Job Title: IT Support Specialist, Tier I
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt; Administrative
Reports to: IT Help Desk Director
Job Overview
This role has three primary responsibilities:
(1) Act as the primary staff person covering help desk shifts and providing timely IT support for Brave North Technology LLC’s (“Brave North”) clients;
(2) Perform routine update/maintenance for clients’ hardware and software;
(3) Assist with technology requests, process improvements, and other administrative, documentation, and duties as requested by clients and/or internal team members, and execute and complete entire or selected/assigned portions of tasks or projects.
The scope of technology service is broad. Brave North supports internet, networking, client/desktop computers, printers, scanners, mobile devices, websites, email, and other IT-related devices and technology resources. Customer service skills are critically important: emotional intelligence, patience, and compassion are vital to success in this role. This position will know they have been successful in this position when clients report their issues were resolved efficiently, leaving those being helped feeling valued and listened to.
Essential Functions
- Be actively engaged and fully available for assigned intake help desk shifts, including ensuring no personal appointments, other work items, or other distractions interfere with response time to clients.
- When assigned a help desk shift, ensure availability for a response as needed and directed based on the assigned help desk shift role and directed by the IT Help Desk Director.
- Provide timely responses to support requests or system monitor alerts, which come in via multiple methods, including by phone, email, form, calendar, and SMS. This includes:
- respond to all incoming requests immediately or within 30 minutes
- engage client with a professional, calm, patient, empathetic, and confident manner
- assess severity/impact level, triage and prioritize support requests accordingly
- proactively follow up with clients to verify that issues have been addressed to their liking
- escalate issues to technical lead as needed
- follow direction as given by the IT Help Desk Director
- Documentation of support performed immediately or during the same shift of work, including:
- significant IT information in the client’s IT-information database or labor log
- a narrative description of work that was performed
- Provide timely on-site technical support at a client’s office or site as needed and scheduled.
- Act as primary team member performing routine maintenance for Managed Service clients, including documenting when actions are performed and communicating with clients updates, challenges in performing maintenance, and summaries to the lead technician.
- Perform project work as assigned, including performing project tasks as requested by supervisor.
- Other duties as assigned.
Required Technical Tasks
- Use remote desktop connection to resolve IT issues.
- Install, troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve problems for a wide variety of hardware and software for technological equipment such as (Windows and Mac) desktops and laptops, printers/scanners, smartphones, tablets, and A/V equipment.
- Maintain, repair, and update/upgrade computer hardware and software (and associated licensing) as needed for clients.
- Computer setups: generate custom-tailored workstation purchase recommendations for clients, perform basic OS setup and applications installation, configure security settings, and migrate user data as needed.
- Diagnose and remove virus/malware for Windows and Mac computers.
- Understand and resolve a wide range of email sending/receiving problems.
- Understand and resolve a wide variety of network connectivity issues.
- Understand and contribute to detailed technical documentation.
- Adapt to and work with unorthodox or unusual computer and networking configurations.
- Assist with IT projects that often include migration from local server to cloud-based service.
- Adaptively learn and navigate new and unfamiliar applications for which there may be little pre-existing knowledge or information.
- Think creatively and “out of the box” in order to solve unique problems that may be totally unfamiliar and have no clearly documented solution available.
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
- Working knowledge and foundational understanding of platforms: Windows (Desktop and Server), Mac OS, iOS, Android.
- Functional understanding and knowledge of networking, including a basic understanding of networking and internet connectivity, including the functions of modems, routers, switches, and wifi routers/access points.
- Functional understanding and knowledge of cloud computing, including a basic understanding of cloud applications such as Google Apps, Office 365, online backup/recovery.
- An understanding of web/internet systems, including fluency with major web browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
- Power-user familiarity with office productivity tools such as MS Office and Google Docs.
- An understanding of other in-office technology, including basic understanding and ability to troubleshoot sundry technology devices such as a projector/TV display, Apple TV, phones/VoIP, faxes, UPS (battery backup), or other technology that may require you to learn on-the-fly.
Position Requirements
- Required to be available to take on assigned help desk shifts which are typically 8-hour assignments.
- Must be fully available and reachable within 15-minutes by mobile phone, email, text, and have reliable and secure internet access for on-call support during off-hours (5:00 pm - 7:59 am) on weekdays that the Help Desk is open, when scheduled for an on-call shift.
- Must be fully available and reachable within 15-minutes by mobile phone, email, text, and have reliable and secure internet access for on-call emergency support on weekends (Friday, 5:00 pm to Monday, 7:59 am) and holidays, when scheduled.
- Required to have a home office space that is secure and can support duties of the job and reflect positively upon the professionalism of the company.
- Required to have a driver's license and a reliable vehicle or regular access to a vehicle to be used for client onsite visits.
- Must have a workable home office environment with ability to have private phone conversations, display confidential information on a computer screen without other people being able to view information, and a secure home internet connection that is not accessible to others.
- Must be able to maintain a high degree of professionalism and keep client information confidential at all times.
Other Information
- The position will receive calls, emails, and texts from a variety of clients representing many different industries and business categories. Must be able to pivot quickly between issues, questions, and conversations.
- Must have the ability to remain calm and reassuring when receiving a help desk request where the client may be stressed, frustrated, or angry. Brave North does not tolerate rude or inappropriate language, tone, and verbal abuse from employees or clients.
- Must have the ability to determine when to elevate support requests based on the nuanced description provided by the client or based on the leadership level of the user making the request.
Physical Requirements and Working Environment
Work Rating
Light-to-moderate Work: Exerting 16 to 50 pounds of force occasionally and/or 10 to 12 pounds of force frequently, and/or greater than negligible up to 5-6 pounds of force constantly to move objects. (Constantly: activity or condition exists 2/3 or more of the time) to move objects. Physical demand requirements are in excess of those for sedentary work. Even though the weight lifted may be only a negligible amount, a job should be rated Light Work: (1) When it requires walking or standing to a significant degree; or (2) when it requires sitting most of the time, but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; and/or (3) when the job requires working at a production rate pace entailing the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of those materials is negligible.
Tools Used
No specialized tools, other than general office equipment.
Work Environment
Much of the day-to-day work is done in an office setting, and typically a home office environment. Onsite client visits may take place indoors or outdoors, with variable terrain. Will be working with a variety of people. Must be able to transport technical equipment needed for onsite client visits to and from client sites as well as pick up technical materials for hardware equipment.
OCCASIONAL
1 to 100 reps/8 hrs
25 min-2 ½ hours
Standing, Lifting (up to 50 pounds), Bending, Kneeling, Climbing, Pushing, Pulling, Driving, Twisting, Carrying, Reaching
CONSTANT
301-500 reps/8 hrs
5+ hours
Talking/Speaking, Hearing, Seeing, Sitting, Handling, Typing
Driving
This position has been designated as Mandatory Driving: Administrative.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $23.00 - $29.00 per hour
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Health savings account
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Professional development assistance
Application Question(s):
- Do you currently reside full-time within 25 miles of Minneapolis, Minnesota?
Experience:
- MSP (Managed Service Provider): 1 year (Preferred)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Saint Paul, MN 55113
