Karen has 17 years experience in the Financial Services, IT, Strategy Consulting and Not for Profit sector. Karen started her career in Standard Life Assurance Company in Edinburgh where she worked in Product Development, IT and Strategy and Change.In November 2005, she returned to Ireland to work for Prospectus Strategy Consultants where she worked on operational improvement projects in Friends First Insurance Group and on an Organisation Restructure and Change Management programme in Enterprise Ireland. On leaving Prospectus she joined Fineos where she was programme manager for the implementation of their Customer Relationship Management system in Britannia Building Society and the development of their core Life and Pensions system. She moved to First-e internet bank two years later where she was Head of the IT Delivery Centre and oversaw €100m worth of banking projects.
On leaving First-e she went to the Educational Building Society as Change Programme Manager for the organisation’s IT strategy, Brand repositioning, Customer Service and Staff benefits programme. She was involved in developing Corporate Social Responsibility strategy for EBS and subsequently went on to become Chief Operating Officer for Suas Educational Development, a start up Not for Profit where she had responsibility for Building the organisations capacity and their citizenship programme in Ireland.