Business movers

New roles with MSD, Mental Health Commission, Corporate HR Ireland, Musgrave Group, Smart D8 and Contracting PLUS

New roles: (top row, left to right) Matt Maher, Gary Kiernan, Maureen Heffernan; (bottom row) Ian Allen, Orla Veale and Jimmy Sheehan.

Here is a selection of people starting new roles with MSD Brinny, the Mental Health Commission, Corporate HR Ireland, Musgrave Group, Smart D8 and Contracting PLUS.

Matt Maher has been appointed site lead at MSD Brinny, Co Cork. The healthcare company employs 900 people in Cork, part of the 2,700 staff across six sites in Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Meath and Tipperary. The Cork site develops biotech products, vaccines and tests immuno-oncology products. With 17 years’ experience with MSD, Matt has held a wide range of roles at MSD  Brinny including technical operations, validation, process and analytical development, manufacturing operations and end-to-end commercialisation activities. most recently, he led the technical operations department. He holds an MSc in Microbiology and a post-grad in Process and Chemical Engineering, both from UCC. He is also a certified Black Belt in lean Six Sigma.

Gary Kiernan has been appointed as the Mental Health Commission’s first director of regulation. He will work with all stakeholders to drive standards and quality improvement in mental health services in Ireland. He brings 20 years of experience in regulation in health and social services, most recently with the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in the regulation of services for older persons, and for people with a disability. With HIQA, his roles included inspector of social services, regional manager, and national operations manager. Gary began his career in regulating early years’ services in environmental health, then moved to food safety regulation. He holds qualifications in environmental health, public health, and leadership and management from TCD, DIT, UCD and the Institute of Public Administration. He is originally from Co Roscommon.

Maureen Heffernan has been appointed as head of the HR service delivery team with Corporate HR Ireland, outsourced HR services provider for SMEs. A Chartered MCIPD with over 15 years of HR experience, she has held senior HR roles with the FRS Network/Turas Nua, Irish League of Credit Unions, CIF Pension Administration Services (CPAS), and Ulster Bank Group. She brings expertise in areas such as employment law, employee relations, HR advice and guidance, as well as policy development. Maureen's role now is to ensure the team provides a seamless professional HR service as a trusted partner of all Corporate HR Ireland clients. She holds a BBS in Human Resource Management from Waterford Institute of Technology, and is a Chartered MCIPD. Corporate HR Ireland, founded in 2008 by Niall O'Connell, provides outsourced HR to SMEs all over Ireland.

Ian Allen has been named as managing director of SuperValu and Centra, the Musgrave Group grocery retail and convenience brands. Previously SuperValu sales director, he has been with Musgrave for the past 23 years. With over 30 years’ experience in the grocery industry and a proven track record of delivering significant brand growth, Ian has been responsible for significant commercial outcomes for Musgrave since joining the business in 1997. He has served in a variety of roles including Centra sales director, head of trading strategy and planning and director of Frank and Honest Coffee. SuperValu serves over 2.6 million customers per week, with 223 stores nationwide; Centra serves over three million customers per week in 473 stores. Combined with their retail partners, the group employs 25,500 people.

Orla Veale has been appointed as project lead for Smart D8, a health research initiative for the community in Dublin 8, led by The Digital Hub, Smart Dublin, Dublin City Council and St. James’s Hospital. She joins from management consultancy Conker, where she was founder and principal consultant, working with health and education clients for four years. She has also worked in health insurance in Ireland and Australia, notably with Aviva and Bupa. She is also an adjunct teaching fellow at Trinity Business School and programme director, Healthcare Leadership. She lectures in Global Brand Management and supervises dissertations for the MSc in Pharmaceutical Business and Technology at Griffith College Dublin. Orla sits on the board of Transparency International Ireland. She holds a Master of Business Administration, H.Dip in Computer Science and is studying for an MSc in Digital Health.

Jimmy Sheehan has been promoted to managing director at specialist accountancy firm Contracting PLUS, having joined in 2018 as commercial director. He will now lead the growth in company services in Ireland, including the launch of a new outsourcing service for Irish companies. He is a fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Ireland and holds a Corporate Finance diploma from the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland. He also has qualifications in IT networking, software development and design. Prior to joining Contracting PLUS, Sheehan was Head of Commercial Development with accountancy firm IAFC Ireland, where he developed the business footprint and revenue, having earlier grown and subsequently sold his own audit and accountancy practice.