WHAT DOES AN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUPERVISOR DO?
Published: Oct 01, 2025 - The Information Technology Supervisor oversees the design, installation, configuration, and maintenance of networks, systems, and telecommunications, while ensuring data security, system availability, and disaster recovery preparedness. This role involves supervising IT staff, managing technology inventory and procurement, coordinating issue resolution, and providing guidance and training to users across the organization. The Supervisor also develops and enforces technology policies, evaluates new solutions, and partners with stakeholders to maintain efficient, secure, and reliable IT operations.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Information Technology Supervisor
1. Information Technology Supervisor Roles and Details
- Coordination: Coordinate IT department activities across all global offices.
- Helpdesk Support: Provide technical helpdesk support to system users.
- Technical Support: Deliver second- and third-level support for IT engineers.
- Monitoring Management: Define and organize monitoring requirements, dashboards, and notifications to quickly identify IT issues (e.g., using Zabbix).
- Vendor Management: Liaise with suppliers and IT vendors to expand infrastructure, manage licensing, perform repairs, and meet operational requirements for IT service efficiency.
- Budgeting: Prepare and implement the IT budget.
- Training: Train IT engineers.
- Compliance: Ensure and demonstrate compliance with ISO27001, ISO9001, and the applied Information Security Policy.
- Reporting: Provide reports and summaries about software, IT end-user inventory control, billing, and other technical, fiscal, and programmatic assignments.
- Professional Development: Attend training classes and seminars.
- Research: Research and review literature to stay current on emerging IT trends and technologies.
2. Information Technology Supervisor Key Accountabilities
- Team Supervision: Lead, schedule, and supervise the IT desktop support team on the completion of all duties and operational requirements for a manufacturing facility.
- Leadership: Provide leadership to subordinates and select, coach, and develop employees for optimal effectiveness.
- Skills Evaluation: Identify competencies and skills and evaluate proficiency.
- Employee Development: Address skill or proficiency gaps through coaching, training, and collaboration with the HR team.
- Technical Support: Work closely with support staff both onsite and remote, providing supervisory support of PC device deployments, software installs, and phone administration.
- Documentation: Create and maintain process and procedure documentation.
- Policy Management: Define and update IT policies and procedures to ensure corporate standards are upheld.
- Best Practices: Define and enforce best practices and standards for IT support, specifically in the break/fix area.
- Problem Solving: Remove roadblocks and redefine goals to meet business objectives.
- Research: Stay informed of developments in IT technologies.
3. Information Technology Supervisor General Responsibilities
- User Support: Provide second-level and advanced user support for all hardware and software requests logged via the helpdesk.
- IT Administration: Serve as the first point of contact for a variety of IT management requirements and administration.
- Collaboration: Work closely with IT Front Office, Back Office teams, and the IT Manager to develop and enhance service quality and reporting processes.
- SLA Management: Ensure that all helpdesk tickets are processed within predetermined SLA times.
- Asset Management: Complete asset management audits for all PCs, monitors, and laptops.
- Access Control: Control access permissions and privileges.
- Network Troubleshooting: Develop innovative network troubleshooting methods that reduce downtime and repair costs.
- System Maintenance: Monitor, upgrade, and maintain computer systems and networks.
- Incident Handling: Handle assigned incidents effectively and efficiently.
- Hardware Maintenance: Maintain all workstation hardware and resolve service issues and requests promptly.
- Disaster Recovery: Create and administer disaster recovery plans to ensure company functionality in the event of a crisis.
- Software Upgrades: Determine rationale and methods for upgrading company network software programs upon each release.
4. Information Technology Supervisor Role Purpose
- Server Management: Manage local servers and systems, including monitoring, backup, restoration, and computer room operations.
- Hardware Management: Oversee the setup, maintenance, and logistics of hardware such as servers, switches, Wi-Fi, PCs, thin clients, printers, telecom, and mobile devices.
