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IT support career path, levels and ladder
Updated
5 levels, from IT Support Technician to IT Operations Lead. Each one is rated on the same 40 skills — what changes between the rungs is how good you have to be at each. A remote-friendly service desk ladder from first-line triage to IT operations lead, covering endpoints, access and infrastructure.
- Level 1 of 5
IT Support Technician job description
Triages and resolves first-line tickets under guidance.
Read the job description - Level 2 of 5
IT Support Engineer job description
Owns second-line fixes and routine requests unaided.
Read the job description - Level 3 of 5
Senior IT Support Engineer job description
Handles complex faults and improves how the desk works.
Read the job description - Level 4 of 5
IT Support Team Lead job description
Runs the desk day to day: queues, staffing and standards.
Read the job description - Level 5 of 5
IT Operations Lead job description
Owns IT operations, vendors and risk for the business.
Read the job description
IT support levels and job titles
IT support, service desk and helpdesk titles are used for much the same work. This table maps each level on this ladder to the titles you will commonly see elsewhere. For how these titles line up across departments, see the job title hierarchy.
| Level on this ladder | Common job titles |
|---|---|
| IT Support Technician | IT Support Technician, Service Desk Analyst, User Support Specialist I, Information Technology Technician |
| IT Support Engineer | IT Support Engineer, IT Helpdesk Analyst, User Support Specialist II, Information Technology Specialist I |
| Senior IT Support Engineer | Senior IT Support Engineer, Senior IT Helpdesk Analyst, Senior Service Desk Analyst, Information Technology Specialist II |
| IT Support Team Lead | IT Support Team Lead, Service Desk Team Lead, Information Technology Specialist III |
| IT Operations Lead | IT Operations Lead, IT Operations Manager, Information Technology Specialist IV |
Skills matrix
40 skills and 4 certifications across 5 levels.
| Skill/Certification 44 | IT Support Technician | IT Support Engineer | Senior IT Support Engineer | IT Support Team Lead | IT Operations Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service Desk5 | |||||
| BasicYou can judge priority from stated urgency and impact, apply the team's SLA targets, and re-route a wrongly assigned ticket. | ProficientYou can triage a backlog under pressure, spot the ticket that is actually a symptom of a bigger issue, and push back on a mis-set priority. | AdvancedYou can set the triage rules for the desk, review priority calls that assessors disagree on, and adjust queues when volume shifts. | AdvancedYou can set the triage rules for the desk, review priority calls that assessors disagree on, and adjust queues when volume shifts. | ExpertYou can redesign the triage model for a growing user base, balancing coverage against headcount, and defend the SLA it produces to the business. | |
| NoviceYou can follow the incident runbook for a known fault, keep the ticket updated, and hand off cleanly when you go off shift. | ProficientYou can coordinate a multi-person incident, keep stakeholders informed at a sensible cadence, and decide when to escalate to a major incident. | AdvancedYou can lead a major incident bridge, hold the response to a structured process under pressure, and run the post-incident review. | AdvancedYou can lead a major incident bridge, hold the response to a structured process under pressure, and run the post-incident review. | ExpertYou can set the incident response process for the organization, decide what counts as major, and use the pattern across incidents to fund prevention. | |
| NoviceYou can notice that a ticket looks similar to ones you have seen before and flag it to a colleague. | BasicYou can group related tickets into a single problem record and describe the pattern with evidence rather than a guess. | ProficientYou can investigate a problem to a confirmed root cause, propose a fix or workaround, and track it through to closure. | AdvancedYou can run problem investigations across the desk's ticket history, prioritize which problems get investigated first, and coach others through the method. | ExpertYou can set how problem management works for the organization, and use trend data to justify investment in the fixes that remove the most recurring pain. | |
| NoviceYou can find the SLA target for a ticket type and say whether a given ticket is inside or outside it. | BasicYou can track your own tickets against SLA, flag one at risk before it breaches, and explain a breach honestly in the notes. | ProficientYou can report SLA performance for the desk, identify which ticket types are driving misses, and propose a specific fix. | AdvancedYou can set SLA targets for new services being onboarded, and renegotiate a target that data shows is unrealistic. | ExpertYou can own the service level agreements between IT and the business, and decide which targets earn their place against what they actually cost to hold. | |
