Kilkenny woman Donna Tilson moved to the capital of Ireland’s sunny southeast as a student, to study applied computing at South East Technological University (SETU), then known as WIT.
She met her now husband at college, and soon after graduating, landed a job with a company that is acknowledged to be one of the city’s best employers, Sun Life.
Today the Canadian-founded, US headquartered retirement and benefits group is one of the Waterford’s biggest employers, with a workforce of more than 550.
But in 2001, when Donna joined straight from college, Sun Life had only recently established a presence in the city, with a landing team of just 12 people.
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She went on to build an enviably diverse career within the organisation, rising through the ranks from developer to team lead to manager, leading its US data organisation, a team of more than 150 people.
Two years ago, she moved into a strategic role, working on the mergers and acquisitions that have always played a pivotal role in Sun Life’s growth. Her success in that sphere led to her most recent promotion.
In August, exactly 23 years since she joined the company, she was appointed assistant vice-president for Sun Life’s IT integration strategy, a global role. At the same time, she was also promoted to Ireland site manager.
It’s a fantastic role, and one she is delighted to have secured. She’s also delighted that, at every step along her career path, her progress was supported by continuous education.
Down through the years she returned to SETU again and again, receiving a diploma in ICT teaching, a certificate in counselling, a certificate in strategic human resource management, and a postgraduate certificate in executive coaching.
Most recently, and despite supporting North American M&A activity from a digital integration perspective by day, she returned to college by night to complete a business master’s degree in executive strategy. “It’s been fairly busy,” she laughs.
Underpinning all this activity is the joy that comes from working in an organisation whose values align with her own.
“At Sun Life, our aim and our mission is to help clients achieve financial security, and live healthier, happier lives. We do that by being a leader in group benefits, group retirement services, and individual insurance and wealth. We’ve a whole range of products and services that we offer our clients to help them in their lives and which put their needs first,” she explains.
Global opportunity
Her colleagues in Waterford serve the company’s global business in areas such as information technology, cyber security, technical support, and business and finance administration.
“From a leadership perspective we have highly integrated teams, so we have managers and leaders here in Waterford who are influencing across Sun Life’s organisation,” she explains.
As well as terrific opportunity for career development, the company also offers a really great place to work.
Its campus is based in the IDA Industrial Estate, right behind SETU, and was recently remodelled to support its hybrid-work based workforce. Today it features beautifully designed workspaces, including a library and quiet zones, as well as a super smart ‘tech bar’ where teams can meet to work collaboratively.
“We don’t have a mandate for coming to the office, but we encourage people to come. The office is a magnet, not a mandate,” she explains. The company has achieved Great Place to Work accreditations and won the Irish Centre for Diversity Gold award, she points out, with pride.
A huge part of the reason Sun Life originally opted to locate in Waterford in the first place was the access it offered to talent, thanks to SETU.
“They could see there would be a huge talent pipeline, and they were right. SETU has a throughput of around 17,000 students a year. On top of that there are over 520,000 people living within a one-hour drive,” says Donna.
“SETU provides a huge source of talent for Sun Life – attracting both external talent and allowing internal staff to upskill. Some 60 per cent of our employees are graduates of SETU,” she adds.
Now a member of the SETU ICT board, the importance of education is something she feels passionately about.
She has a particular interest in promoting science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects to women and girls and Sun Life does a lot of work on this at both secondary and third level and with partners such as the STEM Passport for Inclusion programme. “I love that and I’m so grateful I get a chance to do it as part of my role,” she says.
“We also partner with organisations like The Shona project, which engages with and supports young women all over Ireland. They run many impact programmes, including powerful workshops for secondary school students focused on kindness, mindset, resilience and confidence, Shine Festival, ambassador programmes and a new National Mentorship programme.”
Make the right move
For either individuals or businesses thinking of relocating in Ireland, she can’t recommend Waterford highly enough. “There’s a real sense of community here, and a really multicultural one too. Despite its small size, it’s very diverse and open,” she says.
As a child Waterford meant just one thing to her – trips to the seaside. “But what I loved about going to college in Waterford was that, even back then, it had very tangible links to industry which, for me, was a huge attraction. And, of course, the student life was fantastic” she smiles.
Today she has youngsters of her own, three children aged 16, 14 and 12. The family lives in the city, just behind the hospital.
“It’s a lovely city to live in with a variety of primary and secondary schools with a great reputation and loads of extracurricular activities to contribute to them being well rounded. Mine are active in multiple clubs from climbing, tennis, soccer, rowing to athletics,” she says.
There are loads of options for grown-ups too, the kind which short commute times allow you make the most of (Donna’s commute to work is an enviable 10 minutes).
“Waterford is such a playground. There’s a huge variety of activities from walks, cycling tracks, horse riding, tennis and water sports. We have the stunning Copper Coast, the Waterford Greenway, fabulous gardens like Mount Congreve and Curraghmore House, beautiful river valleys and very accessible mountains,” she says.
“Any chance I get you’ll find me swimming in Newtown Cove at Tramore – hail, rain or shine. And with an abundance of river walks and nature walks, if I’m not in the sea you’ll find me out with the kids and the dogs.”
It’s also fantastic for fun. “One of my favourite things about Waterford is that it loves to celebrate. With events like All Together Now, Spraoi, Harvest Festival, Vitamin Sea and Winterval, it feels like there’s a festival every month,” she laughs.
Though she and her kids still “shout for Kilkenny” in honour of her family, ardent supporters of the hurling, there’s no doubting where her heart is.
“I’ll always be a Cat, but Waterford is home”.
Read more here if you think you might want to set up business in Co Waterford