- Manufacturing Support: Provide technical support for manufacturing systems, including MES, ERP, and Cutting Systems.
- User Support: Deliver first-level user support for both software and hardware, addressing troubleshooting, workarounds, and Office 365 issues.
- System Support: Support access control systems, CAD workstations, time and attendance systems, and thin client environments.
- Project Contribution: Contribute to IT-related project activities by gathering requirements to share with suppliers and corporate teams.
- Budget Management: Manage IT budgets, oversee investment planning, and prepare purchase requests for required devices.
- System Analysis: Analyze systems and networks to ensure performance and stability.
- Collaboration: Collaborate with the Cape Town development and IT support teams to maintain reliable operations and backups.
- System Testing: Test new systems and technologies to evaluate functionality and effectiveness.
- Peripheral Support: Provide user assistance for computer peripherals, mobile devices, printers, conferencing tools, and telephony.
- Remote Support: Offer both in-person and remote support to resolve user problems efficiently.
5. Information Technology Supervisor Essential Functions
- Audit Management: Develop and execute audits and advisory projects from scoping through reporting.
- Risk Mitigation: Identify and help mitigate risk across a wide range of teams, products, and technologies.
- Audit Review: Review audit documentation to determine risks and assess their potential impact on the organization.
- Root Cause Analysis: Perform root cause analysis on exceptions identified during audits.
- Continuous Improvement: Participate in and lead internal audit group activities within the continuous improvement program.
- Technical Expertise: Apply technical knowledge and expertise to perform reviews relating to the full life cycle of models, IT applications, or risk management and analysis across the company.
- Control Validation: Validate and document the Risk Control Matrix and write test procedures based on it.
- Advisory Leadership: Serve as a trusted advisor and leader in the development and implementation of controls and best practices.
- Relationship Management: Build and maintain relationships with business partners at staff and senior management levels.
- Cybersecurity Collaboration: Collaborate closely with cybersecurity teams.
- Compliance Partnership: Partner with compliance functions, including SOX and Governance Risk & Compliance teams.
6. Information Technology Supervisor Additional Details
- Documentation Review: Review program and system documentation to verify accuracy and completeness.
- Quality Assurance: Evaluate test results to ensure software meets required standards and performance.
- Release Management: Oversee release management processes to guarantee the timely and effective deployment of IT services.
- Project Coordination: Coordinate development, testing, and implementation of software modifications through structured application project management.
- Liaison Role: Serve as a liaison between network staff, department managers, and project review teams to ensure smooth communication.
- System Design: Analyze and design complex computer systems, such as Vital Vision, Immunization Tracking Systems, and X-ray solutions.
- Technical Skills: Apply advanced databases like Oracle and DB2, and programming languages such as C++, VB, .NET, JAVA, and PowerBuilder for system design.
- Statistical Tools: Leverage statistical application tools like SPSS and SAS to design logical program flows.
- Task Management: Evaluate staff deliverables, assign appropriate tasks, and set priorities for the team.
- Staff Coordination: Conduct regular staff meetings to align objectives and maintain productivity.
- Hardware Management: Manage hardware and software materials, ensuring proper installation, configuration, and maintenance.
7. Information Technology Supervisor Roles
- Team Management: Manage a small, highly effective team’s daily operations to meet service levels and performance standards.
- Operations Management: Maintain the IT operational environment.
- Policy Supervision: Supervise operations to ensure that policies, processes, and procedures are executed.
- Partner Coordination: Coordinate with infrastructure business partners to maintain operations at the site/region.
- Incident Oversight: Oversee outage-level incidents in the office/region.
- Communication: Provide large-scale communications to managers, employees, and engineering teams.
- Cross-Functional Coordination: Coordinate and communicate with HR, Recruiting, Facilities, and other business partners on projects, events, and service changes (moves, training classes, new hires, service rollouts, etc.).