| BasicYou can tell a user what happens next and when to expect it, following the desk templates, with a senior on hand for any complaint. | ProficientYou can handle an upset user by agreeing a realistic update time with them, and keep to it until the ticket closes. | AdvancedYou can handle complex complaints from users or managers, and use satisfaction results to change how the desk communicates. | AdvancedYou can handle complex complaints from users or managers, and use satisfaction results to change how the desk communicates. | ExpertYou can set the service experience standards for IT, and turn survey and complaint findings into funded service improvements. | |
| Endpoint Support6 | |||||
| BasicYou can provision a device for its role by following the runbook and applying the listed policies and software, with a senior on hand when a build fails the checklist. | ProficientYou can maintain the standard image and its policies, diagnose why a device is drifting from it, and provision non-standard requests safely. | AdvancedYou can plan a hardware refresh or OS migration across the fleet, sequencing it to avoid disruption, and set the standard image policy. | AdvancedYou can plan a hardware refresh or OS migration across the fleet, sequencing it to avoid disruption, and set the standard image policy. | AdvancedYou can plan a hardware refresh or OS migration across the fleet, sequencing it to avoid disruption, and set the standard image policy. | |
| BasicYou can diagnose a routine remote fault from its symptoms using the remote-access tools, following the runbook, with a senior on hand for anything outside it. | ProficientYou can diagnose an intermittent or unusual remote fault that has already defeated a first attempt, using logs and remote diagnostics. | AdvancedYou can set the remote support tooling and standards for the desk, and step in on the faults nobody else can pin down. | AdvancedYou can set the remote support tooling and standards for the desk, and step in on the faults nobody else can pin down. | AdvancedYou can set the remote support tooling and standards for the desk, and step in on the faults nobody else can pin down. | |
| NoviceYou can enroll a phone or tablet in the management platform by following the runbook, with a colleague checking its profile before it reaches the user. | BasicYou can assign the configuration and app profiles a device needs, and lock or wipe a missing device, applying policy as written and asking before any exception. | ProficientYou can build and change enrollment and configuration profiles for the platforms in use, and diagnose why a device is not taking a policy. | AdvancedYou can design device management for a mixed fleet, keeping work data separate on personal phones, and move between platforms without stranding users. | AdvancedYou can design device management for a mixed fleet, keeping work data separate on personal phones, and move between platforms without stranding users. | |
| NoviceYou can push an approved update to a group of machines and report which took it and which failed, with a colleague choosing the group and timing. | BasicYou can run the update cycle to an agreed schedule and chase the machines that missed it, rolling back a bad update when needed. | ProficientYou can plan an update round, choosing order and timing that limit disruption, and judge when a fix is urgent enough to skip the normal wait. | AdvancedYou can bring an estate with legacy software and exceptions to a patched state, and design the staged rollout that keeps it there. | AdvancedYou can bring an estate with legacy software and exceptions to a patched state, and design the staged rollout that keeps it there. | |
| BasicYou can install and map printers, scanners and docks for a user, and follow the runbook to find whether the device, driver or network is at fault. | ProficientYou can diagnose a peripheral fault end to end, through drivers, print servers and stubborn docking stations, and get the user working without a rebuild. You notice when the same model keeps failing and deal with the cause. | ProficientYou can diagnose a peripheral fault end to end, through drivers, print servers and stubborn docking stations, and get the user working without a rebuild. You notice when the same model keeps failing and deal with the cause. | ProficientYou can diagnose a peripheral fault end to end, through drivers, print servers and stubborn docking stations, and get the user working without a rebuild. You notice when the same model keeps failing and deal with the cause. | ProficientYou can diagnose a peripheral fault end to end, through drivers, print servers and stubborn docking stations, and get the user working without a rebuild. You notice when the same model keeps failing and deal with the cause. | |
| NoviceYou can check that a device reports disk encryption and a running security agent, and flag any that do not to a senior. | BasicYou can confirm encryption and agent health across a group of devices, and escalate a reported phishing email to the security team with the original message attached. | ProficientYou can set application controls on managed devices, and investigate a device whose security agent reports a threat. | AdvancedYou can design the encryption, agent health and application control checks for the whole fleet, and hand confirmed threats to the security team with the evidence. | AdvancedYou can design the encryption, agent health and application control checks for the whole fleet, and hand confirmed threats to the security team with the evidence. | |
| Identity & Access4 | |||||
