Aoife O’Kane
Dublin,Ireland
Summary
I am a dynamic HR professional with extensive experience in driving change management, scaling operations, and providing commercially focused HR business partnering. Most recently led site HR activities at FIRE1 Foundry, a medical tech scaling company, playing a pivotal role in advancing the company's mission and growth objectives. I have a proven track record in fostering positive organisational change, optimising HR processes, and supporting business scalability.
My skills range from workforce planning, talent management and succession planning, to employee relations, colleague engagement, talent acquisition and change management. I have collaborated across all levels of organisations up to CEO level.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
5
5
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work history
HRBP / HR Leader
Foundry Innovation & Research 1 Ltd (FIRE1)
Dublin
01.2022 - 05.2024
- Company Overview: A medical tech scaling company
- Reporting to the COO, my role was to enhance and deepen the performance of human resources, ensuring that all aspects of HR, people and culture are effectively managed and are consistent with, and enrich, the FIRE1 values and overall purpose
- Change management – Brought the FIRE1 team on a journey of cultural development through the introduction of GPTW engagement survey and associated processes
- HR Operations - Established and built the HR function from the ground up and in line with the company's strategic objectives and overall purpose
- Colleague engagement - Improved the overall employee experience through the introduction of tailored people development plans and the launch of the company’s employee career framework
- Talent Acquisition - Hired FIRE1’s first US employee, VP Clinical through implementing the Employer of Record model, led a major recruitment campaign for the company in 2022 increasing headcount by 50%
- Act as strategic partner to Senior Leadership to drive business objectives through the people plan
- Collaborate with the heads of function to design and deliver on organisation design, develop strategic workforce plans to enable the business achieve its organisation’s strategy
- Develop the FIRE1 Culture and enhance the employee experience journey as we expand our team to new geographical locations
- Build strong relationships with all people managers and act as a trusted advisor in all people related matters
- Lead activities related to the annual GPTW survey and continue to strive for improved results through collaboration with Senior Leadership Team and the wider FIRE1 team
- Lead all Talent Acquisition activities and scale company as clinical trial expands to US & other European locations
- Lead HR activities for US market entry (Establish Employer of Record, Recruitment in US, Global mobility support)
- Manage and develop team of two including HR Generalist and Office Manager
- Lead the annual compensation cycle including salary benchmarking and provide support with benefit information / communications
- Presented annual compensation review to Board & Compensation Committee members
- Ensure all employee relations matters are dealt with in a fair and consistent manner taking into consideration of the company’s values and HR policy
- A medical tech scaling company
HR Business Partner (maternity cover)
Bristol Myers Squibb
05.2020 - 06.2021
- Culture development - Successfully attained 9th best large GPTW status for Bristol Myers Squibb Cruiserath (awarded Mar 2021) – moved from 10th position to 9th position in 2021
- Workforce Planning - Responsible for the design and roll out of Cruiserath’s Workforce Planning process, piloted in 2020 and fully embedded in 2021
- Act as a strategic Business Partner for the Cruiserath Biologics Manufacturing Site (500+ employees)
- Support Directors and Associate Directors with various organisation design challenges and employee relations matters
- Partner with team members of the HR Operating Model (Centres of Excellence and People Service Centre) to articulate business needs and partners in delivering solutions in ways that bring value across the enterprise
- Manage change with strong people, communication and stakeholder management skills
- Implement HR strategies and initiatives in line with global and market business strategies
- Proactively drive the talent strategy to develop talent, strengthen and diversify the talent pipeline for critical roles and identify key talent and leadership development opportunities
- Lead the workforce planning process with Senior Leadership Team on a bi-annual basis
- Leverage the organizational and cultural strategies to support ongoing innovation and change
- Actively cultivate a diverse and inclusive site community through D&I initiatives and promotion of D&I activities at site level, member of the D&I engagement team
- Collaborate closely with Leadership Team and various engagement teams to foster a culture of Great Place to Work and lead the GPTW Culture Audit submission and related activities