- Business Analysis Support: Coordinate with IT Business Analysts on site functions, logistics, projects, and metrics.
- Ticket Management: Oversee ticket management for IT support teams, along with analysis of metrics.
- Scheduling: Handle team schedules, timecards, and 1:1 meetings.
- Project Coordination: Coordinate project and task management with the local IT team.
- Escalation Support: Respond to escalated tickets and provide solutions for reported customer problems.
8. Information Technology Supervisor Tasks
- Mediation: Act as a buffer between leadership, business units, and the team.
- Service Optimization: Optimize the delivery of services at the enterprise level to realize an integrated business, technology, and healthcare strategy.
- Strategic Alignment: Align between strategic goals and key technology decisions.
- Process Improvement: Enumerate, analyze, catalog, and suggest improvements to support service integration processes across the enterprise to meet strategic and operational goals.
- Decision Support: Evaluate and present information to facilitate effective and timely decision-making through written and oral communication with clear findings and recommendations.
- Process Modeling: Create technical process models and flows that illustrate integration points between systems, platforms, and solutions.
- IT Strategy Support: Understand, advocate, and support the enterprise’s information technology strategies.
- Staff Development: Participate in the recruitment and selection of high-level technical staff, develop and oversee training programs in tools and methodologies for development and infrastructure teams, and lead or manage special project teams.
- Systems Management: Ensure proper and efficient functioning of information systems activities, including mainframe, personal computers, networks, internet, phone, and other communications systems.
- Configuration Management: Work with subordinate staff to manage IT systems through configurations, updates, development, and industry best practices.
- Data Integrity: Verify data integrity to ensure connectivity of data, communication, and technologies between IT and other information systems.
9. Information Technology Supervisor Details and Accountabilities
- Network Management: Design, specify, configure, install, and maintain local area network hardware, software, and telecommunications services such as personal computers, system software, applications, printers, servers, routers, bridges, switches, modems, cabling, and Internet service providers.
- Requirements Analysis: Analyze technology requirements and develop functional specifications.
- Competitive Analysis: Conduct comparative analysis and competitive bidding.
- Inventory Management: Manage technology inventory, including procurement and disposal.
- Data Security: Ensure the availability, continuity, and security of organizational data and information.
- Systems Coordination: Coordinate with internal stakeholders to design, develop, and maintain information systems.
- Risk Mitigation: Mitigate security risks by ensuring networks, workstations, operating systems, and applications are patched and updated.
- Disaster Recovery: Prepare, maintain, test, and log the organization’s technology disaster recovery plan to ensure the continual functioning of mission-critical operations.
- Committee Participation: Participate in committees, task forces, and workgroups, and facilitate technology meetings and user groups.
- Policy Development: Develop and maintain technology policies, standards, and procedures manuals, along with related checklists, and communicate changes with staff.
- Reporting: Prepare reports on equipment problems.
10. Information Technology Supervisor Overview
- Technical Support: Troubleshoot and resolve computer operating, software, and hardware issues, and provide technical support.
- Vendor Communication: Communicate with vendors to resolve issues.
- Risk Management: Discover, mitigate, and document information technology risks.
- User Administration: Establish and maintain network users, user environments, directories, and security.
- User Training: Train users on software and equipment usage.
- User Support: Respond to user needs and questions regarding access to network resources and operation of software programs.
- Standards Development: Develop and communicate standards for use, operations, and security of networks, personal computers, and data.
- Department Coordination: Coordinate with other departments to report and resolve software, hardware, and operations problems.
- Technology Research: Research and evaluate new technologies.
- Software Upgrades: Install and test software upgrades.
- Infrastructure Installation: Install cabling infrastructure.
- Staff Supervision: Supervise IT technical staff performance and report metrics to the VP of IT.
- Staff Motivation: Motivate, train, and encourage IT technical staff.
- Issue Prioritization: Prioritize problems and direct IT technical staff to resolve issues efficiently and collaboratively.