Ciara Ruane joins Avolon as Chief People Officer and also joins Avolon’s Executive Committee as part of its executive leadership team

Dublin | 1 November, 2021: Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, announces that Ciara Ruane has joined Avolon to serve in a newly established role: Chief People Officer (CPO). As CPO, Ciara will be responsible for leading Avolon’s people strategy, employee experience, rewards, retention, recruitment, diversity & inclusion, and leadership development and learning. In her role as CPO, Ciara will be a core member of Avolon’s executive leadership team, joining its Executive Committee (‘ExCo’) effective immediately.

Ciara has over 20 years’ Human Resources (HR) experience working in strategic HR and effectiveness. Most recently, Ciara served as Group Director of People and Culture at Primark. Aside from the management of the day-to-day employment lifecycle, she was also responsible for the creation of its people strategy and the development of Primark’s People & Culture leadership team globally, ensuring best practice HR processes were embedded across Primark’s 14 markets for the benefit of its 70,000 employees.

Dómhnal Slattery, Avolon CEO, commented: “People are at the heart of every great company and, at Avolon, this is no different. Our people – our TRIBE – are the key differentiator for the business. The appointment of Ciara to the new role of Chief People Officer reflects our continued commitment to investing and developing our TRIBE, ensuring that Avolon’s strong culture and values remain central to how we operate. Ciara is a strong addition to Avolon’s leadership team and brings extensive experience in developing and implementing people focused strategies, which will help continue to position Avolon as the employer of choice within the sector and contribute to our future success.”

Ciara Ruane, Avolon Chief People Officer, said: "I am delighted to be joining Avolon, a company which places a significant focus on its culture and commitment to its people. As a global leader, Avolon already has a strong combination of talented people and clear values. I am excited about the opportunity to help its TRIBE grow further – ensuring the company is well positioned for further long-term success.”

About Ciara Ruane
Ciara joined Primark in 2016, initially taking responsibility for the global reward agenda before becoming Group Director of People and Culture in 2020. Ciara also led Primark’s Diversity and Inclusion agenda, wellbeing strategy and corporate giving programmes. Prior to working at Primark, Ciara worked for Willis Towers Watson for over 10 years where she led the Reward, Talent and Communications Consulting practice where she focused on developing Willis Towers Watson’s HR, reward, culture and talent strategies and solutions for their top 200 clients. Ciara is a graduate of Smurfit Business School and has a Bachelor of Science from University College Cork.