
IT Help Desk Specialist
Applied Research Associates, Inc.
Santa Barbara, CA · FlexibleJob$60–70K/yrSeen 1w agoSeen in employer's feed 1 day ago
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At a glance
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Job overview
The IT Help Desk Specialist provides first-level technical assistance to end users and supports Corporate IT personnel and employees across the company. The role handles login and application issues, request triage and resolution, basic system administration, escalation, documentation, outage communications, and licensing and billing tracking. The position is open to hybrid or remote candidates, with preference for hybrid work in the Santa Barbara office.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
Description
As an IT Help Desk Specialist, you’ll be a core member of our dynamic Corporate IT team. You will work in a small group of other help desk personnel to provide system administration and remote technical support to other IT personnel and employees across the company, as well as assist the Corporate IT engineers with administrative, QA testing, and other needs as required.
What you’ll do as an IT Help Desk Specialist
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Provide first level remote technical assistance to end users on a variety of login and application issues.
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Triage and prioritize incoming requests.
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Identify, research, and resolve technical problems.
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Perform basic system administration tasks.
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Assign requests to tier 2 and tier 3 as required and ensure problem ownership and end-user satisfaction.
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Document and maintain IT related procedures and other information.
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Communicate system outages and maintenance.
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Track licensing and internal billing.
IT Help Desk Specialist Requirements
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High School diploma or equivalent
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2 or more years of experience providing IT support with a bachelor’s degree or a minimum of 8 years of experience without a degree
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Experience supporting an array of applications on Windows operating systems including Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint, VPN clients, and RSA in a high paced support environment
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Troubleshooting and analytical skills
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Experience in using an automated help desk management (ticketing) system
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Strong organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills
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Customer Service oriented
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Ability to learn new systems quickly
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Must be able to work 8am – 5pm MT/10am – 7pm ET
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Must be able to handle after hours on call – weeknight evening on call apx. 1 week a month and weekend on call apx. every 6-8 weeks.
IT Help Desk Specialist Preferences
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Experience supporting desktops/laptops and servers
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Experience with Active Directory user administration
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Knowledge of RSA
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Knowledge of Webex and other conferencing services
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Network+ and Security+ certifications
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Understanding of Microsoft licensing
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DoD experience
SALARY RANGE FOR THIS POSITION IS BETWEEN: $60,000-$70,000 dependent upon education and experience.
Hybrid Work Notice: This position is open to candidates seeking either hybrid or remote work. While remote work will be considered, preference will be given to candidates who are available to work in a hybrid capacity in our Santa Barbara, CA office.
Company Information
Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently employs over 2,200 professionals and continues to grow. ARA offices throughout the United States and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil technologies, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. The corporation also provides sophisticated technical products for environmental site characterization, pavement analysis, and robotics.
Qualifications
Behaviors
Preferred
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Innovative: Consistently introduces new ideas and demonstrates original thinking
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Detail Oriented: Capable of carrying out a given task with all details necessary to get the task done well
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Dedicated: Devoted to a task or purpose with loyalty or integrity
Motivations
Preferred
- Self-Starter: Inspired to perform without outside help
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.
For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
How this job compares
Set against the 4,207 open Technical Support jobs on Olive Jobs, counted October 29, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$60–70K/yr
- California median$100–140K/yr165 salary ranges
- US median$75–110K/yr1,342 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $65K, is 48% below the California median midpoint ($125K) — in the lowest quarter of Technical Support salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 384 open Technical Support jobs in California and 4,207 across the US. 8% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in California
- Apple58 open
- Anduril9 open
- Insight Global8 open
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 2 years of experience; Technical Support postings that state a minimum ask for 3 years at the median (2,754 postings).
- Education
- 364 of the 4,207 open Technical Support jobs (9%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on October 29, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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