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Josh Downey

Josh Downey

IT Technician (Work Experience)

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location of Josh DowneyDubai, United Arab Emirates

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Leading student mobility at University of Birmingham Dubai

  • Education

    • Haydock High School

      2008 - 2013
      GCSE's 10 GCSE's including Maths and English 6A*'s, 3A's & B

      Activities and Societies: Head Boy, Prefect, Olympic Committee Chairman, Student Council Chairman; Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Student Council Chairman: Duties included drafting agendas, organising meetings and campaigning for school improvements. After writing a letter to the High Sheriff of Merseyside, we secured a £10,000 grant to buy new camping equipment for students completing the Duke of Edinburgh award.Haydock Olympic Committee Chairman, 2012: Included helping to secure a £9000 government grant; designing and producing a DVD which showed footage of activities that had been organised for the local… Show more Student Council Chairman: Duties included drafting agendas, organising meetings and campaigning for school improvements. After writing a letter to the High Sheriff of Merseyside, we secured a £10,000 grant to buy new camping equipment for students completing the Duke of Edinburgh award.Haydock Olympic Committee Chairman, 2012: Included helping to secure a £9000 government grant; designing and producing a DVD which showed footage of activities that had been organised for the local community as well as hosting the opening and closing ceremony and leading a team of students. Head Boy, 2012-2013; Duties included helping to deliver assemblies to the school, helping younger pupils and representing the school at events.St Helens’ Secondary School Pupil of the Year, 2012Helped organised and lead an IT course for the elderly in partnership with Helena Housing in 2010, teaching basic computer literacy skills and producing printed materials to assist in the process. Show less

    • University of Birmingham

      2015 - 2019
      BA (Hons.) American and Canadian Studies and History with Year Abroad HISTORY 2.1

      Activities and Societies: Student Ambassador; Birmingham University Royal Naval Unit.

    • Carmel Sixth Form College

      2013 - 2015
      A-Levels History, Computing & Maths AAB

      Activities and Societies: Rotary Interact President, College Ambassador College Ambassador: Duties included providing tours for prospective students and their guests, answering questions about college life and representing the college at ceremonies, open days and during school visits. St Helens Rotary Interact Club President, 2014-2015. During my time as President, I organised a team of students, helped to raise over £3000 for local and national charities, supported a food bank drive to help the community and oversaw the collection of Easter eggs for young… Show more College Ambassador: Duties included providing tours for prospective students and their guests, answering questions about college life and representing the college at ceremonies, open days and during school visits. St Helens Rotary Interact Club President, 2014-2015. During my time as President, I organised a team of students, helped to raise over £3000 for local and national charities, supported a food bank drive to help the community and oversaw the collection of Easter eggs for young patients at Alder Hey hospital. Show less

    • Wilfrid Laurier University

      2017 - 2018
      Year Abroad 80%

      Year Abroad as part of my University of Birmingham degree.

  • Experience

    • Haydock Community Learning Centre (CLC)

      Aug 2012 - Aug 2012
      IT Technician (Work Experience)

      - Maintained both Mac and PC computers, rolling out system upgrades and updates.- Tested server and network equipment to facilitate an upgrade of the server room.- Catalogued and organised the CLC's varied collection of resources.

    • Core Creative Limited

      Aug 2013 - Aug 2013
      Work Experience

      A work experience placement assisting the team's graphic designers with customer orders and tackling design challenges set by the team. In this role, I expanded my skills using the Adobe Creative Suite software package and developed an insight into customer service and business practices.

    • Booker Group

      Sept 2013 - Jan 2016
      Branch Assistant

      Worked on the checkouts, in the cash office and in the branch reception handling customer returns/enquires and maintaining excellent customer service at all times; strove for 100% availability, rotation, date-checking and replenishment of stock; assisted the management team by training other staff on company systems, new processes and in different departments within the branch.

    • Carmel College

      Sept 2015 - Sept 2015
      Data Inputter

      I assisted the Head of Faculty to conduct interviews with prospective students, by inputting their personal details, grades and subject choices into the College’s database. Through this role, I developed my ability to work in a faced paced environment whilst ensuring that accuracy was maintained at all times.

