Sr Administrator (Support & Operations)

Job Summary

The Desktop SME is the senior technical authority for the organisation's end user computing estate. The role owns deep-level troubleshooting, configuration standards and operational stability for desktops, laptops and virtual endpoints, acting as the highest point of technical escalation before vendor engagement.

This is a business-as-usual (BAU) support role with a strong continuous-improvement remit. The SME provides day-to-day operational support for the live endpoint environment, absorbs newly delivered technologies and services into steady-state support, and works alongside project and engineering teams to ensure changes land cleanly in production and remain supportable thereafter.

Key Responsibilities

Act as the escalation point for complex desktop incidents referred by the Service Desk and 2nd line support teams, owning them through to root-cause resolution.
- Maintain service availability and performance across the endpoint estate, meeting or exceeding agreed SLAs and OLAs for incident response and resolution.
- Perform in-depth diagnostics across the desktop stack — operating system, hardware, drivers, applications, endpoint security agents, authentication and access components, profiles, policy and network connectivity.
- Investigate and resolve recurring and systemic issues through problem management, producing root-cause analysis and driving permanent fixes rather than repeat workarounds.
- Monitor endpoint health, compliance and configuration drift, taking proactive remedial action ahead of user impact.
- Manage the operational lifecycle of endpoint configuration: policy changes, package and application updates, patch and vulnerability remediation, and certificate or credential lifecycle activities as applicable to the estate.
- Raise, assess and implement changes through the change management process, including risk assessment, testing evidence, implementation planning and rollback plans.
- Participate in the on-call / out-of-hours rota and support scheduled maintenance activity outside core hours where required.
- Contribute to major incident response, providing technical assessment, impact analysis and remediation for endpoint-related events.

### Transition, Engineering and Improvement

- Work with project, engineering and architecture teams to review new or changing endpoint technologies, ensuring designs are operationally viable and supportable.
- Own service transition activity for the desktop domain: acceptance criteria, operational readiness, support model definition, handover documentation and knowledge transfer into BAU teams.
- Build, test and validate configuration baselines, deployment packages, images and policies prior to production release.
- Support pilot and phased rollout activity, including early-life support, defect triage and feedback into the delivery team.
- Identify and deliver improvements to stability, security posture, automation and end user experience; reduce manual effort through scripting and tooling.
- Contribute to technical roadmaps, upgrade planning and lifecycle refresh for endpoint platforms and tooling.

### Documentation, Governance and Enablement

- Author and maintain technical documentation: build standards, configuration baselines, support runbooks, known error records and troubleshooting guides.
- Maintain and grow the knowledge base, ensuring content is accurate, versioned and usable by lower support tiers.
- Coach and mentor 1st and 2nd line engineers, driving shift-left of resolution capability and reducing escalation volumes.
- Ensure all activity complies with internal security policy, data protection obligations, licensing terms and audit requirements.
- Manage third-party vendor escalations, including case ownership, evidence gathering and progression to resolution.
- Provide clear, non-technical updates to stakeholders and end users, including VIP and executive support where required.

Skill Requirements

Significant demonstrable experience in a senior desktop / end user computing support role within a medium-to-large enterprise environment.
- Expert-level knowledge of current Windows client operating systems, including deep troubleshooting of boot, profile, performance, policy and application issues.
- Strong hands-on experience with enterprise endpoint management tooling (e.g. Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Configuration Manager / SCCM, or equivalent) covering deployment, compliance, policy and application packaging.
- Solid working knowledge of directory, identity and access services (e.g. Active Directory, Entra ID / Azure AD), Group Policy, and the authentication and authorisation mechanisms used by endpoints.
- Practical understanding of endpoint security controls: encryption, endpoint protection, conditional access, device compliance, certificate-based and multi-factor authentication methods, and credential management.
- Competent troubleshooting across the wider stack — networking fundamentals (DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP, VPN, Wi-Fi, proxy), plus productivity and collaboration platforms.
- Scripting and automation capability, particularly PowerShell, for diagnostics, remediation and repetitive task elimination.
- Strong log analysis and diagnostic skills using native and third-party tooling.
- Experience working within an ITIL-aligned service management framework: incident, problem, change, request and knowledge management.
- Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to translate technical detail for non-technical audiences.
- Evidence of working effectively both independently and as part of a distributed support team, managing competing priorities under pressure.

### Desirable

- Experience of virtual desktop and application delivery technologies (e.g. AVD, Citrix, VMware).
- Exposure to macOS, iOS and Android endpoint management in a corporate context.
- Experience supporting migration, upgrade or platform-transformation programs through to steady state.
- Familiarity with public key infrastructure concepts and certificate lifecycle management at enterprise scale.
- Understanding of vulnerability and patch management processes and reporting.
- Experience with ITSM platforms (e.g. ServiceNow) including reporting and workflow configuration.
- Awareness of security and compliance frameworks relevant to the sector (e.g. ISO 27001, NIST, Cyber Essentials).

### Qualifications

- Relevant degree, or equivalent professional experience.
- Industry certification is advantageous — for example Microsoft 365 Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate, CompTIA A+ / Security+, or ITIL Foundation.

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## Behavioral Competencies

| Competency | What it looks like in this role |
|---|---|
| **Ownership** | Takes an issue end-to-end, including the unglamorous follow-through, and closes the loop with stakeholders. |
| **Analytical rigor** | Works from evidence rather than assumption; distinguishes symptom from cause. |
| **Customer focus** | Treats user impact, not ticket count, as the measure of success. |
| **Collaboration** | Builds working relationships across support tiers, engineering, security and third parties. |
| **Pragmatism** | Balances the ideal technical answer against operational risk and delivery reality. |
| **Continuous learning** | Keeps current with platform change and shares knowledge rather than hoarding it. |

Other Requirements