Paul O’Brien

Paul O’Brien is a Managing Director of Human Capital for our Operations Team. Paul earned his B.S. degree from Southern Illinois University and began his career at Hyatt Hotels. His people and conflict resolution skills made an impression, and he was encouraged to explore Human Resources, quickly becoming an HR Director. Following his time in hospitality, Paul transitioned into automotive at Toyota, starting on the manufacturing floor as an HR Employee Relations Representative and moving up from there into leadership positions. In his prior role, Paul worked at Nissan, where he led multiple HR departments at local, regional, and global levels. Paul’s main focus throughout his career has been Manufacturing Operations as a Human Resource Business Partner and Talent Acquisition. The recruiter became the recruited when John Stewart offered him the opportunity to join MiddleGround. Paul hasn’t looked back since and is enjoying learning the Private Equity side of the business world.

Although Paul has an extensive career history, he enjoys the simple things in life, specifically fishing. He loves it all but has a soft spot for coastal fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. When he’s not busy with work or out on the water, Paul loves to spend quality time with his wife Cindy and her daughters and grandkids. His dream vacation is Ireland, where he hopes to unlock the history and lore of his family heritage!