    • University of Birmingham

      May 2016 - Jul 2019

      - Supported the University’s plans to introduce a new ‘Enrichment Week’ as part of the New Academic Teaching Year by leading on the student consultation aspect of the project. - Organised surveys and facilitated focus groups and workshops with students across all levels of study and a range of programmes/backgrounds.- Produced detailed reports of the feedback collected for the Student Services’ Senior Management Team, which helped to shape the plans for the project, from the branding/marketing to the profile of activity planned. Show less - Assisted the Student Recruitment and Outreach teams with the operation of Applicant Visit Days, School Visits and Open Days.- Led tours of the University campus and student accommodation to prospective students and visitors, answering questions related to student life, the application process and facilities at the University.- Provided prospective students with the best possible experience, sharing my enthusiasm for the University and the opportunities it provides to its students by drawing on my approachable persona and my ability to communicate clearly. Show less - Fulfilled University Online Shop orders accurately and in a timely manner.- Responded proactively to enquiries through the Verint customer enquiry system, ensuring high levels of customer service were maintained at all times.- Completed online and postal academic references requests from external organisations, in line with service level agreements and ensuring compliance with GDPR legislation.- Volunteered during degree congregations to perform the role of Building Manager, working in a high-pressure environment and overseeing a team of staff to provide the best possible experience for graduands and their guests. Show less - Collaborated with departments across the University to support the planning and delivery of Welcome at the University's new campus in Dubai, with a focus on communications, branding and establishing the student experience in line with the Birmingham approach.- Selected by senior management to spend two weeks in Dubai, where I worked flexibly and proactively based on the needs of the organisation, supporting various streams of work, from producing branded materials, to training staff, supporting students, delivering induction sessions and triaging queries.- Delivered presentations to colleagues across Student Services, including as part of an all staff briefing and to the Senior Management Team.- Enhanced my understanding of the day-to-day operations and management of the University, and provided experience of working with colleagues from across the University, including directly with senior management. Show less - Recruited, trained and supervised a team of five 1st line analysts, who were responsible for assisting students completing the University’s Online Registration process.- Proactively managed the workload of the team to ensure University service level agreements and quality standards were met at all times, in line with customer expectations.- Conducted ongoing reviews of team performance/service quality and identified issues with the Online Registration system by analysing weekly reports, monitoring trends and making recommendations to senior management where appropriate.- Employed my strong communication and problem-solving skills as the escalation point for difficult Online Registration queries and complaints.- Organised meetings with colleagues and stakeholders across Academic Services to share ways of working and facilitate improved working relationships between the teams. Show less - Assisted students, staff and University guests with IT and online registration queries.- Investigated, troubleshooted and triaged IT issues to second and third line teams within the University through email, over the phone and face to face.- Provided assistance to new and current students completing their annual online registration, drawing on my excellent customer service and communication skills.- Adapted my language to users of all technical abilities and English language skills.- Liaised daily with other University departments including Admissions, Taught Student Administration, Student Services and Accommodation Services.- Helped to plan and deliver Welcome Week activities for the IT Service Desk.- Applied my knowledge and gained further leadership experience as a panel interviewer for new members of staff and conducted one-on-one and group training sessions for successful candidates on a number of bespoke software systems. Show less

      • Project Coordinator

        Feb 2019 - Jul 2019

      • Student Ambassador

        Nov 2016 - Jul 2019

      • Academic Verification Assistant

        Oct 2018 - Feb 2019

      • Welcome Assistant (Dubai)

