Jobs News

Sysnet Global Solutions has confirmed it is to create 30 new high-value jobs in Dublin and a further 8 positions overseas by 2014 as part of a new €1.34 million R&D investment programme.

Sysnet intends to expand its software development operation in Dublin and invest in the development of the existing compliance management system to meet the changing needs of existing and future clients.

Established in 1989, Sysnet is a provider of information security and assurance services worldwide.

“The Sysnet brand is recognised globally as a leading provider of information security assurance and payment card industry compliance services. Our clear ambition is to extend our global reach and we are confident that our services can compete and win in this growing world wide market,” said the firm’s chief executive Gabriel Moynagh.

OpenJaw Technologies, a Glasnevin-based firm which develops online retail technology and services to the travel industry, is to create 45 new positions as part of a new €3.3 million research and development (R&D) programme.

The new jobs are focused in the areas of sales, engineering, development and product management and will be located across its Dublin operation and the firm’s regional office in Galway.

The new jobs will bring the total number of people employed by the company in Ireland to 151 by 2013 and its global head-count to 169 over the same period.

OpenJaw enables travel companies such as airlines, online travel agencies (OTAs), hotel chains and loyalty programmes to offer their products and services in the Internet domain. Its customer portfolio features in excess of 40 customers, including British Airways, Airmiles, SAS and other large global travel players.

“Our growth strategy is aimed clearly on greater penetration of the global travel market. The R&D investment programme on which we are embarking will enable us to advance the development of our technology offering and continue to serve the business needs of airline, hotel groups, OTAs and loyalty programmes,” said OpenJaw chief executive Kieron Branagan.

“We see tremendous opportunities for on-going growth in the sector and look forward to continuing to drive the future of the industry,” he added.

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD today (Friday) announced that Eishtec, a Waterford-based company providing consumer contact centre services, is to create 250 new jobs by mid-2012 as part of a major new expansion at its new custom built facility situated at the Cleaboy Business Park, Waterford. This investment is part funded by the Government through Enterprise Ireland. Recruitment for the new positions is currently underway.

The Minister made the announcement when he visited the company’s facility in Waterford this morning. The growth is on the back of Eishtec securing a contract to provide customer service sales support for Orange customers, one of the UK’s leading mobile brands. Orange is run by the UK’s biggest communications company, Everything Everywhere.

Making the announcement Minister Bruton said:

‘The South East region has persistently had higher than average levels of unemployment, and has suffered disproportionately from the economic collapse. That is why last month I published the South East Employment Action Plan, a key part of which was that a clear priority would be assigned to the region by the State enterprise agencies under the remit of my Department.

‘In the context of the recent job losses at Talk Talk, today’s announcement that 250 contact centre jobs are to be created by an Irish company in Waterford with State support is a major boost for the city and shows what is possible with the right government priority and determination.

‘However we are not going to address the region’s problems overnight. At the centre of my plan to bring employment to the South East is a recognition that the structural challenges in the region can only be addressed through a concerted process over several years involving Government, political, community, and other stakeholders in the region. We have started that process and with the right approach today’s announcement can be replicated over the coming years”.

‘I congratulate Enterprise Ireland, as well as the Eishtec management team and their staff for their ambitious plans and their commitment to cementing the future of this company as a leading player in the sector’.

Eishtec was set up by Heather Reynolds, Brian Barry and Colm Tracey in early 2011 and currently employs 30 people. The company is now recruiting for roles across sales campaigns and is in ongoing discussions with additional clients to provide further growth over the longer term. They will be drawing on a long established skills base in Waterford for customer services in the internet, landline and mobile market.

Heather Reynolds, Eishtec’s Director of Operations said: ‘This is a significant win for Eishtec, for Waterford and Ireland. We have the skills and experience in our team to provide the highest quality services to Orange and help support the achievement of its business objectives. We’re delighted we can maintain a proud tradition in Waterford of providing market-leading customer services to blue chip organisations. We expect to grow this business to create further employment and opportunities in our local community, with the welcome support of Enterprise Ireland’.

Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland added: ‘Enterprise Ireland is delighted to provide funding to support Eishtec’s expansion. This is an ambitious and innovative company with a proven track record in high quality service delivery. It is exciting to see this company grow the business and provide high quality jobs in Waterford. We believe the experience of the founders and the available skilled resources in Waterford make this an extremely positive investment for the future’.

Irish animation production company Kavaleer Animations has announced plans to create 30 new jobs in 2012.

The company, which has worked with Sesame Street, Disney and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has just celebrated 10 years in business.

Kavaleer has twice been nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award and once for a British Animation Award, while it has won four Digital Media Awards. Its film work has been selected by over 100 international festivals over the past 10 years.

In 2012, the company will be co-producing a pre-school series consisting of 52 11-minute programmes. It also intends to extend its interactive games and e-learning production to a €1m turnover by April.

