King appoints Ciara Smyth to lead its global recruitment team

King his hired Ciara Smyth as its chief people officer in another step of the Candy Crush maker’s plan to attract global talent to its studios.

At King, Smyth will be responsible for leading all human resource activities, including performance management, recruitment, retention, training and development.

Smyth will join King at the end of October, after serving as executive VP of human resources for Zipcar, one of the pioneers in car sharing, which was sold earlier this year to the Avis Budget Group.

Prior to this, she was the executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, where she was responsible for global human resources.

“I am thrilled to be joining King, a company with a uniquely collaborative culture and strong commitment to the development of its employees at every level,” said Smyth. “I look forward to working closely with the team to continue to make King a great place to work and preserve its strong culture as the company adds great talent to its organisation.”

King CEO Riccardo Zacconi said: “Ciara is a great addition to the King team. Our talent is a huge strength for the company – we’re committed to attracting and retaining the best people in the industry and helping them to build successful careers. Ciara has exceptional experience in helping companies build great workforces and we’re looking forward to welcoming her to the team.”

A native of Dublin, Smyth has been involved in human resources leadership for over 15 years. She holds a BA from University College Dublin, a Masters Degree in Continental Philosophy from the University of Essex and studied International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, at Tufts University.

In September, King revealed that Hope Cochran would be joining as its new chief financial officer.