WP Engine Employee Spotlight: Robert Kielty, Associate Affiliate Manager

In this blog series, we talk to WP Engine employees to learn more about their roles, what they love about the city they work in, and hear from them what they like most about working at WP Engine. In this interview, we talk to Robert Kielty, an Associate Affiliate Manager at WP Engine’s Limerick office. 

How did you discover WP Engine?
I took a gamble shortly after finishing my master’s degree to move to the U.S. with a friend for work. Experience working in a U.S. company is fantastic for us Europeans. Our hopes were to work for at least a year in Austin, and if all went well, stay there longer. Before moving over I spent a couple of weeks researching top employers in the city. Given that WP Engine has won Austin Business Journal’s “Best Place to Work” for several years now meant the company constantly appeared on different sites, highlighting it as a pinnacle for job prospects. The affiliate role became available about a month after I arrived and thankfully I was able to secure the position.

Have you always lived in Ireland?
Yes, I’m Irish born and raised. I’m originally from a small town called Boyle, which is more towards the northwest of the island of Ireland. The move to Limerick was almost as much a change as my original move to Austin, having never lived there before. However, I’m very used to moving around, particularly to the United States. Austin was my third long stint in the U.S., having spent six months at the University of Illinois for college and the year before working for a summer in California.

What’s your role at WP Engine?
I get to wear many hats in the office. On paper, I’m an Associate Affiliate Manager. So I work with the rest of the team who are actually all based in the U.S….three in Austin and one in California. That’s quite a global spread for such a small unit! I’m fortunate, that being the only marketing member in Ireland, I’m the go-to person for ad hoc tasks like organizing company events, helping with the branding of the Limerick office and even dabbling a bit in PR. It’s all great experience to have. The cherry on top is being the Irish representative for WP Engine’s Culture Club.

What is your favorite thing about working at WP Engine?
The flexibility and encouragement the company has for its employees is incredible, and hugely relevant to me given I’m the only marketer in Limerick. I worked in Austin for about 10 months, but everyone from my own direct team to employee experience to the executives was amazingly supportive when the decision to move to the Limerick office came to being. Having that job security when moving home was a game changer for me so in turn, I do my best to return the favor through efforts in the Limerick office.

What are some of your favorite things about working and living in Limerick?
The Limerick office is right in the heart of the city, which means you’re never far from lively pubs and great food should an impromptu evening meal with the Irish team occur, which is often! The city center is also very compact, so everything is within walking distance.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The time difference. It’s both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, being six hours ahead of Austin gives the affiliate team a much larger working day for communicating with existing and potential affiliates/partners. On the flipside, it limits the amount of time that crosses over when it comes to team meetings. It’s really about finding the right balance. There can be late evenings for me or very early starts for the folks in the U.S.! I’m lucky that the team is very flexible and fantastic to work with so it’s never something we can’t work around.

What are some of your hobbies outside of work?
Scouting was a big part of growing up when I was younger, so any outdoor activities agree with me. Sports-wise basketball and skiing are my favorites, one of those I have to leave the country to do though. I play piano too, though just to unwind rather than perform for people. One of my biggest interests is movies. I love sitting down to watch a film. Just the idea of it is relaxing. The movie doesn’t even have to be particularly good…if one starts when I sitting down, I’ll end up watching the whole thing!

What is one thing you want everyone to know about Limerick?
In Limerick, we’re really striving to create an office that perfectly mirrors the energy and spirit of Austin, London, and so on. It definitely benefits everyone here. Maintaining the sense that the Austin crew is just upstairs rather than over 4,000 miles away is very important to the Irish team. We have the liveliness, the branding, even corn-hole boards, and bags!

WP Engine is currently hiring in Limerick! See here for the full range of careers WP Engine is hiring for: wpengine-careers.com