Laura Kelly
Chief People Officer & Head of Operations
My love of all things people and processes really started in London, working for Tech SMEs. I worried that a move to Belfast in 2017 might mean abandoning my career in technology, but the N.I tech scene is just as vibrant as London (if a little narrower).
I joined ARKK in 2019 as their Senior HR Business Partner and moved onto the Executive team in 2022. When I started, ARKK was on the cusp of substantial growth and in my time here we’ve doubled in headcount. But this journey has been about so much more than growing the team. We’ve expanded all our processes and introduced brand new departments to take on the challenges of our expanding product base, and our people’s passion and abilities have been at the very heart of this. My role as Chief People Officer and Head of Operations enables me to focus on how we align our internal resources to deliver our ambitious growth plans and keep current in the ever-changing regulatory market.
Everyone, from those who’ve been with ARKK since the beginning, to people we hired yesterday work hard to maintain our culture of equality and I'm proud that ARKK is led by a c-suite who are 60% female, with a workforce 50:50 gender balance ratio (at time of writing).
Prior to ARKK, I led the HR department for Pact Coffee, which was one of the fastest paced environments I’d ever witnessed (possibly due to all the caffeine). It was here that I discovered my skill with goal setting cycles, performance management and the internal alignment of people, systems and processes towards strategic commercial goals.
Before discovering a love for HR, I worked as a professional aerialist and, although being a mum, and my role at ARKK doesn’t leave much time for getting into the air, I keep this passion alive in my role as Chair of the Board of Trustees for The Belfast Circus School, a performance charity which works with vulnerable young people.
