Tim Ryan, Glanbia: Flexible Contracts Helped Me Shape A 20-Year Career in Marketing
“I had a permanent opportunity and an interim opportunity and I took the interim opportunity.”
It’s a rare and magical thing when a brand becomes synonymous with a country – but think of Ireland and your mind will likely wander to Jameson, Dairygold and Avonmore.
These are just some of the brands that have achieved this very special place in the national psyche – and they’re just some of the brands with whom Tim Ryan has worked on a flexible basis throughout his 20-year marketing career.
Now Head of Marketing for Glanbia, he knows a thing or two about inspiring customer loyalty, identifying key consumer trends, growing brands to become market leaders – and most importantly of all, building marketing teams that are set up to deliver success.
The best and brightest
This varied skill set has come through a long and storied history of working interim and fixed-term contracts, allowing Tim to work with the best and brightest in his industry, gathering invaluable insight and experience along the way.
It’s something he traces back to the very outset of his career, when he took on an interim role with a leading FMCG brand in order to get in front of the right people – and gain the right experience.
“I had a permanent opportunity and an interim opportunity and I took the interim opportunity,” he reveals on the new Alternatives podcast, Live Your Best Life.
“A lot of people said it was a crazy thing to do but I actually saw the value in working for someone called Hylton Banks [then marketing director of Kellogs]. It turned out to be absolutely instrumental.
“My time at Kelloggs was superb. I really got to understand what a brand like Kelloggs means to consumers,” he says. “Flexible working offers new perspectives and insights and the chance to learn about a new category.”
And indeed his current stint in Glanbia began as a flexible working arrangement for a fixed-term project. Seven years later, now Head of Marketing for the company, Tim says it’s the willingness to adapt to new trends and the desire to stay relevant that makes his job interesting.
Vibrant teams
“Avonmore, for instance, is over 50 years old and we just came from a meeting that showed us a whole new tone for the brand – and it’s very exciting,” says Tim.
Having experienced the power and impact of flexible working first-hand, Tim now turns to Alternatives to help him build vibrant marketing teams.
“It’s hard to keep up with the pace of modern marketing, unless you spend all your time upskilling.”
“Flexible hiring opens your eyes to the skills that are out there. It brings expertise into the organisation.”
Tim is a guest on Episode 2 of Live Your Best Life, a podcast by Alternatives that takes a deep-dive into the world of flexible working.
