Help Desk Specialist Jobs

The City of Oakland is an equal opportunity employer that values workforce diversity, inclusion, and equity. Oakland has a long history of activism around issues of justice and equity. Both oppression and this resistance to oppression have shaped the city’s historical roots and the lives of its residents to this day. As public servants in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, we strive to develop employees who understand the harm and impacts of systemic inequity to create lasting, meaningful outcomes for everyone. Oakland strives to establish an environment that embraces the richness of culture, community, and individualism of employees.

Why join the City of Oakland Information Technology Department?
The City of Oakland Information Technology Department (ITD) is an exciting, fast paced environment. Working with technology and innovation, ITD is leading digital transformation throughout the City and offers a supportive, fun, hard-working environment where you can make a difference in the community you serve!

We are looking for someone who is:

• Resourceful and attentive. You offer innovative solutions which is driven by a desire to approach problems and issues conscientiously.
• Customer service oriented. You are passionate about delivering exceptional customer service and pride yourself on being responsive and proactive when addressing customer needs.
• Collaborative and supportive. You thrive on working with others and demonstrate cooperation and teamwork across various departments and divisions, at all levels of the organization.
• Organized and self-motivated. You balance multiple assignments and priorities effortlessly and approach your work activities with a natural enthusiasm and results-oriented mindset.

• Utilizing Active Directory, Azure, and the Microsoft Admin Center to manage user accounts, reset passwords and troubleshoot Multi-Factor Authentication issues.
• Providing software support to customers including the following: Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Sign, Microsoft Suite, and SharePoint.
• Enrolling new users, establishing accounts, removing old accounts, setting up email accounts and resetting passwords for computer and email accounts.
• Over the telephone, remotely connecting, installing, and configuring printers; setting up printer connections; installing and configuring printer drivers; troubleshooting connections; configuring and troubleshooting network connectivity issues.
• Reporting serious network/system outages and promptly escalating to appropriate network administrators, vendor and/or supervisor; create, log, categorize and assign Information Services incidents/tickets within the help desk tracking system.
• Providing Tier 1 customer support via the telephone and utilizing help desk ticketing software system (ServiceNow) to manage, track, report and follow-up on customer’s technical issues.
• Configuring email access to include organization, configuration, and customizations; connectivity and application settings; advanced application usage; and application integration with third party software. Addressing account configuration issues on both the client and server sides.
• Detecting, scanning, and removing microcomputer viruses; installing and configuring standard anti-virus software as well as third party anti-virus/anti-spyware software.

• You will work for an innovative technology agency striving for continuous innovation and improvement.
• In this position, you will be a public sector innovator and participate in developing solutions for the City.
• You will be joining a team of dedicated professionals who are passionate about customer service and ensuring City staff have access to the technology they need to perform their jobs effectively.
• Your contributions will directly impact the technology that Oakland’s residents’ access on a daily basis.

• You will be facing multiple customer service requests with competing needs that must be prioritized.
• You will be working with City staff that have a varying degree of comfort and familiarity with technology.

• Writing: Communicating effectively in writing
• Decision Making: Choosing optimal courses of action in a timely manner
• Oral Communication: Engaging effectively in dialogue
• Customer Focus: Attending to the needs and expectations of customers
• Professional Integrity & Ethics: Displaying honesty, adherence to principles, and personal accountability
• Attention to Detail: Focusing on the details of work content, work steps, and final work products
• Fact Finding: Obtaining facts and data pertaining to an issue or question
• Professional & Technical Expertise: Applying technical subject matter to the job
• Handling & Resolving Conflict: Managing interpersonally strained situations
• Adaptability: Responding positively to change and modifying behavior as the situation requires
• Using Technology: Working with electronic hardware and software applications
• Valuing Diversity: Appreciating the benefits of varied backgrounds and cultures in the workplace
• Teamwork: Collaborating with others to achieve shared goals

This recruitment will produce two eligible lists. The restricted list will be for full-time, permanent part-time, or part-time City employees who meet the minimum qualifications. The open list will be for all other applicants who meet the minimum qualifications.

The Recruitment Process:

The City of Oakland works with a Civil Service system. Applicants apply online, and HR staff reviews their experience, education, and training listed on the application against the “minimum qualifications” listed for each position.

Candidates who demonstrate that they meet the minimum qualification requirements are then invited to participate in an assessment process (or testing) to measure their knowledge, skills, and abilities in job-related areas.

For this recruitment, all qualified applicants will be invited to take an online multiple-choice test. You’ll have 7 days to complete the test once the link is sent to your email. This is tentatively planned to launch during the week of September 4, 2023.

Candidates who pass each stage in the process will be placed on an eligible list. Some candidates may receive extra points, for example, if you are a Veteran with an honorable discharge, or if you are a current City of Oakland resident. If you’re applying to a “restricted” posting and you are eligible as a current City employee, you may also receive additional points for your City service. Extra points are only applied to passing scores, so if you do not pass every element of the testing process, you cannot use extra points to pass.

• Vision: VSP full premium for employees and eligible dependents
• Vacation: 2 weeks per year minimum with the ability to accrue more depending on public sector years of service
• Deferred Compensation: 457(b) pre-tax plan and an after-tax ROTH 401(k)plan
• Other benefits include a Flexible Spending Account, Wellness Program, Employee Assistance Program, Tuition Reimbursement, Life Insurance up to $200k & Employee Training.
• 15 paid holidays
• Health: The City of Oakland pays the full cost of employee and eligible dependent coverage at the Kaiser rate. Other plans include Anthem, Blue Shield, United Health Care, and other HMO and PPO plans
• Work/Life Balance: 37.5 hour work weeks, and a flexible/hybrid remote schedule
• Dental: Delta Dental full premium for employees and eligible dependents
• Retirement: CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System) with a pension formula of 2.5% @ 55 (for Classic CalPERS members) and 2% @ 62 for new CalPERS members. Classic Employees contribute 8% of pre-tax wages. The City of Oakland does not participate in Social Security
• Sick leave: Employees accrue 12 days per year