Position Summary
The Manager of Help Desk and User Experience leads the firm’s front-line technology support function and is responsible for delivering a responsive, consistent, secure, and user-centered technology experience for attorneys, paralegals, professional staff, and firm leadership. This role combines traditional service desk leadership with a modern focus on user experience, technology adoption, knowledge management, process improvement, and data-driven service delivery.
The manager ensures that support services are timely, professional, and aligned with the needs of a law firm environment, where client service, confidentiality, mobility, document production, and deadline sensitivity are critical. The manager works closely with the Legal Applications and Practice Technology Analyst to ensure that the Help Desk effectively supports the firm’s legal and business applications, identifies recurring workflow issues, escalates application-related matters appropriately, and helps legal teams adopt technology that improves efficiency and client service. Together, these roles help connect front-line support activity with broader practice technology needs, user education, application improvement, and solution evaluation.
Responsibilities
Help Desk Operations and Service Delivery
- Oversee the firm’s daily Help Desk operations and service delivery, ensuring timely and effective ticket intake, triage, prioritization, escalation, follow-up, and resolution.
- Establish, monitor, and improve service levels, response times, resolution times, escalation procedures, and communication standards.
- Ensure high-quality support for firm technologies, including Microsoft 365, Windows, laptops, mobile devices, MFDs, remote access, collaboration tools, document management system, time and billing systems, litigation support tools, conference room, hybrid meeting, and collaboration technologies, and other legal-specific applications.
- Maintain a strong focus on attorney and client service needs, particularly for time-sensitive matters, court deadlines, closings, trials, hearings, travel, and after-hours support requirements.
- Manage the relationship with the firm’s third-party after-hours Help Desk vendor, ensuring the vendor follows firm standards for responsiveness, professionalism, technical accuracy, documentation, escalation, confidentiality, and user communication.
- Monitor vendor performance, review ticket quality and trends, address service issues, and ensure attorneys and professional staff receive a consistent support experience regardless of whether assistance is provided by internal Help Desk staff or the after-hours vendor.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex, sensitive, or high-priority technology issues.
- Perform other related duties as assigned to support the goals and operations of the Information Technology department and the firm.
Coordination with Legal Applications and Practice Technology
- Work closely with the Legal Applications and Practice Technology Analyst to ensure application-related issues are properly identified, documented, escalated, and resolved.
- Partner with the analyst to identify recurring tickets or support trends that may indicate application problems, training gaps, workflow inefficiencies, or opportunities for technology improvement.
- Coordinate support for legal and business applications, including document management, Microsoft 365 integrations, PDF and document production tools, time entry, billing, financial systems, litigation support tools, and other practice-specific technologies.
- Ensure the Help Desk has appropriate knowledge, documentation, and escalation procedures for commonly reported legal application issues.
- Collaborate with the Legal Applications and Practice Technology Analyst on application rollouts, pilot programs, testing, user communications, adoption planning, and post-implementation support.
- Provide front-line feedback to help evaluate whether existing tools are meeting user needs or whether legal teams may need improved workflows, additional training, configuration changes, or new technology solutions.
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Bachelor’s degree in information technology, business, communications, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, certifications, and experience.
- Minimum of 5 to 7 years of progressive IT support, service desk, desktop support, or user technology experience.
- Minimum of 3 years of supervisory, team lead, or service desk management experience.
- Experience supporting users in professional services, legal, financial, consulting, or similar deadline-driven environment.
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365, Windows endpoints, mobile devices, remote access tools, endpoint management, collaboration platforms, MFDs, conferencing tools, and common business applications.
- Experience with ticketing systems, service-level expectations, knowledge management, escalation processes, and IT support metrics.
- Ability to coordinate effectively with application specialists, security teams, infrastructure teams, vendors, trainers, and business stakeholders.
- Excellent communication, judgment, prioritization, documentation, and customer service skills.
- Ability to support high-performing professionals with urgency, discretion, patience, and professionalism.
- Familiarity with legal technology platforms such as iManage, SurePoint Financial Enterprise, Litera, Adobe Acrobat, e-discovery platforms, docketing tools, document comparison tools, or similar systems preferred.
- Familiarity with cybersecurity best practices, phishing defense, MFA, endpoint compliance, secure document handling, and confidential client information.
To apply, please submit your cover letter and resume to Maria Gaetani at mgaetani@pierceatwood.com.
The target salary range for this position varies by location and is commensurate with relevant experience: Portland $95,000-$130,000.