At RECRUITERS, we help people find their dream jobs, from marketing managers and software engineers to finance managers. In fact, RECRUITERS placed Kathy McDermott in her first role with Dixons Carphone as a finance manager. She is now the head of finance.
“My role covers the Irish business, trading brands of Currys PC World and Carphone Warehouse and also the B2B division in the UK,” she said.
“As a business partner I sit on the management teams in Ireland and B2B, ensuring that there is financial control and rigour during decision-making. I have responsibility for budgeting, forecasting and financial control. I work closely with the managing directors for both divisions, providing financial insight on business and commercial decisions.”
‘People in finance tend to look at things quite analytically, which is good to have in the room when you are making decisions’
Unsurprisingly, McDermott’s finance background was incredibly strong, starting in school as a ‘numbers’ kid before going on to study accounting in DCU. “During my BA in DCU, I found myself being interested in tax and so after the ‘milk-round’ I joined a tax department in KPMG.”
After some time working in Ireland, McDermott decided to go travelling, which brought her to Melbourne on the other side of the world where she took a contract working for Delaware North, a global food service and hospitality company. “Initially I worked on a project implementing a bank reconciliation tool. A few months later, I moved on from that to a management accountant role at one of their stadium sites and I think that’s probably what changed the future of my career from being primarily tax focused, to a broader finance role.”
McDermott really enjoyed being involved in the business side and showing how and where finance can add value to a business. “People in finance tend to look at things quite analytically, which is good to have in the room when you are making decisions.”
Two years later, McDermott returned to Ireland and briefly wondered whether or not she should return to a more tax-focused role. “I enjoyed the technical side of tax legislation and still do, but I felt my skillset was better utilised in finance business partnering,” she said.
“I had always enjoyed the technical aspect of taxation and then I found myself in a scenario where I was dealing with non-finance colleagues and really enjoying it. That was somewhat of a surprise to me, and I guess I realised that I really enjoyed being part of the wider business and not just finance.”
Having progressed from her original RECRUITERS placement as financial manager to head of finance in Dixons Carphone, McDermott noted how lucky she was to have had these opportunities to further her career. “I have and continue to work with great people, and I am a believer that your success is driven by the team you build around you. For me, that is very evident in the team I currently work with in Dixons Carphone,” she said. “I found RECRUITERS and Garrett [O’Gorman] to be very professional. They always have a clear understanding of the role and the ask from their client.”
As a finance recruitment manager, Gar O’Gorman specialises in finding high quality, senior level finance professionals and matching them to their perfect roles. You can speak to him about possible opportunities by email at garrett.ogorman@recruiters.ie or on the phone at +353 1 632 5028.
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Brian McFadden is the client services director at RECRUITERS
Calculator and notepad photo by Ashraf Ali on Unsplash
