Ciara Ruane joined aircraft leasing company Avolon to serve in the newly established role of chief people officer (CPO). As CPO, Ruane will be responsible for leading people strategy, employee experience, rewards, retention, recruitment, diversity and inclusion and leadership development and learning for Avolon. In her role as CPO, Ruane will be a member of Avolon’s executive leadership team, joining its executive committee, effective immediately.

Ruane has more than 20 years of human resources experience. Most recently, Ruane 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 and culture leadership team globally.

“People are at the heart of every great company and at Avolon, this no different,” Dómhnal Slattery, CEO of Avolon, said. “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.”

“I am delighted to be joining Avolon, a company which places a significant focus on its culture and commitment to its people,” Ruane said. “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.”

Ruane joined Primark in 2016, initially taking responsibility for the global reward agenda before becoming group director of people and culture in 2020. Ruane also led Primark’s diversity and inclusion agenda, wellbeing strategy and corporate giving programs. Prior to working at Primark, Ruane worked for Willis Towers Watson for more than 10 years, leading the reward, talent and communications consulting practice and focusing on developing Willis Towers Watson’s HR, reward, culture and talent strategies and solutions for its top 200 clients.