        Jul 2018 - Oct 2018

      • Online Registration Team Leader

        May 2017 - Jun 2018

      • IT Service Desk Analyst & Registration Helpline Assistant

        May 2016 - May 2017

    • University of Birmingham

      Sept 2019 - Aug 2023

      I am responsible for managing a portfolio of strategic projects across the University. My day-to-day responsibilities include:- Creating and monitoring detailed project plans to enable progress tracking against milestones.- Assessing, mitigating and escalating project issues and risks, taking corrective action where possible to ensure the project remains on track.- Reporting on project progress, including preparing dashboards and presenting to Project Boards and other key stakeholders.- Developing communications strategies to ensure regular and effective stakeholder engagement across a variety of channels. I received an ‘Ambitious’ award at the Spring 2023 ER Recognition Awards for my efforts to manage the development of a new institutional Digital Marketing Services Framework. Show less I played a key role in enabling the Dubai Phase 2 project to achieve its key aims and milestones, proactively taking the lead on:- Developing collaborative tools to monitor project progress and ensure campus readiness.- Building and facilitating connections across the Edgbaston and Dubai campuses. - Managing the induction and training schedules of over 30 new Academic and Professional Services members of staff, including developing high-quality induction packs.- Developing the look and feel of key high-profile spaces in the new campus, including the Student Hub and Tech Bar. - Coordinating invitations to internal and external VIPs for the Official Opening event.- Administering a six-figure project team budget, ensuring spend was accurately forecasted, within agreed budgets limits and reconciled within the divisional finance framework.- Line managing the Dubai Project Administrator, setting and managing their workload and facilitating their professional development.The Dubai Project Team were awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Award at the 2022 Birmingham Professional Awards for our work to launch the University of Birmingham Dubai's outstanding Phase 2 campus. Show less --1st Year Placements--September - December 2019: Communications and Reputation, External Relations(Conducted a review of the University’s internal communications, with a specific focus on improving engagement with a number of hard-to-reach audience groups. I developed a package of recommendations and a deliverable action plan for how to better reach these groups and also led on an additional project to increase the profile of the division).January - April 2020: Director’s Office, Finance(Working with External Relations and other key stakeholders, I analysed multiple datasets and devised a model that could be used by senior management colleagues to track costs and identify areas for further investigation. I also led on a project to compile and produce a synthesis of market research for the Dubai HE market).May - August 2020: College Education Support Team, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences(Whilst operating under restricted campus operations due to COVID-19, I supported a portfolio of projects across the College, including the administration of the Programmes and Modules Approval process and initiatives to improve and streamline Education processes to increase resilience, efficiency and consistency across the College).--2nd Year Placement--September 2020 - August 2021: Strategic Change Team, Executive Support(Led the delivery of a number of strategic projects, employing a suite of project/change management tools and a collaborative approach to enable meaningful and lasting change)--Additional Responsibilities--Secretary to the University's Sustainability Steering GroupSecretary to the University's Sustainability Task Group Show less

      • Project Manager

        Mar 2022 - Aug 2023

      • Dubai Project Support Officer

        Jun 2021 - Mar 2022

      • Graduate Management Trainee in Professional Services

        Sept 2019 - Jun 2021

    • University of Birmingham Dubai

      Aug 2023 - now
      Student Mobility Officer

  • Licenses & Certifications

  • Honors & Awards

    • Awarded to Josh Downey
      Team of the Year University of Birmingham Feb 2017 During my time working for the IT Service Desk at the University of Birmingham, we won the 'Team of the Year' award at the 2017 Birmingham University Awards for Tremendous Achievement (BUAFTAS). This award recognised our continued commitment to providing first-class support to our 30,000+ end users. "The Service Desk are the first point of contact for all IT queries across the University, with the aim of solving most calls at the point of contact. Without shadow of a doubt they are… Show more During my time working for the IT Service Desk at the University of Birmingham, we won the 'Team of the Year' award at the 2017 Birmingham University Awards for Tremendous Achievement (BUAFTAS). This award recognised our continued commitment to providing first-class support to our 30,000+ end users. "The Service Desk are the first point of contact for all IT queries across the University, with the aim of solving most calls at the point of contact. Without shadow of a doubt they are always exceptionally busy. Their calls stats will back this up. When users ring the service desk, they are often frustrated and take their frustrations out on the poor person who responds to their query. It's not personal, it's just business. The Service Desk not only represent IT Services but the University. The service desk is a busy and stressful place to work, and yet the staff are always polite and helpful and despite a huge workload they respond in a timely fashion. Working at the Service Desk is a thankless task - no one ever rings to say that everything is working. They ring because it's not and rarely people say thank you. Everyone on the BUAFTA panel will have experienced an IT Issue at some point, and you would have rang the IT Service Desk, and experienced excellent customer service. The team at the Service Desk take calls not just from Staff in Professional Services, but from staff in the Colleges; Students; Alumni Students; Prospective Students; Parents of Students and the public, for every phone call that they receive, they have received many more via the Web straight into Service Now; and they will be conducted 'live chats' and Serving people face to face. The Service Desk also run the Web Reg event and the Laptop Clinic, and the Service Desk runs a 7 day service and has extended opening hours.. It really is a very comprehensive service that the service desk provide, and often it can feel like a thankless task. The Service Desk team deserve a BUAFTA." Show less
    • Awarded to Josh Downey
      St Helens’ Secondary School Pupil of the Year, 2012 St Helens Reporter Jul 2012 Voted as St Helens' Secondary School Pupil of the Year for 2012 by the St Helens Reporter newspaper after nomination by a local community leader and selection from a shortlist for recognition of my continued commitment to community projects and helping people.