Help Desk Agent (Offshore) — Tier 1 Service Desk

The Help Desk Agent is a Tier 1 support professional and a member of ACC's offshore Help Desk pod, delivering 24×7 first-line technical support to an enterprise of approximately 3,000 end users in a Microsoft Azure / Microsoft 365 / Windows PC environment. The Agent is the first point of contact for end users and is responsible for accurately capturing, triaging, resolving, or escalating every incident and service request that reaches the queue.

Success in this role is measured by resolution at first contact, accuracy and completeness of ticket documentation, adherence to service level targets, and the quality of the end-user experience. The Agent works an assigned shift within a 24×7 rotation, is accountable for a clean handoff at the end of every shift, and escalates to the Help Desk Lead or to the U.S.-based Tier 2 team when an issue exceeds Tier 1 scope. This position reports to the Help Desk Lead (Offshore).

Critical Duties

Ticket Handling and End-User Support

• Serve as the first point of contact for end users across all supported intake channels, including phone, email, chat, and self-service ticket submission.

• Log every contact in the IT Service Management platform with accurate categorization, priority, affected user, affected service, and a clear problem statement.

• Troubleshoot and resolve Tier 1 incidents and service requests within defined scope, working to published response and resolution targets.

• Verify caller identity in accordance with company policy before performing any account action, without exception.

• Document all troubleshooting steps, findings, and resolutions in the ticket in clear, professional English so that any team member can pick up the work.

• Escalate promptly and completely to the Help Desk Lead or the U.S.-based Tier 2 team when an issue exceeds Tier 1 scope, providing full troubleshooting history rather than a bare handoff.

• Own assigned tickets through closure, including following up with end users, confirming resolution, and closing with meaningful closure notes.

• Keep end users informed on status, expected next steps, and any change in priority or ownership.

• Monitor the assigned queue throughout the shift and flag aging, stalled, or at-risk tickets to the Help Desk Lead.

Technical Support Scope (Tier 1)

• Support Microsoft 365 end-user issues, including Outlook and Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Office desktop applications.

• Support Windows 10/11 desktop and laptop issues at the Tier 1 level, including operating system behavior, application errors, user profiles, performance complaints, peripherals, and printing.

• Perform Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) end-user operations within delegated scope, including password resets, multi-factor authentication registration and reset, and basic sign-in troubleshooting.

• Route all access provisioning, entitlement, group membership, and privileged access requests to the Identity and Access Management team in accordance with company policy; the Help Desk does not grant access outside of documented, approved delegation.

• Provide Tier 1 support for VPN, network connectivity, remote access, and secure-access tooling (including Zscaler), escalating as appropriate.

• Provide Tier 1 support for enterprise endpoint security agents (including Microsoft Defender and CrowdStrike) and immediately escalate suspected security events, phishing reports, malware detections, and data-handling concerns to Information Security per the incident response process.

• Support Microsoft 365 shared resource requests, such as distribution list, shared mailbox, and shared calendar changes, routing to the appropriate owning team where required.

• Escalate device build, imaging, configuration, endpoint management, and hardware lifecycle activities to the U.S.-based Tier 2 team; these are outside Tier 1 scope.

Coverage, On-Call, and Business Continuity

• Work an assigned shift within a 24×7 rotation, including day, evening, and night shifts as scheduled, and be reliably present and ready at shift start.

• Complete a documented shift handoff covering open incidents, pending escalations, and known issues so that no shift boundary becomes a service gap.

• Participate in a rotating holiday coverage schedule, including Indian holidays, to ensure uninterrupted support for a U.S.-based enterprise.

• Provide support outside normal business hours as operational needs dictate, including incident response and critical production events.

• Support a 24×7 operational environment through scheduled rotation, on-call responsibilities, and business continuity requirements.

• Respond to major incident call-outs and provide end-user impact detail and status updates as directed.

Essential Duties

• Follow established Help Desk processes, runbooks, escalation matrices, and knowledge base articles, and raise gaps or errors in that documentation to the Help Desk Lead.

• Contribute to the knowledge base by drafting new articles and suggesting corrections based on issues worked, so recurring problems get resolved faster over time.

• Participate in onboarding, training, shadowing, cross-training, and skills assessments delivered by the Help Desk Lead.

• Absorb knowledge transfer from the U.S.-based Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams on escalated issues and apply it to future tickets to reduce repeat escalations.

