Here is a selection of people starting new roles with LK Shields, Onate, Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland, UCD Professional Academy, Ardanis and JTC.
Jane O’Grady has been promoted to partner with law firm LK Shields. Jane re-joined the firm in 2018 as an associate within the intellectual property, technology and data privacy team. Jane has extensive experience acting for businesses on high value, complex contracts including cross-border agreements. She works on delivering commercially focused solutions in their contractual arrangements. Jane’s work covers drafting and negotiating outsourcing agreements, software licences, service-level agreements, website and app terms of use and end-user licence agreements. She also advises on agreements for major pharma companies. She advises on IP, privacy law, GDPR, data subject access requests and cross-border transfers of personal data.
Michael Gavin has been promoted to senior lending manager with Onate, the Irish bridging finance lender. A native of Clare and a graduate of UL, Michael has been with Onate since January 2022, contributing significantly to the business. He previously worked at Pepper Financial Services Group and First Citizen Finance DAC. Michael is a member of the Institute of Bankers, and an accredited product advisor. He brings nine years of experience in financial services and a strong track record with managing residential and commercial portfolios to his new role with Onate, which gives loan applicants a yes or a no within 24 hours.
Amy O’Shaughnessy has been appointed to the complaints committee of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI). Amy is head of the brand team with Energia, leading on brand strategy and positioning, creative development, media, PR, sponsorship and internal communications for Energia and Power NI retail brands Energia Renewables and Energia Group. She has worked with Energia for over ten years in acquisitions, comms and sponsorship manager roles. She brings more than 20 years of experience in marketing and advertising for telecoms, broadcast and the utilities industry. Amy holds a degree in Communications from UCD, and diplomas in digital marketing and event management.
John Delves has been appointed as CEO of UCD Professional Academy, workforce upskilling and professional development specialist. He will also be the CEO of the UCD English Language Academy. John is an experienced C-suite level executive in the telecoms, food and software Industries. He has held senior roles with Hibernia Foods, Kerry Foods, Greencore and Digicel; he was also the founding chair of the Digicel Foundation in Trinidad and Tobago. After leaving Digicel, John became MD of Magnet+, where he led the integration of Magnet Networks and Airspeed Telecom and is part of the Speed Fibre Group which was sold late last year.
Grace Maughan has been appointed UI/UX designer at Ardanis with responsibility for identifying and engaging with company and client design needs. She will conduct user research, perform usability testing and create documentation such as user personas, empathy maps and user journeys. Grace’s project ‘Green Screen’ was shortlisted for the Global Graduate Design Show, which was sponsored by Gucci. She also completed an internship at FoodCloud. Grace holds a BA in Interaction Design from NCAD and completed an Erasmus course in ENSCI Les Ateliers, Paris, France, as well as studying industrial design there. She brings a lot of creativity and flair to the new role.
Melanie Herbert has been appointed as regional head of UK & Ireland for the institutional client services division of professional services company JTC. She will bring together over 200 existing colleagues, working across five offices to support the group’s clients across the region. Melanie joins JTC with a wealth of knowledge in financial services from her career in alternative asset management and fund administration, most recently leading a team of over 100 as jurisdictional head of private equity at Aztec Group. She has led M&A integration and deep expertise in corporate alignment, working for large and boutique fund managers, spanning hedge, infrastructure, and private equity.