Kavaleer said it also has big plans for the world of apps and digital games. It has already produced artwork for Playfirst game ‘Diner Dash’, which is played world-wide and available as an app for iPhone, iPad and PC.

“It’s amazing to think that what started out in 1998 as a hobby has developed into something this big over the past decade,” said CEO and founder Andrew Kavanagh. “Ten years ago, we got our first commission and took a risk by starting a business in the midst of a recession.”

Pharmaceutical giant Allergan is to create 200 new jobs in a €350 million investment at its plant in Westport, Co Mayo.

The US multinational, which employs 900 people in Ireland, is expanding to meet growing demand for its Botox product in treatment of migraines and incontinence.

It will take on 200 new staff over the next four years.

It is estimated another 250 jobs will be created indirectly locally during the construction period.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny described the jobs boost as a significant vote of confidence in Ireland. “Developments like this will help us on the path to economic recovery,” he said.

“Allergan’s Westport facility is an important strategic site in their network and contributes more than 50 per cent of global revenues from a range of products manufactured here,” added Mr Kenny, who is a TD for Mayo.

“The expansion of this facility is a much needed boost for the region and will bring further high quality jobs to the west of Ireland.”

Allergan have purchased the technology park next to its Westport facility to allow for the expansion.

Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland managing director Pat O’Donnell said the company expected the demand for Botox to continue to grow.

100 new jobs have been announced by the US multinational management consultants Accenture.

100 technology jobs have been announced by the US multinational management consultants Accenture.

The positions are targeted for both graduates and those with industry experience and will be based around the country.

These jobs are on top of an earlier four-year programme to recruit 100 staff announced in November at a research and innovation centre it was establishing. Accenture already employs more than 1,300 people in Ireland.

Accenture, a company to which other business look to for management and technology services and outsourcing, has a global workforce of more than 240,000.

Its international client list includes a majority of Fortune 500 companies, and in Ireland they work with Microsoft, Kerry Group and the Revenue Commissioners amongst others.

Recently, Accenture moved its corporate headquarters to Ireland from Bermuda.

Tullamore, Co Offaly, 2nd March, 2011- Kelcourt Plastics, Inc, a component supplier to the medical device industry, headquartered in San Clemente, California announced today that it is establishing a new medical tubing manufacturing operation in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, with the support of IDA Ireland.  Kelcourt Ireland Pte Limited will create 55 new jobs over 5 years and is making a significant capital investment in its building at the IDA Business and Technology Park in Tullamore.

Kelcourt Plastics, Inc. is a division of PPC Industries Inc. of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.  In late 2010, Kelcourt was acquired by PPC Industries, Inc., a flexible packaging company which focuses on value added packaging for medical, food and industrial markets.  PPC also has a growing presence in Europe and is considering options for flexible film conversion in the Kelcourt Irish facility.  Kelcourt’s medical tubing capabilities and PPC’s medical packaging portfolio create perfect synergy into a broad range of key medical device applications that will be locally sourced in Ireland. The company also plans to target the European market with its range of medical tubing and packaging solutions. 

The Irish operation will also establish a product development function to work closely with client R&D teams on new product concepts.  The specialized tubing that will be manufactured at the plant will be used in hundreds of diverse medical products including anesthesia, urology, cardiology, surgery, IV systems and emergency medicine.

Making the announcement today Patrick Mickle, President, Kelcourt said “We searched for the right location to establish an operation to meet the demand for our medical and speciality tubing capability as well as our packaging capabilities in Ireland.  We are very excited to establish a manufacturing facility in Tullamore and we look forward to finding the right calibre of staff to ensure our success here.  This also creates the perfect gateway into the growing European market.” 

Commenting on the announcement IDA Ireland, CEO Barry O’Leary said  “Kelcourt’s decision to locate this operation in Ireland enhances the medical device supplier base here. Ireland’s reputation as a hub for Life Sciences continues to grow with 8 of the top 10 pharmaceutical and 15 of the top 20 medical devices companies worldwide with operations here.”

“IDA’s strategy, Horizon 2020, sets out to achieve balanced regional development in Gateway locations, and today’s announcement for Tullamore builds on the strong medical device cluster in the Midlands Gateway,” concluded Mr. O’Leary.

Athlone,  American Medical Systems Holdings (AMS), the leading supplier of medical devices to treat urological and pelvic health conditions, today announced that it is to establish a manufacturing operation in Athlone with the creation of 50 new jobs and plans for future expansion. The new operation will involve an investment of €4.6 million, and is supported by IDA Ireland.
The new facility will be a key manufacturing facility for AMS mesh products used in the treatment of female continence products and pelvic floor repair, while also manufacturing some male continence products. The Irish operation will have full responsibility for all stages in the manufacturing of these products including sourcing and procuring raw materials, production planning and manufacturing, quality control, sterilisation, final packaging and shipping to AMS distribution centres in Belgium and the United States.

