She has proven expertise in culture and HR transformation, talent development, building sustainable employee engagement and delivering performance through people.
Her current role is that of chief people officer for the Weir Group which she has held since August 2017. Weir designs and manufactures highly-engineered products and services for minerals, oil and gas, and power industries, and employs 18,000 people worldwide.
Prior to this McGinness was group HR director of William Grant & Sons, the family-owned distiller and owner of iconic brands such as Glenfiddich, The Balvenie and Hendrick’s. She has extensive global experience, having served as SVP of HR for Bowne Business Solutions based out of New York. She started her career in line management with Forte Hotels and has held a range of positions covering all aspects of HR.
In recent roles McGinness has built strong HR teams who have placed people at the heart of business transformation. Working closely with the CEO, she has contributed to the development of a high-performance culture, driving improvement in organisational capability, alignment of reward and recognition systems, and enhancing leadership capability, all of which were critical to the success of the company.
She is an advisory board member of the University of Strathclyde Business School and an advisor to the School for CEOs. She also sits on the board of the Scottish HR Leadership Group and previously sat on the board of the Scotch Whisky Association.
A passionate advocate for youth opportunity, she held the post of board member then chair of Young Enterprise Scotland for nine years. She has sponsored a number of initiatives encouraging more girls into STEM careers as well as providing mentoring support to a number of individuals.
She is a member of the board of Business Beats Cancer (Edinburgh), a fundraising board in support of Cancer Research, and a board member of MsMissMrs, a social enterprise set up with a mission to empower women and girls who are building or rebuilding self-esteem and self-awareness.
She holds a master’s degree in organisational change and is a qualified executive coach.