| BasicYou can coordinate a joiner, mover or leaver request across the systems it touches, and confirm every checklist item is closed before sign-off. | ProficientYou can handle a contractor or same-day departure by adapting the checklist, and find an account the standard process missed. | AdvancedYou can audit the joiner, mover and leaver process for gaps, and fix the automation or handoff that causes missed accounts. | AdvancedYou can audit the joiner, mover and leaver process for gaps, and fix the automation or handoff that causes missed accounts. | ExpertYou can set the identity lifecycle policy for the organization, including how fast an account must be disabled after departure, and answer for it in an audit. | |
| NoviceYou can compare the list of people with access to a system against the current staff list, and flag each mismatch for a senior to decide. | BasicYou can run a scheduled access review for an assigned system, and remove access only after the owner has confirmed it. | ProficientYou can run a review cycle across several systems alone, and close it with access removed and unreviewed accounts found. | AdvancedYou can review access where permissions are nested and system ownership is disputed, and produce evidence an auditor accepts. | ExpertYou can decide how often the organization reviews access, who owns each system, and what happens when a review is ignored. | |
| NoviceYou can create, disable and move accounts in the directory as the joiner and leaver runbook says, with a colleague checking group membership before handover. | ProficientYou can design group structures that other systems can read access from, and clear sprawl by splitting groups that serve two purposes. | AdvancedYou can restructure a directory that has grown messy across sites or after a merger, without breaking the systems that depend on it. | AdvancedYou can restructure a directory that has grown messy across sites or after a merger, without breaking the systems that depend on it. | AdvancedYou can restructure a directory that has grown messy across sites or after a merger, without breaking the systems that depend on it. | |
| BasicYou can handle resets, lockouts and lost second factors alone, verifying who you are speaking to before restoring anything. | ProficientYou can find why an account keeps locking or a factor keeps failing and fix the cause, and stop a social engineering attempt made through a reset request. | ProficientYou can find why an account keeps locking or a factor keeps failing and fix the cause, and stop a social engineering attempt made through a reset request. | ProficientYou can find why an account keeps locking or a factor keeps failing and fix the cause, and stop a social engineering attempt made through a reset request. | ProficientYou can find why an account keeps locking or a factor keeps failing and fix the cause, and stop a social engineering attempt made through a reset request. | |
| Infrastructure5 | |||||
| NoviceYou can explain the difference between a local network problem and an internet problem, and check basic settings like Wi-Fi and VPN connection. | BasicYou can diagnose common connectivity faults, such as DNS, DHCP or VPN issues, using built-in tools, and fix them or escalate with clear findings. | ProficientYou can troubleshoot connectivity across sites and remote networks, read a basic network diagram, and work with an ISP or network vendor on a fault. | AdvancedYou can plan connectivity for a new office or remote team, and set the standards for VPN and Wi-Fi that the rest of the desk works to. | AdvancedYou can plan connectivity for a new office or remote team, and set the standards for VPN and Wi-Fi that the rest of the desk works to. | |
| NoviceYou can carry out a routine admin task in a SaaS tool, such as adding a user, from written instructions. | BasicYou can administer a SaaS application independently, including permissions, groups and routine configuration changes. | AdvancedYou can own the administration standard for the organization's core SaaS platforms, and lead a migration or major configuration change. | AdvancedYou can own the administration standard for the organization's core SaaS platforms, and lead a migration or major configuration change. | AdvancedYou can own the administration standard for the organization's core SaaS platforms, and lead a migration or major configuration change. | |
| NoviceYou can create a shared drive and add or remove its members as instructed, with a senior approving anything shared outside the organization. | BasicYou can manage drive permissions and external sharing links to the rules you were given, and restore a file a user deleted. | ProficientYou can set up team storage with a documented reason for each permission, and untangle folders that are shared too widely. | ProficientYou can set up team storage with a documented reason for each permission, and untangle folders that are shared too widely. | ProficientYou can set up team storage with a documented reason for each permission, and untangle folders that are shared too widely. | |
