Mlungisi Kunene

Results-driven and CompTIA A+ certified IT Support Specialist and Technical Team Leader with over 13 years of hands-on experience managing service desk operations, technical troubleshooting, and enterprise support teams. Proven track record of resolving complex infrastructure incidents, managing end-user lifecycles, and ensuring high SLA compliance. An empathetic, people-focused leader adept at coaching large support teams, reducing resolution times, and optimizing customer experience across telecom and government environments.

Customer Service Engineer (L1 Support) & Assistant IT Team Leader (2IC) at Merchants (2022-10 – Present)

• Provide first-line technical support for enterprise users, quickly diagnosing and resolving hardware, software, and application incidents within strict SLA windows.
• Manage Active Directory user lifecycles, including user provisioning, password resets, access management, and folder permissions.
• Troubleshoot corporate connectivity challenges, remote access setups, secure VPN profiles, and firewall configurations to minimize business downtime.
• Document technical findings comprehensively in enterprise ticketing portals, tracking issues end-to-end and escalating complex risks to L2/L3 engineering groups smoothly.
• Serve as the active Assistant IT Team Leader (Second-in-Charge), stepping in to anchor daily shift workflows, manage team performance, and safeguard operational continuity when the Team Leader is away.
• Collaborate with the management team to review system incident trends and implement practical service improvements to stop repeating technology faults.
• Mentor and upskill junior L1 support desk agents, boosting overall desk capabilities and improving team-wide ticket resolution speed.
• Maintained an exceptional individual and team SLA compliance rate consistently above 95%.

1st Line Support: Technical Team Leader (Vodacom Fibre to Business) at Merchants (2015-03 – 2022-10)

• Led, coached, and supported a high-volume team of 60 First Line Support Consultants to deliver outstanding service for the Vodacom Fibre to Business department.
• Supervised the entire incident management lifecycle from initial logging and technical investigation through to final escalation and client resolution.
• Acted as the senior technical escalation anchor for business clients using Vodacom Broadband Connect Wireless Lite, Premium, Fibre to the Business (FTTB), network switches, VPN channels, and VoIP infrastructure.
• Monitored live SLA, KPI, and operational metrics daily to pinpoint service blocks and built clear visual performance reports for management.
• Conducted targeted coaching sessions, quality reviews, and continuous operational adjustments to elevate team customer service metrics.

Field Service Engineer at Gijima (2012-03 – 2014-04)

• Delivered rapid on-site L1 and L2 technical support services across distributed school and office environments for the Gauteng Department of Education.
• Resolved an average of 50 technical system issues daily, hitting an outstanding 95% first-call resolution rate through logical troubleshooting.
• Handled complete deployment, physical setup, custom imaging, software updates, and component upgrades for desktop and laptop computers.
• Answered urgent incoming technical calls, supported users remotely via remote control software, and logged query data transparently.
• Took end-to-end ownership of client problems, providing clear, easy-to-understand technology training and friendly guidance to non-technical staff.

IT Learnership Support Analyst at Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (2011-02 – 2011-12)

• Provided baseline first-line IT and business software support to internal department users.
• Logged incoming technical challenges, assisted with simple workstation setups, and kept technology support documentation updated.

Diploma in Information Technology – University of South Africa (UNISA)