Job Title IT Technical Specialist, Tier 2
FLSA Status Exempt; Administrative
Reports to IT Help Desk Director
Job Overview
This role has three primary responsibilities:
(1) Act as a primary staff person covering 2nd-tier help desk shifts and providing timely IT support for Brave North Technology LLC’s (“Brave North”) clients;
(2) Perform advanced routine update/maintenance for clients’ hardware and software;
(3) Assist with advanced or complicated 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 critically important. This position will know they have been successful in this position when clients report their issues were resolved efficiently, and they feel valued and listened to.
Essential Functions
- Be actively engaged and fully available for assigned 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 Service Delivery 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 Service Delivery 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.
- Educate and inform other technicians regarding advanced solutions as needed.
- Identify and develop system and operational improvements by investigating and implementing new technical tools, procedures, and automation tools.
- Encourage, support, and educate other IT Support Specialists in growing their skills and abilities.
- Make an effort to only take on assigned tickets and those beyond the skillset or knowledge of other IT Support Specialists while providing training and learning opportunities for colleagues.
- Act as a resource for 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 the 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, networking equipment/infrastructure (modems, routers, switches, access points), 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.
- Analyze and recover user account breaches, such as email phishing attacks and ransomware attacks, including diligent client communication, and detailed documentation regarding recovery steps.
- Understand and resolve a wide range of email sending/receiving problems.
- Understand and resolve a wide variety of network connectivity issues, including advanced issues involving DHCP, VLAN, DNS, or VPN issues.
- Understand and consistently and reliably 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 OSes), Mac OS, iOS, Android.
- Functional understanding and hands-on experience of networking, including a basic understanding of networking and internet connectivity, including the functions of modems, routers, switches, and Wi-Fi routers/access points.
- Functional understanding of public web domains, DNS records, and DNS resolution.
- Functional understanding 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 sundry technologies.
- Willingness and ability to learn on the fly unfamiliar systems never encountered before, such as databases or security appliances installed by other vendors that we have to provide “light” support for.
- Willingness and ability to fluently communicate actions and learnings to other parties, such as Tier 1 or Tier 3 techs, sharing knowledge regarding the nature of a novel problem, what work was done, the solution implemented, and lessons learned.
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, and when assigned an on-call weekend 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 the information, and a home internet connection that is properly secured.
- 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 Standing, Lifting (up to 50 pounds), Bending, Kneeling, Climbing, Pushing,
1 to 100 reps/8 hrs Pulling, Driving, Twisting, Carrying, Reaching
25 min-2 ½ hours
CONSTANT Talking/Speaking, Hearing, Seeing, Sitting, Handling, Typing
301-500 reps/8 hrs
5+ hours
Driving This position has been designated as Mandatory Driving: Administrative.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $60,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Flexible schedule
- Health savings account
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Professional development assistance
Application Question(s):
- Do you have any industry relevant IT certifications? (i.e. CompTia, Microsoft, Cisco, etc)
Experience:
- MSP (Managed Service Provider): 1 year (Preferred)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Saint Paul, MN 55113