| NoviceYou can record a new asset or license in the register with the details the process asks for. | BasicYou can keep the asset register accurate through day-to-day changes, and flag a license that is close to its limit or renewal. | ProficientYou can reconcile the register against what is actually deployed, investigate the gap, and correct the process that caused it. | AdvancedYou can forecast license and hardware needs ahead of renewals, and negotiate the numbers down using evidence of actual use. | ExpertYou can own the asset and license strategy for the organization, including disposal and data-wiping compliance, and answer for it financially. | |
| NoviceYou can check scheduled backup jobs and report failures, and restore a single file when asked. | BasicYou can fix a failed backup job, and restore a mailbox or folder to a point in time that you confirm is readable. | ProficientYou can carry out a restore up to a whole machine under time pressure, and state in advance how much data will be lost. | AdvancedYou can design what is backed up, how often and how far back for systems with different recovery needs, and prove the plan by rehearsing a restore. | AdvancedYou can design what is backed up, how often and how far back for systems with different recovery needs, and prove the plan by rehearsing a restore. | |
| IT Operations6 | |||||
| NoviceYou can follow the house template to write up a fix you just performed, so the next person can repeat it. | BasicYou can write a knowledge base article from scratch for an issue you resolved, so a user can follow it without help. | ProficientYou can write articles for recurring tickets that have none, and update or retire articles that have gone stale. | AdvancedYou can set the knowledge base standard for the desk, and run user guides or short training that cut tickets on common issues. | AdvancedYou can set the knowledge base standard for the desk, and run user guides or short training that cut tickets on common issues. | |
| NoviceYou can raise a support case with a supplier, give them the detail they need and chase it to a resolution. Someone senior handles anything that touches cost or the terms of the contract. | NoviceYou can raise a support case with a supplier, give them the detail they need and chase it to a resolution. Someone senior handles anything that touches cost or the terms of the contract. | BasicYou can keep cases open with several suppliers moving, hold them to their agreed response times and record what they have told you. You escalate inside the supplier when a case has clearly stalled. | ProficientYou can run a supplier relationship day to day, covering renewals, license counts and faults that cross into their equipment. You spot when the organization is paying for something it stopped using. | ExpertYou can decide which suppliers the organization depends on and what it will accept in a contract, and drop one that has stopped earning its place. You get budget holders bringing IT in before they sign rather than after. | |
| NoviceYou can produce the standard ticket and asset reports on schedule, checking each figure against the previous period before it goes out. | NoviceYou can produce the standard ticket and asset reports on schedule, checking each figure against the previous period before it goes out. | BasicYou can build a specified report from ticket, incident and asset data, naming the source of each figure and flagging data quality problems. | AdvancedYou can turn messy operational data into reporting that leaders act on, including unwelcome findings, and reconcile reports that disagree. | ExpertYou can decide what the organization judges its IT function by, and retire measures that encourage gaming. | |
| NoviceYou can write a handover in the agreed template covering the tickets you touched and what is still open, with a senior deciding what to escalate. | BasicYou can hand over an active incident so the next person continues without re-reading everything, and escalate on the criteria you were given. | ProficientYou can judge what is worth waking someone for and what can wait until morning, and pick up a half-finished incident without restarting the diagnosis. | AdvancedYou can run handover across a team or several sites so nothing falls between shifts, and set the escalation thresholds others work to. | AdvancedYou can run handover across a team or several sites so nothing falls between shifts, and set the escalation thresholds others work to. | |
| NoviceYou can gather and keep current the figures a plan rests on, such as headcount, license counts and device ages, for a senior to turn into the plan. | NoviceYou can gather and keep current the figures a plan rests on, such as headcount, license counts and device ages, for a senior to turn into the plan. | BasicYou can prepare resourcing or renewal numbers for part of the IT function with the assumptions stated, and raise the gap between plan and staffing. | ProficientYou can plan staffing, tooling and spend for your own area a year ahead, and flag business changes that will add tickets before they arrive. | ExpertYou can decide what the IT function is sized and funded to do, and win that case with the leaders who hold the budget. | |
| NoviceYou can apply the change control steps to an approved change under supervision, and record the outcome on the change ticket. | BasicYou can document a routine change request with its impact and rollback plan, and carry out the change once it is approved. | ProficientYou can assess the impact of a change across several systems, and present it for approval with a tested rollback plan. | AdvancedYou can manage a high-impact change from approval through implementation, and check that the release policy was followed. | AdvancedYou can manage a high-impact change from approval through implementation, and check that the release policy was followed. | |
