Helpdesk Manager: Microsoft 365, Azure & Zoho CRM in Northampton

We are looking for an experienced and proactive Helpdesk Manager to lead our internal IT helpdesk function and ensure the smooth day‑to‑day operation of business‑critical systems across Portman Finance Group. This role will be responsible for managing the helpdesk team, overseeing support tickets, implementing helpdesk best practices, maintaining high standards across user support, incident management, documentation, and service delivery, and personally handling support tickets where required, including escalations and during busy periods. The Helpdesk Manager will support and oversee key platforms including Microsoft 365, Azure infrastructure, Azure AD/Entra ID, Intune, Exchange Online, CRM SaaS platforms including Zoho CRM, and other cloud‑based business systems. The role will also involve working closely with the wider technical team, software developers, solution architects, external IT partners, and business stakeholders to ensure issues are resolved efficiently and improvements are implemented effectively. This is a hands‑on leadership role suited to someone with strong technical knowledge, excellent communication skills, and proven experience managing helpdesk staff and introducing best practice processes, policies, and standards.

Responsibilities

• Manage the day‑to‑day operation of the IT helpdesk, ensuring tickets are triaged, prioritised, assigned, and resolved within agreed service levels.
• Lead, support, and develop helpdesk staff, including workload management, coaching, performance monitoring, and escalation support.
• Personally handle helpdesk tickets when required, including escalated tickets, complex issues, urgent business‑impacting incidents, and during busy periods.
• Act as a senior escalation point for technical issues, ensuring timely resolution and clear communication with users and stakeholders.
• Implement and maintain helpdesk best practices, processes, policies, documentation standards, and service management procedures.
• Oversee support across Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, Azure AD / Entra ID, Azure infrastructure, Azure VPN, Intune, and endpoint management.
• Manage user onboarding, off‑boarding, account access, permissions, device configuration, and security‑related administration.
• Provide oversight and support for CRM SaaS platforms, primarily Zoho CRM, including support tickets, user queries, workflows, dashboards, permissions, and system administration.
• Ensure helpdesk tickets are accurately documented, updated, and resolved in line with internal expectations.
• Maintain and improve IT policies, support procedures, knowledge base articles, and internal documentation.
• Support the implementation of IT security, access control, device management, and compliance best practices.
• Produce regular reporting on helpdesk performance, ticket volumes, resolution times, recurring issues, and service improvement actions.

Requirements

• Proven experience managing helpdesk staff or an IT support team.
• Strong experience implementing helpdesk best practices, policies, processes, and service management procedures.
• Solid technical experience supporting Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, Azure AD / Entra ID, Azure infrastructure, Intune, and endpoint/device management.
• Experience administering and supporting SaaS CRM platforms, ideally Zoho CRM; experience with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, HubSpot, or similar platforms would also be beneficial.
• Strong understanding of ticket management, incident prioritisation, escalation processes, SLAs, documentation, and reporting.
• Experience personally handling escalated support tickets, complex technical issues, and high‑volume helpdesk periods.
• Experience managing onboarding and off‑boarding processes, access control, permissions, and user lifecycle management.
• Confident troubleshooting Microsoft cloud services, identity, device, access, and SaaS application issues.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced technical environment.
• A practical, hands‑on approach with the ability to balance management responsibilities with direct technical support when needed.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and the ability to identify root causes and drive continuous improvement.

Desired Skills and Experience

• 3+ years’ experience in IT support, servicedesk, systems administration, or helpdesk environments.
• Previous experience in a Helpdesk Manager, Service Desk Manager, IT Support Manager, or Senior Support role.
• Experience managing Microsoft Intune policies, device compliance, endpoint security, and application deployment.
• Experience supporting Azure infrastructure, VPNs, networking, identity management, and cloud security controls.
• Experience with Zoho CRM administration, workflows, dashboards, automations, and user permissions (not essential).
• Familiarity with ITIL or similar service‑management frameworks.
• Experience creating helpdesk KPIs, reports, knowledge bases, support policies, and process documentation.
• Experience working with external IT providers, MSPs, or third‑party SaaS vendors.

Personal Attributes

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate, support, and develop helpdesk staff.
• Calm under pressure and able to manage urgent issues professionally.
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail.
• Able to prioritise effectively and manage multiple work streams at once.
• Proactive, enthusiastic, and service‑focused with a can‑do attitude.
• Commercially aware and able to understand the impact of IT support on business operations.
• Confident working independently while also being a collaborative team player.
• Process‑driven, with a continuous‑improvement mindset.
• Personable, approachable, and able to build trust with users across the business.

Competitive basic salary and annual bonus; Vibrant, high‑spec office environment; Enhanced annual leave, increasing with length of service; Salary sacrifice pension; Quarterly all‑staff events and dynamic culture.