Sr. Manager, Service Desk & IT Automation (Hybrid, Bangalore)

Smartsheet is looking for a highly technical Sr. Manager to lead our India-based Service Desk and IT Automation operations. This is a working-manager role: you'll personally execute technical work — scripting, automation builds, escalated ticket resolution — while also leading a team. If you're looking for a purely strategic or delegation-only leadership role, this isn't it.

You'll manage a team spanning Service Desk, Tier 1 SOC support, and IT Automation Engineering, driving the technical maturity of our global support infrastructure through automation, scripting, deep systems integration, and increasingly, AI-augmented workflows. This role reports to the Director of End User Systems, with close, day-to-day partnership across US-based Desktop Support managers.

For the right candidate, this role has a clear path to Director as we continue scaling our India GCC — with growth into that level anticipated within 12–18 months.

This is also a strong fit for a Director-level leader currently at a SaaS startup who's looking to move into a larger, enterprise SaaS organization — and who is open to a step down in title now in exchange for a step up in scale, platform, and long-term trajectory.

You Will

IT Automation & Architecture

• Drive the IT automation function, identifying repetitive Tier 1 tasks and owning their automation end-to-end — from scoping through build, testing, and measurement
• Evaluate and build AI-augmented automation where it meaningfully reduces toil (e.g. intelligent ticket triage, SOC alert summarisation, AI-assisted knowledge base drafting)
• Review technical designs before deployment and mentor the team on automation best practices

Team Leadership & Execution

• Manage the India-based Service Desk team, coordinating daily with US counterparts
• Set clear direction, track progress, remove blockers, and escalate capacity constraints to the Director
• Monitor team performance against SLAs, quality standards, and service desk metrics
• Lead onboarding sessions for new team members

Hands-On Technical Contribution

• Resolve tickets across hardware, software, network, and user access — including overflow and critical issues
• Perform desktop administration: software deployment, system configuration, user provisioning, and hardware lifecycle management
• Create and maintain knowledge base articles and process documentation

Security & People Development

• Oversee Tier 1 SOC operations: triage, alert response, and adherence to incident response playbooks
• Coach and mentor India-based engineers, supporting their career growth; hire and develop top technical talent

You Have

Experience

• 8+ years in IT engineering or Service Desk operations, including hands-on automation engineering (scripting, API integrations, or workflow orchestration)
• 4+ years managing or leading technical support teams in matrixed or distributed organizations
• A track record of delivering cross-functional projects through technical ambiguity

Technical Skills

• Deep proficiency in PowerShell or Python, with experience building scalable IT automation workflows
• Strong hands-on experience with Freshservice (or a similar ITSM platform), including workflow orchestration and API integrations
• Experience integrating AI/LLM capabilities into IT workflows via API, SDK, or prompt engineering
• Experience with Active Directory, M365, and endpoint management via Intune and/or Jamf
• Working knowledge of EDR platforms, firewalls, and incident response; familiarity with ITIL or equivalent frameworks

Work Style

• Excellent English communication skills, with strong self-motivation and follow-through
• Comfortable balancing hands-on technical work with people management in a US-directed, India-based structure
• Flexible working hours to accommodate daily India ↔ US coordination
• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience