Senior Manager, Systems, Network, & MSP Service Desk Operations
Location: Onsite - Pleasanton, California
Reporting to: VP, Platform Engineering
OverviewThe Senior Manager, Systems, Network and MSP Service Desk Operations leads the Service Desk, NOC, and SOC support functions and owns the day-to-day administration, availability, and security posture of the systems and network infrastructure supporting internal operations and managed-services customers. The role combines people management with operational discipline across a distributed U.S. and offshore team.
Key Responsibilities
Service Desk, NOC & SOC Operations- Provide day-to-day operational leadership for Service Desk, NOC, and SOC teams across shifts, time zones, and geographies.
- Own SLA attainment, escalation management, ticket hygiene, backlog control, and engineer time-entry compliance.
- Develop and report the KPI framework and operational scorecards for support and infrastructure performance.
Systems, Cloud & Infrastructure Management- Oversee Windows and Linux server administration, Active Directory, Entra ID, and Microsoft 365 administration.
- Oversee virtualization, cloud IaaS (Azure or AWS), storage, and capacity planning.
- Own patch management, endpoint management, vulnerability remediation, and configuration standards.
- Own backup, replication, restore testing, and disaster-recovery readiness against RPO/RTO commitments.
Network Operations & Monitoring- Oversee LAN, WAN, wireless, VPN, and firewall administration, including routing, switching, and policy governance.
- Own network and system monitoring coverage, alert tuning, capacity trending, and configuration backups.
Operational Governance & Service Management- Own change management for all infrastructure work, including risk assessment, maintenance windows, and rollback planning.
- Lead root-cause analysis for escalated systems, network, and priority incidents and drive recurring-issue remediation.
- Maintain SOPs, runbooks, topology diagrams, IPAM, and asset/configuration inventory (CMDB).
Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration- Manage, coach, and develop support and infrastructure staff, including offshore team leads.
- Partner with Engineering, Security, PMO, and Customer Success on service reviews, onboarding, and operational readiness.
Experience & Qualifications
Required- 7+ years in IT support, managed services, or technical operations, including 3+ years of people management.
- 5+ years of hands-on system administration across Windows Server and/or Linux, Active Directory, Entra ID, and Microsoft 365.
- 3+ years hands-on network administration covering routing, switching, VLANs, wireless, VPN, and firewalls.
- Experience with virtualization (VMware or Hyper-V), backup and disaster recovery, and patch/vulnerability management.
- Experience with managing SLAs, KPIs, ticket quality, and 24/7 or extended-hours operations with distributed or offshore teams.
- Strong grounding in ITSM practice (Incident, Problem, Change, Knowledge, Service Level Management) and change control.
- Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
Preferred- Experience in an MSP, MSSP, hosting, or data-center environment supporting multi-tenant infrastructure.
- Experience with Jira Service Management, ServiceNow, ConnectWise, or comparable ITSM/PSA platforms.
- Experience with firewall platforms (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco), SD-WAN, NAC/802.1X, or zero-trust initiatives.
- Infrastructure automation and scripting experience (PowerShell, Python, Ansible, or Terraform).
- Certifications such as AZ-104, MS-102, CCNA/CCNP, Fortinet NSE, PCNSA/PCNSE, VSP, Network+/Security+, or ITLL 4.
Compensation
- $180,000 - $240,000/year, DOE
Benefits
- Health Coverage - Medical, Dental & Vision
- FSA Health and Dependent Care available
- Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Collaborative, growth-driven culture
