-enabled capabilities.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills rooted in data analysis and root-cause investigation.
• Proven people leader with a track record of developing teams and improving performance.
• Passion for supporting mission-driven organizations through operational and service excellence.