“This is the first manufacturing operation AMS has established outside of the United States, and it is of significant strategic importance as the company grows its international presence,” said Thomas Rasmussen, Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain, of AMS. “The decision to locate in Athlone was strongly based on the cluster of leading life sciences companies located here and the opportunity to partner with such companies in the processes carried out by AMS. I would like to thank the IDA for their support in setting this up and look forward to building on the AMS/IDA relationship as we grow our Irish operations.”

Welcoming the announcement, Barry O’Leary, IDA CEO said, “This is an excellent addition to the Midlands Medical Technology cluster and will have a beneficial impact on direct and indirect employment in the region. Manufacturing continues to remain a core strategic pillar of the Irish economic landscape and ‘Horizon 2020’ IDA’s strategy identifies high-value manufacturing as a key target area. Today’s announcement is in keeping with this strategy and demonstrates Ireland’s commitment and capability in the area of high-value manufacturing activities. I would like to take this opportunity to wish AMS every success with this investment and IDA Ireland looks forward to supporting the development of the Irish operation into the future.”

DUBLIN – Wednesday 16 February 2011 – PayPal, the leading online payments provider, today announced 150 new jobs at its European operations and customer service headquarters in Blanchardstown, Dublin. The new roles will support PayPal’s fast growing European business, which achieved $1 billion in revenues for the first time in 2010.

GALWAY, Ireland, February 14, 2011 – Fidelity Investments®, one of the world’s largest providers of financial services, today announced that it will add 100 new positions at its facilities in Galway and Dublin. Fidelity will hire 100 highly skilled technology professionals who will focus on Investment Management and Corporate Enterprise technology solutions for Fidelity’s global operations. The initiative, which represents an investment of €11 million by Fidelity over three years, is supported by IDA Ireland.
“The addition of 100 highly skilled technology jobs is an excellent endorsement of Ireland’s flexible workforce,” said IDA Ireland CEO, Barry O’Leary. “Fidelity’s investment shows our capacity to provide an increasingly competitive, business‐friendly environment in which technology companies can grow and develop. Fidelity has one of the largest R&D divisions within the multinational financial services sector operating in Ireland and IDA Ireland is delighted to work closely with the company as it embeds its operations further here.”
Fidelity Investments established its presence in Ireland in 1996 and currently has more than 240 technology associates working at office locations in Galway and Dublin. Technology associates in Ireland support multiple Fidelity business divisions in the United States, Europe and Asia, including Asset Management, Corporate Technology, Information Security and Enterprise Infrastructure.

Fidelity said the expansion is strategically important and will further enhance its Irish operations. The new positions will be part of Fidelity Technology Group (FTG), which is responsible for the company’s technology research, services and operations. FTG provides a diverse range of technology projects that touch almost every aspect of Fidelity’s global businesses including portfolio monitoring and trading, voice recognition systems, user interface design, business process management (BPM) and workflow transaction processing and fund pricing and market data technology. Fidelity’s new technology associates will be engaged in software development such as Java and .NET, performance and test engineering, database development and management, systems analysis and QA. The new jobs range from entry level to management positions.
” Ireland is a proven market in which Fidelity can continue to develop a vital part of our global technology organization,” said Julia Davenport, senior vice president of Fidelity Investments. “By expanding here, Fidelity is making a strategic, long‐term decision to invest in a region with a well‐educated, highly skilled workforce from which we can draw the quality talent needed to provide services across the firm. We’re so pleased to be collaborating with the IDA as well as our partners at several outstanding Irish universities.”
Davenport said that with financial markets active around the clock and Fidelity operating in multiple, global financial markets simultaneously, it’s imperative that the firm’s technology division has the resources to power Fidelity’s world‐class asset management and research organization. With this initiative, FTG is well‐positioned to further expand its current operations in Ireland and enhance its contributions to future technology projects. The quality of the Irish workforce, the success of Fidelity’s existing operations in Ireland and the research carried out in Irish universities were key factors in the company’s decision to expand here.

IDA Ireland today  welcomed the announcement by Allergan, one of the world’s leading Medical Aesthetics companies, that it is to locate the manufacture of its newest medical technology, SeriScaffold, at its manufacturing facility in Westport, Co. Mayo.

SeriScaffold is a bioresorbable silk-based surgery scaffold for use in tissue generation in numerous therapeutic areas including breast reconstruction. Allergan has chosen Westport as the location for this manufacturing activity due to the combination of state-of-the-art engineering capabilities and scientific expertise.

