Our client stands as Ireland’s foremost environmentally responsible and fully integrated utility service provider.
With a proud history spanning over 80 years, the organisation has transformed from a traditional energy producer into a forward-thinking, sustainable enterprise. Today, it plays a leading role in Ireland’s journey toward a low-carbon future.
Operating across the country, the company delivers a wide range of critical services, including waste management, resource recovery, and the rehabilitation of peatlands. Its workforce, numbering in the thousands, is spread across multiple sites, all united by a shared commitment to innovation, environmental care, and meaningful community impact.
Driven by an ambitious growth strategy and a deep commitment to sustainability, the organisation offers a dynamic and evolving workplace. This ongoing evolution creates continuous opportunities for skilled professionals at all levels and across various disciplines.
PE Global have successfully placed candidates across all levels of the organisation, from entry-level roles through to senior leadership positions, demonstrating our capacity to understand diverse role requirements and provide tailored recruitment solutions.
Challenges and Objectives
Although the client had established internal recruitment functions and utilised online job boards as a primary sourcing method, they encountered several key obstacles in fulfilling their complex and evolving talent needs:
1. Skills Gaps in Key Disciplines
Operating in highly specialised fields such as renewable energy, engineering, and environmental services, the client struggled to secure experienced professionals in a talent-scarce market both in Ireland and across the EU.
2. Intense Competition for Talent
As the organisation advanced its sustainability agenda, it found itself competing with multinational corporations and the public sector for top-tier professionals in sustainability strategy, advanced engineering, and emerging technologies.
3. Inefficient Hiring Processes
Heavy reliance on generalist job boards often produces high volumes of applicants but few suitably qualified candidates. This significantly increased the workload for internal HR teams tasked with screening, shortlisting, and managing the end-to-end recruitment cycle.
4. Sourcing for Multidisciplinary Roles
The business required talent across a wide range of functions, including Finance, IT, Legal, Procurement, Marketing, and Customer Service, challenging the team’s ability to consistently tap into specialist networks and knowledge areas for each discipline.
5. Meeting Contract and Specialist Hiring Needs
Rapidly sourcing and onboarding contractors, agency professionals, and subject-matter experts for project-based or time-sensitive roles was a recurring issue, particularly when immediate deployment was needed.
6. Location-Based Hiring Constraints
With several operational facilities based in remote or non-urban areas, attracting candidates willing to commute or relocate proved difficult, limiting the available talent pool in certain regions.
How did PE Global respond?
By appointing PE Global to a specialist recruitment panel, the client aimed to address these challenges by accessing:
- A broader and more targeted candidate network
- Specialist recruiters across disciplines
- Streamlined processes to reduce time-to-hire
- Support for both permanent and contingent workforce needs
PE Global responded with a comprehensive and proactive recruitment solution designed to deliver high-quality talent across all required functions and levels.
Dedicated Recruitment Team
A specialist team of recruiters was assigned to manage all aspects of the engagement. Each consultant brought sector-specific expertise in disciplines such as Engineering, Finance, IT, Procurement and Environmental Services, ensuring an in-depth understanding of the skill sets and experience required.
Talent Mapping and Headhunting
PE Global conducted targeted talent mapping exercises to identify and engage both active and passive candidates. Through proactive headhunting, the team was able to connect with individuals who were not actively applying through online channels but possessed the critical skills the client needed.
Screening and Selection Process
All candidates were rigorously screened through structured interviews, competency assessments and reference checks to ensure suitability, experience and cultural alignment. Shortlisted applicants were presented with comprehensive profiles to expedite the client’s selection process.
Employer Branding Support
PE Global worked closely with the client to promote its reputation as a sustainable, forward-looking organisation, positioning the business as an employer of choice for professionals committed to environmental responsibility and innovation.
Sourcing Tools and Strategies
To build robust talent pipelines and increase the reach of each vacancy, PE Global utilised a combination of sourcing channels and recruitment technologies:
- Leading Job Boards: Posting targeted advertisements on national and specialist platforms such as Indeed, Irish Jobs and Jobs.ie
- Proprietary Candidate Database: Leveraging our extensive, pre-qualified talent pool of over 130,000 candidates across multiple disciplines
- Referral Networks: Activating an established network of industry contacts and professional referrals
- Social Media Sourcing: Proactively engaging candidates via LinkedIn, industry groups, and digital campaigns across Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
This integrated approach enabled PE Global to deliver a consistent flow of high-calibre candidates, significantly reducing time-to-hire and improving the overall quality of hires across permanent, agency and contract positions.
