Blink Blue

For recruitment partners

You don't need to be a data and AI expert to recruit one.

We bring the technical expertise. You hire with greater confidence.

When a client's brief is unclear or a candidate's skills are difficult to assess, Blink Blue brings the specialist support you need—from defining the role to supporting technical interviews.

You keep the client relationship. We help you ask the right questions and assess the answers.

Let's Have a Conversation

An informal 20-minute Teams chat to explore where we might work together.

A clearer brief

A request for a data or AI hire is only the starting point.

A client may know they need help with data, reporting or AI without knowing which skills they need—or what success should look like.

They may ask for a data scientist when the immediate need is better reporting, or look for an AI specialist before they have defined the problem they want to solve.

A short advisory engagement can turn that uncertainty into a clearer requirement, helping you recruit against what the business actually needs.

  • An unclear requirement

    The client wants to “do more with AI” but hasn’t defined the business problem or the work involved.

  • A role that needs shaping

    The brief combines strategy, data engineering, reporting and AI without clear priorities or a realistic scope.

  • A technical assessment gap

    You have promising candidates and want specialist support to assess their technical fit.

These are illustrative situations. They are not client case studies.

Specialist support

Support before the search—and during the hiring process.

  • Clarify the client’s requirement

    Working with you and your client, we help translate the business need into a practical project and a clearer view of the roles required.

    • Clarify the business outcomes
    • Review the relevant data and technology context
    • Define the project scope and priorities
    • Identify the roles and skills needed

    Outcome

    A clearer brief grounded in what the client needs to achieve.

  • Support technical hiring

    We bring specialist data and AI expertise to the parts of the hiring process where a technical perspective helps.

    • Develop or review technical job specifications
    • Define relevant assessment criteria
    • Support candidate assessments
    • Participate in technical interviews

    Outcome

    Greater confidence in assessing candidates against the role.

Working together

Short engagements. Clear scope. Your client relationship.

  1. 01

    Talk through the opportunity

    We discuss the client’s requirement and where specialist support could help.

  2. 02

    Agree the support

    We agree the scope, deliverables, fee and how Blink Blue will work with you and your client.

  3. 03

    Move forward with clarity

    You receive the agreed advice, role definition or assessment input to support the next stage of recruitment.

Blink Blue works on your behalf, with the approach and client involvement agreed upfront.

Barry James, founder of Blink Blue.
Barry James, founder

About Blink Blue

Experience that connects the requirement with the role.

Barry James is the founder of Blink Blue. He has more than 25 years' professional experience and has held senior IT, data and AI leadership roles, with experience in enterprise technology, data strategy, governance, analytics and delivery.

He listens to the people doing the work, connects what they see every day with what leadership is trying to achieve, and turns that complexity into decisions you can act on. That is how he helps connect a business requirement with the technical skills a role needs.

Blink Blue is a locally based Irish consultancy. Barry holds an Advanced Diploma in Data Protection Law from King's Inns.

  1. 01

    Director of Data & AI

    Nucleo

  2. 02

    Head of IT and Data

    Clúid Housing

  3. 03

    Enterprise Data Architect

    Irish Water

  4. 04

    Analytics leadership

    Bank of Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy

These are roles Barry has held. They are part of the experience he brings to Blink Blue. They are not client work, and they are not endorsements.

Have a client brief that would benefit from a technical perspective?

Let's talk through how Blink Blue could support you—from clarifying the requirement to helping assess candidates.

Let's Have a Conversation

An informal 20-minute Teams chat. We can share examples and explore whether this would be useful for your business.