Technical Support Manager, Stores IT 2Nd Level

The Stores Second Level Team has a solid understanding of the end to end Store Systems architecture and data flows.  They are consultants to many groups throughout IT and serve as the 2nd Level escalation team to Stores IT Operations.  The Stores Second Level Manager’s role is to oversee the Stores Second Level Team and ensure technical issues are addressed and resolved.  This includes the responsibility of managing team performance, procedures, analysis of technical issues, and delivering customer satisfaction.  This role is also responsible for monitoring, tracking and coordination of vendor delivered services for on-site maintenance for in store hardware and traffic systems. 

Our team members are not just innovators in the technology space; our success is measured by our ability to drive operational and top-line improvement for our brands.  If you thrive in a solutions oriented environment, then consider joining our team!

• Manage a team of support analysts that provides 24x7 support for multiple store systems; as well as providing direction and prioritization of work.
• Manage 2nd Level resources for optimal performance.  This will consist of resource management for incoming customer inquiries, projects, administrative work and time allotted for holidays and paid/unpaid time off.
• Partner closely with 1st Level to improve technical knowledge, quality issue management, and quality delivery of service to customers.
• Participate in the development of service level agreements and ongoing management of service level compliance. 
• Participate and assist in driving the knowledge transition and management process. 
• Assist in the professional and technical development of team leaders enabling them to set technical goals, monitor, mentor, coach and assist team members to deliver quality support.
• Drive escalated customer and vendor issues.
• Partner with IT business partners and project teams to prepare the support team for new product/service releases.
• Develop and enhance cooperative interdepartmental and vendor relationships and communications.
• Develop a performance measurements framework and facilitate feedback system to team members on issues such as customer service, communication, and technical skills, in order to enhance the quality of support delivered.
• Oversee methodical troubleshooting, diagnostics, research, trending analysis, documentation, and identification of root cause.
• Oversee trend Analysis for Proactive Problem Management and present information to Technical and Business teams
• Implement methodologies to improve first call resolution, manage customer perceptions, and build strong internal relationships
• Manage vendors for break fix service and auditing of monthly invoices.
• Establish, maintain and continuously improve standardized operating processes and procedures.
• Maintain current knowledge of industry trends and potential impact on the support business.
• Maintain a high level of employee morale within the team. 
• Develop a customer care philosophy that ensures customer satisfaction
• Provide ownership and discipline to the change control process
• This position requires the Manager to be part of an on-call rotation and travel to the Bay Area – approximately 10%.

• Bachelor Degree in a technical field or equivalent work experience.
• At least 5 years of experience in a technical helpdesk environment.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in managing/leading others.
• 3 years of experience in supporting large scale enterprise applications.
• Strong leadership and excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to lead and influence technical support engineers.
• Strong organizational skills with an ability to manage and prioritize concurrent technical support demands.
• Ability to influence technical discussions and decisions.
• Problem-solving skills to address complex technical problems and develop creative and practical recommendations with a keen attention to detail.
• Solid understanding of commercial software engineering practices and tools.
• Extensive experience in helpdesk management systems and reporting.
• Experience of Oracle and SQL Databases.
• Experience in Linux systems and script development.
• An understanding of networking and network-based software applications.
• Previous experience working within ITIL or Lean Six Sigma best practice guidelines.
• Full lifecycle software development experience. Solid knowledge of industry standards and techniques in development and testing
• Experience in working with Subversion version control and defect management systems.
• Working knowledge of object-oriented analysis and design.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Self motivated; able to work with only moderate supervision

Application level knowledge of;

• Operating systems: UNIX, Solaris, Enterprise Red hat Linux, Windows 98, 2000 & XP.
• Company Tools: Putty, TOAD, MQJ Explorer, Remote Desktop and WinSCP.
• Programming languages: C, C++, Java, HTML, XML.
• Scripting languages: Bash and Pearl
• Web Technologies: Servlets, JSPs, EJBs, JDBC.
• App Servers:  IBM Web Sphere 5.1/6.0, Computer Associates Espresso 4.2.2/4.4.1
• Web Servers: Apache, IBM Http and Jakarta Tomcat
• Software Packages: MS Office
• Network Protocols: TCP/IP, UDP, DNS