| Certifications4 | |||||
| Not required | Required | Required | Required | Required | |
| Not required | Not required | Required | Required | Required | |
| Not required | Not required | Required | Required | Required | |
| Not required | Not required | Not required | Required | Required | |
| Delivery4 | |||||
| NoviceYou can keep your own tasks and deadlines in a current to-do list, and tell your manager as soon as work you own will be late. | BasicYou can organize a small piece of work into steps, put them in a sensible order, and finish it by the date you agreed, raising problems before they cause a delay. | ProficientYou can coordinate a small team's work on a shared goal: who does what by when, what has to wait for what, and a revised plan when things change. | AdvancedYou can keep several people's work in step across teams, agree priorities and hand-offs with them, and keep one shared task list that all of them actually use. | ExpertYou can set the everyday habits for how work is organized and followed up across the organization, and teams you do not lead adopt the routines you introduce. | |
| NoviceYou can estimate how long a task will take once the approach is clear, and you say promptly when the estimate turns out to be wrong. | BasicYou can estimate your own work with reasonable accuracy and keep a steady enough pace that other people can plan around you. | ProficientYou can estimate a whole project including its risks and unknowns, split it into stages, and defend the estimate when it is challenged. | AdvancedYou can estimate work that spans several teams, name the assumptions behind each figure, and rework the plan when those assumptions break. | ExpertYou can forecast work and staffing quarters ahead, and set the estimating method other teams use. | |
| BasicYou can stay responsible after you hand work over: you check it did what it was meant to, fix your own mistakes, and give updates before anyone asks. | ProficientYou can pick up a problem that has no obvious owner and make yourself accountable for it, including the parts nobody enjoys. | AdvancedYou can hold accountability for outcomes delivered mostly by other people, taking the blame when it fails and passing on the credit when it works. | AdvancedYou can hold accountability for outcomes delivered mostly by other people, taking the blame when it fails and passing on the credit when it works. | ExpertYou can report the organization's most exposed outcomes to its leaders as they stand, including bad news, and answer for them. | |
| BasicYou can choose checks that suit the task in front of you, catch your own mistakes before anyone else sees them, and confirm the result works once people start using it. | ProficientYou can define what good enough means for a project, put checks in place to show it has been met, and hold work back when it falls short. | AdvancedYou can set how quality is checked on complex work shared by several teams, and you spot the problems that only appear where their pieces meet. | AdvancedYou can set how quality is checked on complex work shared by several teams, and you spot the problems that only appear where their pieces meet. | ExpertYou can raise the quality bar across the organization by building the tools and habits that make the careful way the easy way. | |
| Craft3 | |||||
| BasicYou can work out what is wrong in work you did not create, and you fix the underlying cause instead of working around the symptom. | ProficientYou can break a large, ambiguous problem into pieces and weigh the options for each against the evidence. | AdvancedYou can make the call on a problem outside your expertise and explain its cost, time and risk. | AdvancedYou can make the call on a problem outside your expertise and explain its cost, time and risk. | ExpertYou can crack problems the organization has repeatedly failed to solve, and your approach becomes how others tackle that whole kind of problem. | |
| NoviceYou can apply the basics of your field to the work you are given, and ask an expert when a task goes beyond what you have learned. | BasicYou can work confidently with the tools and methods your team uses daily, and you can explain how your work serves the team's goals. | ProficientYou can advise the team on your area and apply new developments in the field where they pay off. | AdvancedYou can bring in good practice from outside the organization and make it work here, and your judgment clearly improves the work you touch. | ExpertYou can influence how the field is practiced beyond this organization, and your expertise settles questions that have stood open for years. | |
| ProficientYou can pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it, and you turn what you learned into something others can reuse. | ProficientYou can pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it, and you turn what you learned into something others can reuse. | AdvancedYou can judge which new ideas are worth the team's time and which are not, and you make room for the people around you to learn too. | AdvancedYou can judge which new ideas are worth the team's time and which are not, and you make room for the people around you to learn too. | ExpertYou can set what the organization invests its learning time in, and the material and practice you create outlive your involvement. | |
