By Sharon, Senior Vice President, Technology
After spending 20 years living, working, and building a family abroad in the United States, my family and I decided it was finally time to come home to our beloved, Galway. I am very fond of all my memories living in the United States. In that time, I started my career at Fidelity and have held many roles along the way, met my husband (who is also from Galway!), and started our family with our three beautiful children. While we are so grateful for our time living in the U.S., my husband and I longed to bring our family back home to the warm embrace of Galway for a few important reasons.
First and foremost, the quality of life in Galway drew us back here. There is a huge sense of community everywhere you turn. We are a city that truly treasures family and community. I, for example, value it so much that we built a house when we returned right next door to my childhood home. The community here made it so easy for me to “start over again” in the sense to rebuild my Ireland network of friends, family, and colleagues. It felt like I had never left.
Galway is a beautifully breathtaking city, with a rich, and diverse culture. Sitting West of Ireland, we have access to water by only a 15-minute drive to Salthill on Galway Bay. There’s so much to do if you’re into sports, water sports, land sports, walking, hiking – it’s all at your front doorstep! Being involved in my children’s sports is something that I hold very near and dear to my heart. I have been the secretary of my local ladies’ football club for the past 9 years. It’s an amazing way to be involved with the next generation, and a great way give back to the community.
Aside from sports, the city is booming with a diverse culture of young people as we have a few major universities, like University of Galway and Atlantic Technological University, who house students from all over the world and contribute to the vibrant culture of the city. One of my personal favorite cultural traditions in Galway is the “Macnas Parade” which is an electrifying parade that gets the city in the Halloween spirit. There is truly something in it for everyone here.
I could list a hundred more reasons why we love living in Galway, but I will conclude with this: the ease with which my family and I can travel all around Europe from Galway. I have loved vacationing all over Europe and showing my children different countries and cultures. It’s so easy for us to hop on a quick plane or train ride and be completely immersed in a new country with amazing food, people, music, landmarks, and experiences. I hope my children take these valuable lessons with them for the rest of their lives.
Fidelity made the transition back home quite easy. I was thankful the firm already had a strong presence in Ireland. The access to the innovative technology we have made the transition easier as well as it enables us to work across the globe so efficiently; especially with my team who is still fully based in the U.S. Plus, going into the Galway office helped me reconnect with my Ireland network. There’s nothing like going in and bumping into old and new colleagues.
In my current role as Head of Asset Management Strategy Enablement & Engagement, I focus on managing the work within AM technology and across the firm, enabling the tech strategy to align with our overall business strategy. As you can imagine, it’s a pretty diverse role. I’ve been with Fidelity for 24 years now and am thankful to work for a company that is flexible – so much so they supported my move across continents! Fidelity truly values work-life balance, which is important to me. I can go to work, be challenged and inspired by my teammates, and then come home to enjoy my favorite activities in Galway.
Are you a technologist who also values collaboration, problem solving, innovation and work-life balance? Check out our open tech roles in Galway today to learn more.
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