Head of LinkedIn Ireland Sharon McCooey is retiring

17 Apr 2023

Sharon McCooey. Image: LinkedIn

McCooey joined LinkedIn when it only had three staff in Ireland and described her time with the company as the ‘icing on the cake’ of her 35-year professional career

Sharon McCooey, the head of LinkedIn Ireland, has announced her intention to step down from the position in June.

McCooey has held the position for 13 years and joined when the company had only three employees in Ireland. Since then, she has helped grow LinkedIn’s presence to more than 2,000 staff here.

In an announcement made on LinkedIn, McCooey said a process will be announced “shortly” to appoint her successor. She said it is a job she would recommend “in a heartbeat” and described the role as the “icing on the cake of my 35-year professional career”.

“I have been very fortunate to call Linkedin my dream job for thirteen years,” McCooey said. “LinkedIn was in its infancy when I joined in 2010 with just 78 million members, and only a small footprint of employees and customers outside of the US. How things have changed.”

Prior to joining LinkedIn as one of its first hires in Ireland, McCooey ran her own consulting business. She was also previously director of the shared services centre and general manager at BusinessObjects, a business intelligence software provider.

McCooey served on the board of Dublin City University’s Governing Authority for nearly five years, as well as previously serving on the board of the American Chamber of Commerce.

In her announcement, McCooey said she plans to fulfil a “long held promise to myself to travel” and will begin this journey by going “back on my bike with my friends from Paris2Nice”.

“It has been a remarkable period, and I feel very lucky to have played a role from humble beginnings, hiring initial employees, to opening our wonderful Dublin campus space, and to this year marking our 20th anniversary,” McCooey added.

In 2019, McCooey spoke to SiliconRepublic.com about the competition for talent in the employment sector and how the key to prioritisation is “being clear on your vision”.

Last month, Rick Kelley announced his plans to step down as the head of Meta Ireland, one year after taking up the position. He has worked at Meta for 14 years, joining the company in 2009 when the global team had less than 1,000 staff.

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Leigh Mc Gowran is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com