STUDENT COMPUTING OFFICER
IT SERVICES
About LSHTM
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is Britain's national school of public
health and a leading postgraduate institution worldwide for research and postgraduate
education in global health.
Part of the University of London, the London School is the largest institution of its kind in
Europe with a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise encompassing many disciplines.
The School was ranked one of the top 3 research institutions in the country in the Times
Higher Education’s 'table of excellence', which is based on the 2008 Research Assessment
Exercise (RAE).
The School’s environment is a rich multicultural one: every year over 800 students come to
the School from around 120 countries to study doctoral or master’s degrees. The distance
learning programme which was launched in 1998 now caters for over 2000 students
studying on four masters programmes. The School has about 1200 staff drawn from
around 45 nationalities. There are research collaborations with over 100 countries
throughout the world, utilizing our critical mass of multidisciplinary expertise which
includes clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, social scientists, molecular biologists and
immunologists. At any one time around 80 School staff are based overseas, particularly in
Africa and Asia. We have a strong commitment to partnership with institutions in low and
middle income countries to support the development of teaching and research capacity.
About the Post
This post is based in IT Services who provide a broad range of IT, telephone, e-learning
and audio-visual/multi-media services to LSHTM. The IT function covers the provision,
development and support of the network and communications infrastructure, as well as all
core IT systems and services. The section consists of the following groupings:
helpdesk/user support, network/systems support, and learning support. The post-holder
will join the helpdesk/user support group, responsible for delivering first-line user
support to taught-course students and staff within the School.
The School has a modern IT infrastructure, including an expanding wireless network and
Voice over IP telephone services. The desktops run a mix of Microsoft Windows XP and
Windows 7 with Microsoft Office 2007 and 2013. There is a continual rolling program to
upgrade the desktops operating system. The School has a second site in Tavistock Place,
which comprises office space, meeting/teaching rooms, and a second data centre.
The Job in More Detail
You will be part of the customer service rotation, assigned a week at a time to work in
different areas. Your rotation may involve an early shift (8.30 am to 4.30pm) or a late shift
(9.30am to 5.30pm) depending on support requirements.
The helpdesk team’s main area of responsibility is to support all aspects of taught-course
student computing and to provide IT support to the School, on all sites. In particular,
services for students include the use of wireless laptop trolleys to create mobile computer
classrooms (including both the hardware and software configuration of those laptops), the
provision of wireless network access to students with personal laptops, and the support of
the computer classrooms.
Within the IT Services team there is very close co-operation between the customer
services, systems and networks teams, with plenty of opportunity to be involved in new IT
developments.
This is a role that is extremely varied, and will offer you the opportunity to gain expertise
in a number of different areas, both on the networking and communications side and in PC
hardware and software support. Training will be provided as necessary, both by staff
within the Team, and on external courses as appropriate.
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Job Description
FACULTY:
DEPARTMENT:
GRADE:
REPORTING TO:
Central Services
IT Services
Professional Support 2
Helpdesk Manager
Principal Duties
1. To staff the IT Services Helpdesk, providing the first point of contact in person, by
telephone or by e-mail for staff and students reporting IT faults or problems, or with
IT-related queries.
2. To log all such fault reports or queries using the helpdesk call logging system in an
accurate and timely manner.
3. To resolve the IT faults and provide answers to queries, or escalate to other IT Services
teams as appropriate.
4. To monitor the availability of the IT facilities in the computer classrooms on a regular
basis, and to report/resolve faults as necessary.
5. To support staff and students in their use of the computer classrooms (including trolley
laptops) and wireless network facilities.
6. To assist with the installation of new PC hardware as it is purchased.
7. To maintain up-to-date installations on School PCs and laptops, according to the
standards set by IT Services.
8. To install hardware peripherals (printers etc.) and software as required.
9. To assist with the provision of network connectivity to users, through cable patching
etc.
10. To assist in maintaining helpdesk records and documentation.
11. To assist with the provision of support for audio-visual facilities in the School, as well
as audio- and video-conferencing.
12. To work on, or assist with, IT projects and write up your findings.
13. To assist with the provision and support of telephone equipment to users, as required.
14. To liaise effectively with other IT staff.
15. To undertake such other duties as may be required by the Helpdesk Manager or Head
of Customer Services, as demands on the service dictate.
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Person Specification
Essential
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Batchelor’s degree or equivalent
Good communication skills, and a positive attitude to helping others.
Some experience of working in a customer service environment.
Familiarity with Windows desktop operating systems and applications, including
MS Office and e-mail.
Willingness to take on a wide variety of tasks and to learn new skills.
An ability to think logically for fault resolution.
An ability to work effectively as a member of a small team.
Practical experience of providing hardware support for networked PCs and laptops.
Attention to detail and accuracy, particularly in written communication.
Desirable
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Some knowledge of networking infrastructure
Experience of producing help documentation.
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