IT Support Services Lead (Onsite Seal Beach or San Francisco CA)

About WestEd

As a community of over 1,400 researchers, practitioners, consultants, and administrative professionals from all backgrounds and life experiences, we are committed to making a qualitative difference in the lives of youth, children, and adults. We conduct and apply research, develop evidence-based solutions, and provide consulting services across the country in both rural and urban communities to improve equitable outcomes for individuals from infancy through adulthood. Serving as trusted partners in the areas of education, health, and justice, our teams enhance capacity within communities and school districts to prioritize impact - asking the right questions, customizing methodologies, developing relevant tools, and implementing best practices specific to a diverse range of stakeholder needs.

WestEd supports individual initiative, excellence, and hard work of all individuals in our hiring and work practices. WestEd complies with all applicable federal and state anti-discrimination laws, as well as OFCCP requirements. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, or status as a protected veteran.

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING THE WORK LOCATION OF THIS POSITION-Although WestEd provides the option of working at one of its facilities for employees, many roles allow employees to choose to work remotely for their own convenience. The decision to allow remote work at the employee's convenience is based on the requirements of the position or project in question.

Content Area:

The Support Services Lead provides day-to-day coordination, guidance, and advanced technical support for WestEd's IT Support Services team. This role serves as the senior individual contributor responsible for ensuring high-quality support delivery across hardware, software, onboarding/offboarding, knowledge management, and user communications. The Support Services Lead works closely with IT leadership, Enterprise Architecture, and other business units to optimize support processes, improve user experience, and ensure IT services are delivered in alignment with WestEd's organizational mission and Enterprise Architecture principles.

What We're Looking For:

Service Delivery & User Support

• Provide advanced hands-on technical support and serve as the primary escalation point for complex issues.
• Coordinate daily support operations, including ticket monitoring (and triage when appropriate), incident response, and resolution tracking.
• Ensure consistent, timely, and customer-centric service delivery to staff across the organization.
• Maintain functionality and user friendliness of onsite conference rooms, bookable spaces, and physical infrastructure.
• Support the Asset Management team with device lifecycle management, including post deployment setups, ongoing hardware support, and device reclamation.

Process Optimization & Knowledge Management

• Develop, maintain, and optimize support processes, knowledge bases, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Work with internal departments to contribute to onboarding and offboarding processes, ensuring smooth IT transitions for employees.
• Identify opportunities for process improvement, automation, and efficiency gains within Support Services.

Collaboration & Communication

• Demonstrate strong communication skills and the ability to communicate at all levels.
• Act as a liaison between Support Services staff and other IT functions (Infrastructure, Data & BI, Enterprise Architecture, etc.).
• Collaborate with the Data Protection Office, HR, and Finance on access, compliance, lifecycle matters, KPIs, and other high priority initiatives.
• Work with internal and agency-wide communications teams to draft and distribute IT support communications, announcements, and service updates to staff.

Reporting & Growth

• Track and analyze support metrics (e.g., ticket volumes, resolution times, user satisfaction) to identify trends and actively solicit feedback based on the results.
• Provide input into governance discussions and reporting, with opportunity to expand responsibilities in this area.
• Assist the Support & EA Manager in special projects and cross-departmental initiatives.
• Iterate on and develop new KPIs to track current work, trends, unrepresented work, and any additional meaningful metrics.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in IT, Computer Science or related field or equivalent experience.
• 2-5 years of progressively responsible experience in IT support or service desk roles.
• Experience working with both onsite and remote employees.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across Windows and Microsoft 365 environments.
• Experience coordinating IT support operations and/or mentoring junior staff.
• Demonstrated ability to optimize processes, document procedures, and manage knowledge bases.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with a customer-centric mindset.
• Ability to work collaboratively across multiple teams while independently managing priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• ITIL Foundation or similar service management certification.
• Experience supporting hybrid enterprise environments (e.g., Windows, limited Macs, mobile device management).
• Exposure to (or high level understanding of) compliance frameworks (FERPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, etc.).
• Familiarity with enterprise ticketing platforms (e.g., TeamDynamix, ServiceNow, or similar).
• Prior experience in an educational, nonprofit, or research organization.

Work Environment

• Hybrid/remote with required 4 days onsite in either our Seal Beach or San Francisco offices.
• Standard office hours with occasional after-hours support for critical incidents or projects.
• Up to 20% travel.
• Fast-paced, collaborative IT team environment with opportunities for professional growth.

*Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Successful candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

WestEd conducts a criminal background check and education verification for all new hires. Any offers of employment will be contingent on receiving a clear background check in accordance with applicable law.

SALARY AND BENEFITS:
The full salary range for this position, WestEd level (10), is $90,900 to $142,000, but WestEd does not typically hire at or near the top of the salary range. The typical hiring range for this role is $90,900 to $113,600. The actual offer considers multiple factors, including but not limited to education, experience, internal equity, and other organizational needs.

In addition to the base salary, benefits include:

* 15% contribution toward retirement effective day 1 of employment
* Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts
* All health/welfare benefits are effective the first of the month following the hire date
* PTO: 3 weeks' vacation (increases to 4 weeks beginning the 4th year of employment), paid holidays, and 12 days paid sick leave per year
* Life Insurance: value of 3x gross salary
* Opportunities for annual merit-based performance increases + annual incentives
* Professional development opportunities & mentorship program
For more details about our benefits, go to:
WestEd is a Drug Free Employer and maintains a drug-free workplace. #LI-CA #Circa-CA

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)