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Paddy L

Global Risk and Governance Executive

About Me

Paddy is a Strategic Risk & Governance Executive with extensive experience in safeguarding corporate value and driving rapid growth for leading global organisations, including X (previously Twitter) and XOCEAN. He specialises in facilitating cultural transformation for organisations, shifting them from a reactive compliance to a focus on Enterprise Risk and sustained strategic cultural objectives. Paddy positions safety, environmental, social, and governance objectives as strategic commercial differentiators rather than mere cost centres. With experience as a board chairperson and as an executive leader, he bridges the gap between operational realities and the delivery of organisational strategy. He has successfully guided Fortune 500 companies through complex international expansion, M&A due diligence, and cultural transformation by building resilient strategic frameworks which empower organisations to scale without compromising integrity. While his professional focus to date has been centred on roles in Safety, Environment and Sustainability, he has successfully implemented his governance framework across multiple business functions, achieving cohesiveness and collaboration while delivering real change, thus presenting as a leader in understanding all business functions.

Jurisdiction

Regions: Europe, Africa, Asia, Polar, Americas, Oceania

Notable Employer

  • Account Director at Environmental Resources Management
  • (Contract Secondment - ERM) Head of Health & Safety EMEA at Twitter
  • Senior Consultant at TetraTech (Previously RPS Group)
  • (Contract Secondment - RPS) Country Lead at Rio Tinto

Experience

Seniority LevelExecutive
Years of Experience20+ years
Current StatusActive
Technical Committee SecretaryCMAS (World Underwater Federation)
2026 - Present

Currently acting as secretary to the Technical Committee. The Technical Committee is responsible for the development of international technical and training standards for underwater activities (SCUBA Rec, Dec and Tec).

President and ChairpersonDiving Ireland
2025 - 2026

• Strategic Vision: Leading development of the 2027+ Strategy and 10 year vision for the National Governing Body (>2000 members) while restructuring the organisation for long-term sustainability. • Governance: Holding the Board to account on the Operational Plan & Strategic Objectives, ensuring alignment between financial capability and operational goals. • Strategic Operational Reform: Previous role as National Diving Officer (2021 - 2024) leading a comprehensive modernisation of technical standards, professionalising the organisation for future growth.

Global Head of Health, Safety and EnvironmentXOCEAN
2022 - Present

• Enabling Hyper Growth: Developed a scalable risk framework allowing the organisation to expand operations into AMER and APAC, quadrupling the size of the company while supporting teams with growth objectives. • Commercial Enablement: Positioning XOCAN with a licence to operate with Tier-1 offshore infrastructural clients by establishing robust audit-ready resilience culture. • Risk Culture: Embedding a “Safety as a Value” mindset during a period of intense headcount growth, ensuring cultural dilution did not occur as the workforce scaled. • Executive Partner: Strategic partner to the C-Suite, enabling the safe scaling of the company and operations globally, key to the formulation of XOCEANs expansion strategy.

National Diving OfficerDiving Ireland
2021 - 2024

• Strategic Operational Reform: Previous role as National Diving Officer (2021 - 2024) leading a comprehensive modernisation of technical standards, professionalising the organisation for future growth.

Account DirectorNotableEnvironmental Resources Management
2015 - 2022

• Corporate Executive Advisory: Strategic and Operational Partner to C-Suite clients and corporate executives in Fortune 500 companies. • Global Account Leadership: Governed programme P&L and service delivery for a major global technology client, overseeing a budget of >€1.5M and delivering 30% year on year revenue growth. • M&A Private Equity Support: Led EHS&S due-diligence programmes for investors in high value transactions, identifying liabilities, impacting deal valuation and post-merger integration. • Cultural Transformation: Spearheaded multi-year cultural maturity programmes for Fortune 500 clients, resulting in measurable improvements in key cultural maturity metrics and risk reduction.

(Contract Secondment - ERM) Head of Health & Safety EMEA NotableTwitter
2015 - 2017

• Strategic Secondment: Regional Head of Health and Safety for all EMEA and APAC supporting a divers rage of legal jurisdictions, leading HS strategy during rapid organisational growth. • Risk Management: Transitioned the organisation from compliance-based safety to a proactive to value-add safety culture.

Senior ConsultantNotableTetraTech (Previously RPS Group)
2005 - 2015

• Senior Project Manager: Acted as senior project manager for large infrastructural and management projects with overall responsibility for resourcing, P&L and project execution. • Major Infrastructure: Supporting a number of large infrastructural projects through design, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Project Management within waste, energy and transport sectors. • Agri-Environmental: Led a decade-long agricultural compliance risk based assessment programme for river basin catchments. • Function Lead: Acted as function lead for a number of different disciplines within the resourcing team with responsibilities for P&L for a broad project portfolio.

(Contract Secondment - RPS) Country LeadNotableRio Tinto
2011 - 2012

• Operational Leadership: Country Lead for the Mount Rosser Bauxite Residue Disposal Area & Kirkvine Ponds with full operational accountability and P&L responsibility for in-country operaitons. • Stakeholder Management: Led consultations with Government bodies and local communities. • Technical: Managed a team of on-site subject matter experts and operational staff.

LecturerTechnological University Dublin
2016 - Present

Environmental Licensing - BSc Environmental Management Health and Safety - BSc Human Resources

LecturerCommunications and Management Institute (CMI)
2024 - 2025

• Professional Diploma in HS Management (Level 7) and the Technical Certificate in OHS (Level 3)

Education

Masters of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution MonitoringUniversity of Ulster
2010 - 2013
Diploma of Applied Health and Safety ManagementNCRQ
2016 - 2017
Degree of Environmental ManagementTechnicological University Dublin
2002 - 2006

Certification

Total Certifications3

Member

Institution of Environmental Sciences

2009

Member

Insitute of Occupational Safety and Health

2017

Chartered Scientist

The Science Council

2013

Skills

Core skills9
Interests8
Languages1

Skills

Board Leadership & Fiduciary Oversight
ESG & Sustainability Strategy
Enterprise Risk Management
International Market Entry Strategy
M&A Due Diligence & Integration
Operational Resilience & Continuity
Organisational Design & Change Managemen
Executive Coaching & Leadership Developm
Crisis Management & Reputation Risk

Interests

SCUBA
Marine
Wildlife
Operational Excellence
Governance
Risk
Compliance
People

Languages

English