• Identify recurring ticket drivers, automation candidates, and self-service opportunities and surface them to the Help Desk Lead.

• Meet individual performance targets for quality, productivity, and service level attainment, and participate constructively in ticket quality reviews and coaching.

• Enforce company policies and procedures, including acceptable use, data handling, identity verification prior to account actions, and secure remote support practices.

• Maintain accurate time, availability, and schedule adherence records, and communicate schedule conflicts to the Help Desk Lead in advance.

• Maintain ongoing working knowledge of the supported environment and of end-user support best practices.

OTHER DUTIES MAY BE ASSIGNED

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each critical duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the minimum knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education / Experience

• 2+ years' experience in an enterprise help desk, service desk, or end-user support role.

• 2+ years' hands-on experience supporting Microsoft 365 end users, including Outlook / Exchange Online and Microsoft Teams.

• 2+ years' hands-on experience supporting Windows 10/11 endpoints and Windows desktop applications.

• Working experience with Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD end-user operations, including password and multi-factor authentication resets.

• Hands-on experience working tickets in an IT Service Management platform (ServiceNow preferred).

• Experience supporting a U.S.-based enterprise from an offshore location, including shift-based work, strongly preferred.

• Excellent spoken and written English with a clear, neutral, easily understood telephone manner.

Certificates / Licenses — sample of some preferred certificates and licenses:

• CompTIA A+.

• Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals (MS-900).

• Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900).

• ITIL 4 Foundation.

• HDI Support Center Analyst certification.

• CompTIA Network+ (a plus).

• CompTIA SecAI+ (Security AI+) (a plus).

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities

Knowledge of:

• Proficient in the best practices secure use of GenAI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, MS Co-Pilot, and Gemini, including appropriate data handling and the limits of AI-generated guidance in a support context.

• Using GenAI responsibly to assist with troubleshooting research and ticket documentation, with human validation before anything is sent to an end user.

• Windows desktop troubleshooting at the Tier 1 level, including operating system behavior, application issues, profiles, performance, peripherals, and printing.

• Microsoft 365 end-user functionality across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Office applications.

• Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD end-user concepts, including authentication and multi-factor authentication.

• The boundary between Help Desk delegated actions and Identity and Access Management ownership.

• Endpoint security and secure-access tooling at a support level, including Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, and Zscaler.

• Security awareness and incident escalation expectations, including phishing reporting, social engineering red flags, and caller identity verification prior to any account action.

• IT Service Management tooling and ITIL Incident and Request Management processes.

• Establishing and maintaining customer service through effective interpersonal communication, both verbal and written, with internal end users.

• Time management and a systematic, detailed, organized approach to work, with high attention to detail and accuracy.

Ability to:

• Remain patient, professional, and calm with frustrated or non-technical end users.

• Explain technical steps in plain language and confirm understanding rather than assuming it.

• Think logically and work both independently and as part of a group.

• Work an assigned shift reliably, including nights, weekends, and holidays on a rotational basis.

• Work remotely with minimal direct supervision, particularly on off-hours shifts, and ask for help early rather than late.

• Handle multiple open tickets simultaneously while meeting response and resolution deadlines.

• Define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.

• Quickly learn new concepts and software and maintain a proactive attitude toward platform enhancements.

• Accept and act on coaching and quality feedback from the Help Desk Lead.

• Write clear, accurate ticket documentation and knowledge base content.

Performance Measures

• First-contact resolution rate on tickets within Tier 1 scope.

• Response and resolution time against service level targets by priority.

• Ticket quality assurance score, including categorization accuracy, troubleshooting depth, and documentation quality.

• Reopen rate and escalation accuracy — escalating what genuinely exceeds Tier 1 scope, and resolving what does not.

• Customer satisfaction on surveyed tickets.

• Schedule adherence and shift handoff completeness.

• Zero policy exceptions in identity verification and access-request routing.

• Contribution to the knowledge base, measured by articles drafted and corrections submitted.

How This Role Shows Up

This role is expected to embody ACC's operating values: Customer Service — leading with help, collaboration, and a genuine desire to support teams; Agility — adapting and pragmatically accommodating as needs change; Security — protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our information and systems; and Resiliency — mitigating against, then bouncing back from, the inevitable sub-optimal exigencies.

The Help Desk exists to help the business get to "YES." We do the right things, right, the first time — and then we get better.