- Use people analytics and insights to inform, monitor and assess our decisions
- Partner with the Talent Acquisition Team for key hires as required
- Leverage business strategy, people strategy, external best practices and organizational insights to deliver bold and innovative organizational and talent solutions
HR Consultant
Voltedge HR Consultancy
01.2020 - 05.2020
- On-site HR Consultancy role for a PR & Advertising company based in Dublin city centre in a stand-alone HR capacity
Head of HR (maternity cover)
Ipsen Manufacturing Ireland Ltd
04.2018 - 07.2019
- In this dual reporting line role to Site VP and VP for Human Resources, Global Tech Operations Division, I completed the following: Talent Acquisition - Led the HR Site Team during a significant growth period ensuring successful new hires were onboarded and retained – 56 new hires in 2018 in total, 50% of population
- Culture Development - Successfully attained 8th best medium GPTW status for Ipsen Dublin (awarded Feb 2019) – moved from 12th position to 8th position in 2019
- HR Operations - Successfully integrated iPeople (Workday) HRIS system for the site
- Strategic HR Partnership - Led site initiatives to embed the new One Ipsen Way of Being values for Ipsen Dublin resulting in a more cohesive and aligned culture
- Provided HR Leadership, direction and support to Site VP and Senior Leadership Team and business owners in major site expansion project
- Introduced a 24/5 shift cycle in partnership with the Manufacturing Director, agreed shift pattern and terms and conditions with the management and staff of that function
- Responsible for all ER issues at site level and speedy resolution of same
- Led the annual Talent Management and succession planning process with Site VP and identified key talent and leadership development opportunities
- Analysed people metrics to drive performance improvements in the business
- Led the performance management cycle, managed communications of same
- Collaborated with the relevant centres of excellence to ensure a smooth delivery of HR services to site
HR Manager
Amgen Technology, Ireland
05.2013 - 06.2017
- Strategic HR- HRBP Lead for roll out of Best Place for Talent programme in 2016
- Talent Development - HR Lead for launch of Graduate program at Amgen, 1st Amgen plant to launch such a program
- HR Operations - Site Restructure 2014 – 100 redundancies and 80 new hires in 12 months
- HR Business Partner for respective client group of 200 staff, proactively managed a number of HR processes on site
- Partnered with the Senior Leadership Team and HR Director to deliver the Talent Management program
- Coached managers and senior leaders in relation to all people management issues
- Facilitated training and development; delivered in-house courses
- Program owner for performance management program at Amgen, responsible for site wide communications, provided training to managers and managed MAP deadlines for site
- Compensation and Benefits – Partnered with the Compensation and Benefits Manager to manage the annual compensation review process for all staff
- HR contact for pension plan
- Responsible for delivery of onboarding programs and events, new hire orientation, Corporate New Hire event and onboarding training for new managers
- Managed all employee relations issues including investigations and disciplinary meetings for client group, percentage of client group were members of TEEU union and SIPTU union
Various HR roles including Assignment as HRBP
Pfizer* and Amgen Technology, Ireland
09.2007 - 05.2013
HR Assistant
Enterprise Ireland (EI)
Dublin 9
09.2005 - 09.2006
Education
CIPD Cert - Personnel Practice
National College of Ireland, IFSC
01.2006 - 06.2006
BA (Hons) - International Business Studies
University of Ulster, Coleraine, Co. Derry
09.1999 - 06.2003
MBS - HRM
DCU
Dublin 09.2006 - 08.2007
Skills
- Critical-thinking
- Employee Relations
- Workforce planning
- HR analytics
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Talent management
- Employee engagement
- Interpersonal communication
- Organisational development
- Process Improvement
- Team building
Affiliations
- Keen runner and fitness advocate, allowing me to stay healthy and maintain balance.
Certification
Chartered member of CIPD.
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
HRBP / HR Leader
Foundry Innovation & Research 1 Ltd (FIRE1)
01.2022 - 05.2024
HR Business Partner (maternity cover)
Bristol Myers Squibb
05.2020 - 06.2021
HR Consultant
Voltedge HR Consultancy
01.2020 - 05.2020
Head of HR (maternity cover)
Ipsen Manufacturing Ireland Ltd
04.2018 - 07.2019
HR Manager
Amgen Technology, Ireland
05.2013 - 06.2017
Various HR roles including Assignment as HRBP
Pfizer* and Amgen Technology, Ireland
09.2007 - 05.2013
MBS - HRM
DCU
09.2006 - 08.2007
CIPD Cert - Personnel Practice
National College of Ireland, IFSC
01.2006 - 06.2006
HR Assistant
Enterprise Ireland (EI)
09.2005 - 09.2006
BA (Hons) - International Business Studies
University of Ulster, Coleraine, Co. Derry
09.1999 - 06.2003
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