| Communication4 | |||||
| BasicYou can explain your work so your team can act on it, and play a request back in your own words before you act on it. | ProficientYou can explain a complex topic to people with very different backgrounds, adjusting the detail to the audience without talking down to them. | AdvancedYou can bring disagreeing groups to agreement on the facts and the next steps, and help colleagues frame a difficult or sensitive message. | AdvancedYou can bring disagreeing groups to agreement on the facts and the next steps, and help colleagues frame a difficult or sensitive message. | ExpertYou can set how the organization communicates by creating the forums and norms that teams use to share information. | |
| BasicYou can work well with people in other roles, share context and credit, and take criticism of your work without defending territory. | ProficientYou can build working relationships beyond your own team and get things done through people who do not report to you. | AdvancedYou can align teams with competing priorities on a common goal, surfacing the conflict early instead of letting it harden into resentment. | AdvancedYou can align teams with competing priorities on a common goal, surfacing the conflict early instead of letting it harden into resentment. | ExpertYou can remove the barriers that stop teams working together by putting in place routines and forums they use across the organization. | |
| BasicYou can document your own work well enough for a colleague to follow it unaided, such as a how-to guide or a handover, and keep it current as things change. | ProficientYou can write for a defined audience, whether a proposal, a policy, a report, or a decision record, and make the reasoning as clear as the conclusion. | AdvancedYou can own the documents behind a large piece of work, coordinating contributions so that people who were not involved can carry it on. | AdvancedYou can own the documents behind a large piece of work, coordinating contributions so that people who were not involved can carry it on. | ExpertYou can set the writing standard the organization works to, and documents you wrote are still in use long after you have moved on. | |
| NoviceYou can keep your manager and immediate team informed of your progress, and you raise an issue before someone else discovers it. | BasicYou can identify who is affected by your work and keep them updated at a level of detail and a frequency that suits them. | ProficientYou can win support for a proposal, reset expectations when the plan changes, and turn down a request with a reason the other side accepts. | AdvancedYou can hold senior and external relationships, negotiate between competing demands, and deliver unwelcome news without losing trust. | ExpertYou can represent the organization in its most important relationships and set how it engages with everyone who depends on it. | |
| Leadership3 | |||||
| NoviceYou can act on direction well, seek feedback on how you work, and be open about what you need help with. | BasicYou can spot a problem and propose a way forward unprompted, and you take a small leading role such as running a working group. | ProficientYou can lead one piece of work shared by several people, on your own team and beyond, and make calls that they act on. | AdvancedYou can lead across team boundaries, build the credibility that makes people follow you by choice, and create room for others to lead. | ExpertYou can set direction for the whole organization, make hard calls under real uncertainty, and carry the decisions nobody else wants to own. | |
| NoviceYou can share what you have just learned with your peers and help a newer colleague find their way around. | BasicYou can help someone new settle into your team's work, answer their questions patiently, and give feedback specific enough to act on. | ProficientYou can mentor someone over months, tell them the uncomfortable thing they need to hear, and adapt how you teach to how they learn. | AdvancedYou can develop other mentors, coach people through career decisions rather than tasks, and lift the capability of a whole team. | ExpertYou can shape how the organization grows its people, and those you developed are themselves named by others as strong in their field. | |
| NoviceYou can explain why the work you were given matters and who it is for. | BasicYou can connect your team's work to its goals and question a task that does not appear to serve them. | ProficientYou can look a year ahead in your area, name what will matter by then, and turn that into work people can pick up now. | AdvancedYou can set direction for an area, choose deliberately what not to do, and defend that choice when it is challenged. | ExpertYou can shape the organization's strategy, and the bets you argued for are visible in where it ended up. | |
Use this ladder with your own team
For managers and HR teams: create a free account, then add IT support from Departments → Add from template in one click: all 40 skills, with the mastery expected at each of your 5 career levels.