Business movers: People starting new jobs in Ireland

New appointees with Heidrick & Struggles, Wilson Architecture, Irish Life Investment Managers, Telus International Ireland, Kennedys and Altada

New roles: (top row, left to right) Simon Waddington, Fionuala Lennon, Anthony MacGuinness; (bottom row) Ainhoa Toro, Andrew McGahey, Máire P Walsh.

Here is a selection of people starting new roles with Heidrick & Struggles, Wilson Architecture, Irish Life Investment Managers, Telus International Ireland, Kennedys and Altada.

Simon Waddington has been appointed as a new principal and member of the financial services and corporate officers practices of executive search and leadership advisor Heidrick & Struggles. He will be based in Dublin. He brings more than 25 years’ experience, notably in advising clients on executive roles, with a particular focus on CFO and C-Suite placements in the financial services sector. He previously ran the Irish operations for Hanover, a London-based boutique search firm, having previously run his own search firm, Waddington Executive Search. He has also held roles with Healy Hunt Executive Search and Merc Partners. He holds a Law degree from University of Sheffield and a diploma in Management Practice from University of Ulster.

Fionuala Lennon has joined Wilson Architecture as interior design principal; she joins on a full-time basis after a year as a consultant with the practice. She brings a wealth of experience in commercial and hospitality interior design projects worldwide. She now heads up Wilson Architecture’s Interiors Studio, and she will target all aspects of the interiors markets from office interiors to hospitality to residential. She previously ran her own practice, Nuns Lane Studio, for more than 20 years. She has developed a reputation for dynamic, modern and eclectic interiors. Wilson Architecture’s recent commercial interior design projects in Ireland include fit-outs for Varonis, Grant Thornton, Sophos, Flexi Workspace, IBEC, Aspira, Dennehy’s Gym, and the New Visa Office, Embassy of Ireland in Beijing.

Anthony MacGuinness is to take on the role of chief investment officer with Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) in January 2022, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Ireland. He replaces Colm O’Neill, who will step down in December after 14 years in the role. Mr MacGuinness is currently the deputy CIO and joined ILIM in 2004. As deputy CIO, he has been responsible for designing and building key ILIM products, including Irish Life’s multi-asset fund range MAPS. Colm O’Neill will remain at ILIM as a non-executive director of the business and fund structures. During his time in the role, Colm O’Neill grew the ILIM team from 130 to over 210 investment professionals and assets under management from €34bn to €92bn.

Ainhoa Toro has been appointed as digital marketing specialist within the brand and communications team at Telus International Ireland, a provider of multilingual digital customer experience (CX) and digital IT solutions. She joined the firm in 2015 as a tech support specialist having moved from her native Spain. She was promoted twice and took on the role as employee engagement specialist in 2018 where she developed and implemented team member engagement strategies. Ainhoa completed a Masters in Digital Marketing Strategy in 2019. In 2020, she started a successful internal podcast, which now has over 30 published episodes. Cork is a key location for Telus, which has clients in tech and games, communications and media, eCommerce and fintech, healthcare, and travel and hospitality.

Andrew McGahey has been appointed as regional managing partner for EMEA with global law firm Kennedys, following a global structure review. Managing partner of the firm’s Dublin office, he joined Kennedys in 2018 as part of a broader team hire from US firm Mayer Brown in London. With more than 20 years’ experience of advising on coverage disputes and defending insureds against third party claims, Andrew relocated to Dublin to lead the insurance team with Kennedys. His practice focuses on advising insurers on claims involving directors and officers, financial institutions, fund managers, accountants, trustees and solicitors. He also advises on claims made under warranty and indemnity and public officering of securities insurance (POSI) policies, as well as property damage, business interruption and environmental liability claims.

Máire P Walsh has been appointed as chief commercial officer with Altada, a global provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. She will lead the company’s commercial strategy which will further enable Altada to deliver value and build business relationships across multiple sectors from the company’s San Francisco office. Máire previously served as senior VP for digital technologies with Enterprise Ireland, overseeing the global team advising, supporting and scaling travel technology portfolio companies. She also worked closely developing and building deep tech companies. Prior to that, she was director for digital and online strategy with Subdirect Inc, a developer of subscription modeling strategies; she was also a partner and VP for sales and marketing at Next Steps Marketing, creating its consulting practice and leading digital transformation.