John Delves. Image: Andres Poveda Photography
Delves brings a wealth of commercial experience to the new role, as he held various leadership positions in Digicel for 10 years and was also the MD of Magnet Plus.
John Delves, the former managing director (MD) of Magnet Plus, has been appointed as the head of University College Dublin’s (UCD) Professional Academy and English Language Academy.
As CEO, Delves will be responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of both of these UCD organisations and will take up his new position from tomorrow (1 February). He brings a wealth of leadership experience with him to the new role.
After beginning his career at Hibernia Foods in the UK, Delves held leadership positions in Kerry Foods and Greencore, before he joined Digicel in 2008. He held various CEO-level positions within this company during his 10 years with Digicel, before he joined iCabbi as its CCO in 2019.
During his time at Digicel, Delves helped grow the company from a mobile-only operator into a communications provider across mobile, fixed, TV, broadband and digital media in the Caribbean. He was also was also the founding chair of the Digicel Foundation in Trinidad and Tobago.
Delves became the MD of Magnet Plus in December 2020, where he led the successful integration of Magnet Networks and Airspeed Telecom.
UCD’s Professional Academy is focused on providing professionals with the most in-demand skills they need to be successful in their working lives. Companies such as SAP, Amazon and the HSE have all partnered up with the academy to train employees.
Last year, the academy hit the milestone of 25,000 students. Speaking on his appointment, Delves said he looks forward to working with the team as it delivers “the highest quality courses”.
“Coming from the world of tech and telecoms, this is a unique chance to shape the future growth and ambitions of both UCD Professional Academy and UCD English Language Academy, while also ensuring Ireland’s workforce remains competitive and highly skilled,” Delves said.
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