Our Story

Established in Dublin in 1998, Brightwater originally specialised in recruitment for accountancy and finance roles. We grew organically to include other specialisms in order to meet client requirements and now have 95 staff (including 65 consultants) across the island of Ireland. Our Belfast office was set up in 2001 and our Cork office in 2005. In 2011, Brightwater Executive was established focusing on recruitment of C-Suite level executives. 

In 2018, the Brightwater Group went through an MBO led by Managing Director Barbara McGrath, Finance Director John O'Donnell and Executive Search Director Estelle Davis. With the acquisition of Mentors in 2019 and PE Global in 2020, we have exciting expansion plans for the future. 

We are the exclusive partner of Future Manager Alliance for Ireland and UK, a global network of recruitment partners across 35 countries, facilitating and managing referral assignments, social inclusion & diversity and mobility for international candidates and companies moving to Ireland, where Brightwater is the lead recruiter.

The Group

The Brightwater Group consists of:
* Brightwater Recruitment Specialists -  (placing roles with salaries up to €100,000)
* Brightwater Executive - (specialising in senior appointment from €100,000+).
* Mentors Ireland - specialising in providing expert mentorship services to a range of clients across various sectors.
* PE Global - a recruitment agency with offices in Cork, Dublin and London primarily specialising in engineering, life sciences and healthcare. 

Mission Statement