Welcoming the announcement, Barry O’Leary, IDA CEO said, ‘I would like to congratulate the management and staff at Allergan in Westport for winning this excellent investment. It is encouraging that Ireland continues to win investments of this nature demonstrating that advanced manufacturing activities remain as a fundamental part of Ireland’s Foreign Direct Investment portfolio.’

‘Building on its long history of continued investment in Ireland this announcement is highly significant to Allergan and will help to further position its Irish operation as a centre of strategic importance within the parent company. On behalf of IDA I look forward to working with Allergan as the company further develops in Ireland.’

The Irish Times reports that  a Dublin-based subsidiary of the world’s second-largest online poker room, Full Tilt Poker, has confirmed the creation of a further 100 jobs. The recruitment drive will bring to 800 the numbers employed at Pocket Kings Ltd‘s operations at the Cherrywood Science and Technology Park. Pocket Kings acts as a service provider to Full Tilt Poker; it was established in Dublin in 2006.

The Sunday Business Post reports that  Valeo Vision, a Galway firm that makes high-tech cameras for cars, has won a EUR17 million investment from its French parent company. The Tuam-based firm plans to hire 100 staff in R&D.

The Irish Independent reports that Dublin-based Endeco Technologies is to create 30 jobs over the next year, after receiving an investment of more than EUR800,000. Endeco, which specialises in energy management technologies, is to hire software development and sales and marketing staff as it seeks to triple its workforce. The move comes after an investment led by the AIB Seed Capital Fund. Additional funding was raised through Enterprise Ireland and private investors.

Tuam, Co. Galway, Valeo, one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers has announced that it is embarking on a major expansion and RD&I programme at its Valeo Vision Systems (VVS) operation in Tuam, with an investment of €17m and the creation up to 100 new high-skilled positions over the next 3 years.  The investment which focuses on RD&I and high value manufacturing, is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland. 

Valeo is undertaking this major R&D initiative at the operation to target a growing share of the camera market with the development of the next generation of new camera/vision systems and supporting technologies for vehicle parking and manoeuvring.

This investment programme follows on from the successful launch by VVS Tuam of its first generation multi-camera systems on the market in 2008. It is now proposing to significantly expand its manufacturing operations to meet growing automotive customer demand and to develop the next generation vision systems for the global market.

Valeo Vision Systems has built up a strong RD&I competency at the plant and has developed close links with NUIG with the establishment of the Connacht Automotive Research (CAR) Group in 2004.

The additional jobs will be recruited across its manufacturing and RD&I operations. The investment will involve expansion of the plant (including the lease of existing units on the Tuam Business park), investment in advanced technology, training and RD&I.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Mary Hanafin TD paid tribute to the strong performance track record of Valeo’s workforce in Tuam and described the new jobs as a major boost for high-end manufacturing in Ireland.

 ‘The Government is anxious to support research and development projects that can create high-tech manufacturing jobs. Firms that invest in innovation to produce new products and services are the same ones that grow market share, generate jobs and pursue sustainable business models. This investment embeds Valeo’s operation in the group’s global business while at the same time creating top-level career opportunities for Galway,’ said Minister Hanafin. 

Commenting on the VVS expansion, Fergus Moyles Director, Valeo Vision Systems said, ‘I am delighted to announce that recruitment is currently underway for the 100 positions announced today.  The expansion in Tuam is very significant within the Valeo group as it will play a leading role in ensuring that Valeo maintains its technological leadership position in vision systems, generating innovative new products which exceed our clients’ expectations.’
                                                                                                                     
Welcoming the announcement, Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said: ‘This is a very exciting development for Valeo Vision Systems in Tuam.  The decision demonstrates the parent company’s high regard for its Tuam operation, which, I am sure, is in no small part due to the company’s successful track record here. I wish to offer my congratulations to Fergus and his team in Tuam and would like to assure him that he has the full support of IDA Ireland behind him as he embarks on this ambitious new initiative in Tuam.  It is a great success story for high-value manufacturing in Ireland, which is at the centre of innovation and development for such a highly-respected global automotive company.’                 

About Valeo
Valeo Valeo is an independent industrial Group fully focused on the design, production and sale of components, integrated systems and modules for the automotive industry, mainly for CO2 emissions reduction. Valeo ranks among the world’s top automotive suppliers. The Group has 110 plants, 21 Research centers, 40 Development centers, 10 distribution platforms and employs 53,700 people in 27 countries worldwide.

About Valeo in Ireland
Valeo Visions Systems based in Tuam consists of an R&D centre and production site which forms part of the Comfort and Driving Assistance Business Group of Valeo. Originally established in 1982 as Connaught Electronics Ltd. (CEL) as a manufacturer of automotive security products, it diversified into camera systems and was acquired in 2007 by Valeo. CEL was a strategic acquisition for Valeo as it complemented Valeo’s existing detection technologies for vehicle parking and manoeuvring.