Implementation Strategy and Delivery Approach
To meet the client’s complex and evolving recruitment needs, PE Global implemented a structured, collaborative delivery model designed to ensure consistency, efficiency, and alignment across all hiring streams, from permanent to contract and agency roles.
Strategic Overview
The recruitment strategy was built around three core pillars: proactive talent sourcing, robust process management, and seamless integration with the client’s internal HR teams. This approach allowed for agile yet targeted delivery across multiple functions and locations.
Timeline and Key Milestones
1. Discovery & Planning (Weeks 1–2)
- Conducted detailed stakeholder consultations to understand role requirements, talent gaps, and the client’s organisational culture.
- Defined key deliverables, service expectations, and reporting structures.
- Created a tailored recruitment roadmap with timelines and milestones for each project phase.
2. Talent Mapping & Pipeline Creation (Weeks 2–4)
- Initiated headhunting and talent mapping to identify candidates in priority areas.
- Launched targeted job board and social media campaigns.
- Developed pre-qualified candidate pipelines for all required disciplines.
3. Candidate Engagement & Screening (From Week 3 – Ongoing)
- Proactively engaged suitable candidates via multiple sourcing channels.
- Conducted competency-based interviews, skills assessments, and reference checks.
- Prepared comprehensive candidate profiles for client consideration.
4. Shortlisting & Selection Support (Ongoing)
- Delivered curated shortlists aligned with role specifications and business needs.
- Organised and coordinated interviews while collecting and managing stakeholder feedback.
- Provided market intelligence and salary benchmarking to inform selection decisions.
5. Offer & Onboarding Support (As Needed)
- Oversaw the offer negotiation process and ensured clear communication with selected candidates.
- Supported pre-employment checks and facilitated onboarding logistics to enable a smooth transition.
Collaboration with the Client
- PE Global appointed a dedicated account manager as the single point of contact for all recruitment activity.
- We established weekly progress calls to review pipelines, share updates and reprioritise roles as needed.
- We worked in partnership with HR and hiring managers to refine specifications and agree on next steps.
- We provided regular data and insights on candidate market conditions and response rates.
Communication Methods
- Weekly status reports summarising active roles, candidate progress, and upcoming milestones.
- Regular video and phone meetings to ensure alignment and address any challenges promptly.
- Dedicated email channels and a centralised dashboard (where applicable) to track activity and provide real-time visibility.
- Prompt response to ad hoc queries to maintain momentum and transparency.
This structured, collaborative approach allowed PE Global to deliver a consistent, high-quality recruitment service that met the client’s evolving needs while reducing time-to-hire and enhancing the candidate experience.
Results
Each year, PE Global typically receives around 10 new role requests from this client, issued to all agencies listed on their Preferred Supplier List (PSL) as part of a multi-agency tender agreement. For the past three years, PE Global has consistently ranked as the top-performing agency within this PSL, highlighting our ability to source and deliver high-calibre talent in a highly competitive market.
All candidates submitted by PE Global possess, at minimum, a degree-level qualification, with many also holding advanced credentials such as PhDs and MBAs. This ensures the client has continuous access to a highly educated and expertly qualified talent pool.
We have successfully placed candidates across all levels of the organisation, from entry-level roles through to senior leadership positions, demonstrating our capacity to understand diverse role requirements and provide tailored recruitment solutions.
Since being appointed as a Tier 1 Supplier, PE Global has successfully filled a wide array of key positions, including:
- Finance Business Partner
- Demand Planner
- Mechanical Engineer
- Logistics Administrator
- IT Security Analyst
- Web Content Editor
- Category Manager
- Compliance & Regulatory Manager
This strong track record showcases our proactive recruitment approach, in-depth sector expertise, and ongoing commitment to meeting the client’s talent acquisition goals year after year.
PE Global is committed to providing a quality service and guarantees that at all times, candidates submitted for your roles will be the best match possible for each position. We provide a dedicated Account Manager and a dedicated recruitment team, saving you time and money during the recruitment process. PE Global has been providing cost-efficient, sustainable recruitment solutions since 2005. Contact us today for more details.
