Management Team

Ian joined Bank of Ireland in December 2019 as Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Ireland (UK) plc and Retail UK Division. Ian has over 25 years financial services experience, having joined Bank of Ireland from Royal Bank of Scotland, where he held the roles of Managing Director, Home Buying and Ownership and Managing Director Specialist Banking. Prior to this, he held a number of senior management roles at Lloyds Banking Group and Zurich Financial Services.

Ian is a graduate of Queen’s University, Belfast

Polina was appointed Interim Chief Risk Officer in July 2020, with her permanent appointment confirmed in December 2020. Polina joined Bank of Ireland in July 2014 as Head of Operational Risk & Financial Crime, and has been Money Laundering Reporting Officer since October 2016.

Prior to joining Bank of Ireland, Polina has held senior roles in Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and the Financial Services Authority. Polina has more than 18 years of UK and international experience in financial services, with earlier career in accounting and internal audit.

Polina holds a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Texas, USA.

Tom was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Bank of Ireland (UK) plc in October 2022.

Tom has extensive experience in finance as well as strategy development and execution, across a broad range of industries including Financial Services, Retail, FMCG and Media.

With over nine years’ experience in the Bank of Ireland Group, Tom has held a number of senior management roles within Finance.

Tom is also a Director of a number of Bank of Ireland Group subsidiaries, including NIIB Group Limited.

Tom previously held senior finance roles in Tesco Ireland Limited and Sony Music Entertainment Limited. Prior to that, he held roles at Communicorp Group Limited; Tedcastles Oil Products; and KPMG.

Louise joined Bank of Ireland in February 2017 and was appointed to the role of UK HR Director in May 2018. Before joining Bank of Ireland, Louise worked at Standard Chartered Bank as the HRD for Europe and prior to that was a Leadership Consultant at the Gallup Organization, where she was responsible for embedding a strengths based culture through selection and development interventions in FTSE 100 companies.

Louise also holds a Board Directorship and has served on the City HR Board since May 2014.

Qualifications: BSc in Psychology & Criminology from Middlesex University; Certified Strengths CoachTM and KFLA Accredited.

Dave was appointed Interim Chief Operating Officer in February 2022.

Dave has over 20 years’ experience at board level as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Managing Director, with a strong Operations, Technology and Process Transformation track record in Financial Services, and Retail. Prior to joining Bank of Ireland he was Group Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive of the Asset Management and Servicing division at Arrow Global. Previously he worked at TD Bank, GE Capital and Santander UK.

He has a MSc, IT and Management from Sheffield Hallam University and an MBA from the University of Leeds.

George joined Bank of Ireland UK in November 2019 as Director of UK Mortgages.

George has 30 years’ broad financial services experience, with particular expertise in the UK Mortgage market – where he has held roles at both Board and CEO level, both in the mortgage and wealth intermediary markets and within the banking sector.

Prior to that George held a senior management role within Sesame Bankhall Group and was a founding director of Intrinsic Financial Services. His early career was spent with Zurich Financial Services where he was Chief Operating Officer of the Zurich Advice Network.

George is Chair of Northridge Finance Board, Bank of Ireland UK’s motor finance subsidiary.

Jill was appointed Interim Director of Product and Proposition in May 2020.

Jill has more than 15 years’ experience in Financial Services gained during an extensive career with General Electric before joining the bank in December 2015. She has held several Senior Management positions, spanning across BOI UK Savings and Loans portfolios before recently incorporating Current Accounts and Credit Cards.

Jill has a degree in Business and Financial Services from Nottingham Trent University and is a Chartered Accountant.

Ciara joined Bank of Ireland in January 2017 and was appointed to the role of Interim UK Chief Operating Officer in May 2020. Prior to this appointment, Ciara held a number of Senior Management positions across the UK Risk, Partnerships, Strategy and CEO office. Ciara has over 17 years’ experience in the UK and Ireland Financial Services sector, during which time has worked for Deloitte, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and Citi.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Business Studies and Master of Business Studies in Strategic Management and Planning.

Sinéad was appointed UK General Counsel for Bank of Ireland in January 2017 having held other management positions with Group Legal Services since joining the Bank in 2003. Prior to joining the Bank, Sinéad was a solicitor and latterly a Partner in private practice with London City firm, Harris, Rosenblatt and Kramer, subsequently known as Salans LLP (now Dentons), where she handled dispute resolution and the assessment of risk in banking, property and professional negligence matters as well as fraud, insolvency and multi-party claims.

Since 2009 and external to her role with the Bank, Sinéad has been on the Advisory Committee of the Irish Youth Foundation UK, a charitable trust dedicated to supporting vulnerable Irish youth living in disadvantaged circumstances across the UK.

Qualifications: University of Buckingham LLB (Hons) and College of Law, London, Solicitors’ Finals Examination.

Clare joined Bank of Ireland in 2007 and has worked in a variety of Business Banking, Strategy and Risk roles within the UK business. She was appointed UK Company Secretary in December 2019, having previously held the role of Head of UK Risk Governance & Reporting.

Before joining Bank of Ireland, Clare was Head of Research for a boutique head hunter for the legal profession, following a number of years in the media and design industry.

Clare has a degree in Russian & Soviet Studies from the University of Manchester.

Tom joined Bank of Ireland UK in October 2020 as Transformation Director. Tom has nearly twenty years’ experience across Banking, Consumer Finance and Insurance sectors. He has held senior management roles in Direct Line Group, Lloyds Banking Group and HBOS, and private equity backed companies. Prior to this, he was a Strategy and Transformation consultant with Gemini Consulting, part of the Cap Gemini group.

He holds a MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he was a Fulbright scholar, and is a graduate of Oxford University.