Daniel Timmins
Daniel Timmins is from Cambridge, UK and began studying at ELIS Villamartín, our sister school, in 2004, where he quickly stood out for his proactivity, positivity and determination. After studying Spanish literature, ICT and Physical Education and graduating in 2010 he started his Master of Arts in Latin-American Literature & Business Studies at the University of Glasgow, where he achieved a 2:1.
After starting his career in business development for Selective Personnel, he moved down to London to join Diageo on the Graduate Programme working as a Global Organisational Effectiveness Specialist, before moving to Madrid to take up the role of Human Resource Coordinator for the Iberia business. Daniel currently lives back in London where he is the Human Resource Business Partner, Europe Functions for Diageo, the market leader in the alcoholic beverage sector.
Daniel, how did the possibility of living in London come about?
I moved down to London to join the Diageo HR Graduate Programme. This was a great opportunity as it allowed me to experience different roles at the start of my career, as each rotation was only 12 months long. As Diageo is an international company, I knew I would have the opportunity to return to Spain which was also a reason for me wanting to join the company.
How is the job going?
What is it that you like the most about your work?
I’ve always enjoyed working with and helping other people so Human Resources was a natural career path for me. Currently I support Europe Finance, Marketing, Corporate Relations and Legal which means that my days are always varied which keeps me on my toes. My role involves working with business leaders on Talent, Reward, Employee Relations, Organisation Design, Culture and Capability and I love that I can really make a difference to both the business and our employees in many different ways.
To what extent do you think that your training at ELIS facilitated your current professional life?
I think ELIS helped me in various ways and I see a lot of them come through in my professional life. Firstly, having attended such a diverse school I learnt to deal with new and different situations and people in a myriad of ways which allows me to come to the best outcome in a working environment. Secondly, being thrown into a different culture at a young age built adaptability and resilience into my personality which are important characteristics for me now. Finally, I think that had I not have had such a high quality education, I wouldn’t have been able to reach the position I am in in my professional life so soon; so I am very thankful for that.
What about your spare time?
What do you do to enjoy yourself when you’re not working?
My main passion is travelling. I have been to 12 different countries over the last 3 years and want to continue visiting as many places as possible. This has sparked an interest in cooking and I can spend hours researching recipes and making enough food to feed the 5000!
Finally, where do you see yourself in a few years time?
In a few years I would expect to still be working in HR, hopefully in a Human Resource Director role and potentially maybe in a new company – but you can never plan these things. Moreover, although I love London, I would expect to be living outside of the city, most likely up in Edinburgh. I will no doubt still be holidaying in Spain at any given opportunity and finding any excuse to speak Spanish!
