Meet the team
Barry Smyth
Managing Director
Barry set up MCS Group in 2008, with a view to raising standards, improving delivery and bringing a different ethical approach to the specialist recruitment market in Northern Ireland. A 25-year veteran of the recruitment industry, prior to founding MCS Barry had a successful, 15-year career in specialist recruitment across the island of Ireland, where he held senior positions with an international recruitment business and was a Partner in an Executive Search firm.
Louise Smyth
Managing Director
Louise is an experienced commercial recruitment professional and trainer with 24 years’ experience in the people and talent industry. A fellow of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, she has worked with a diverse range of clients from SME’s, Multi Nationals, and new Start-ups supporting them through growth and achieving success through the recruitment and retention of their people.
Sean Devlin
Associate Director - IT & Technical
Sean has been in the Technical recruitment industry for over 10 years. After joining MCS Group as a Trainee Recruitment Consultant, Sean is now Associate Director managing the largest Technical recruitment team in NI. Sean plays a key role in helping companies of all sizes reach their business goals and over the last five years has worked closely with Invest NI, assisting companies set-up and develop world-class technology centres.
Philip Clarke
Head of Accounting & Financial Services
Phil started his recruitment journey in England, specialising in finance & accountancy and progressing quickly to Regional Manager. Having returned home to NI, Phil now leads the Accountancy & Financial Services team at MCS and is focused on ensuring outstanding service delivery for all of our customers
Helen Murray
Finance Manager
As Finance Manager, a new role within MCS Group, Helen is keen to use her knowledge and expertise to provide financial support and direction to the business across its existing platforms, and on its future journey. With a wealth of experience gained working in banking, and with SME’s and charities, Helen understands the importance of, and has the skills to develop, high-quality financial practices and to take ownership of our finance function.
Kerry Tosh
Talent and Development Manager
With over 20 years of experience in recruitment and a recently qualified Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist, Kerry is taking the lead as the talent and development manager at MCS Group. She focuses her time on designing and implementing programs for performance management, leadership development, employee assessment, health and well-being and succession planning.
Janet Kerrigan
Head of People Success
As Head of People Success, Janet is responsible for ensuring our MCS Group talent acquisition strategy and HR practices support our talented, growing team to be the best they can be. With extensive senior management experience gained working in Northern Ireland, UK and overseas, Janet has a successful track record of developing and leading teams to achieve ambitious business goals.
Heather Trojan
Group Marketing Manager
Heather is an experienced marketeer with over ten years' experience working with both SMEs and major global brands. Managing the MCS Group marketing function she promotes the brand and coordinates the company’s sponsorship, events and outreach activities. Heather moved across the water from Manchester in 2015 and has established a strong network in Northern Ireland.
Eve McLelland
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Technical & Engineering
Eve is a recent Queen’s graduate of International Business with Spanish and comes from an entrepreneurial and design background. She is recruiting within the Technical and Engineering division at MCS group, using her expertise and passion for people to develop relationships in the market.
Timothy McNeill
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Technical & Engineering
Timothy is a recent graduate from Ulster Business School in BSc Business Studies. He will be joining the Technical & Engineering Team specialising in Construction Sector alongside David McCrisken. He is looking forward to building professional relationships with clients and candidates.
Chris Busby
Head of Permanent IT Recruitment
Known for his personable nature and positive outlook, Chris is a professional that delivers results, time and again to our customers. He heads up the Permanent IT recruitment team; recruiting software professionals across all sectors and industries across NI.
Con Lam
Manager - Software Engineering & Delivery
Con is an experienced recruitment specialist that has 8 years overall professional experience, 5 of which spent working in one of the world’s largest telecommunication providers while completing his Computing Technologies degree. 3 years spent in recruitment, Con manages Software Engineering & Delivery in IT recruitment within the FinTech and Software space.
Daryl Crothers
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Java
Daryl studied business information technology at queens university and went on to open a few companies around Northern Ireland. He was the Mid-East Antrims Young Businessman of the year 2017 and won the celebrate success and invest NI growth awards. He is now looking forward to bring his skills and expertise to the recruitment industry and MCS.
Joanna Smith
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - IT & Digital
Joanna acquired a Master’s degree in Business Management whilst developing her career in sales. Using this experience, Joanna now works alongside Ryan in the Infrastructure & Support team working with managed service providers and technology companies across NI.
Christian Campbell
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - .Net
Christian specialises in IT recruitment within the .Net space. He comes from a Management background and finds it useful to draw from his experience to understand individuals’ goals when approaching career choices to help them best stand out in the local market.
Claire Grainger
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Key Accounts
Claire works across a range of software skill sets for some of NI most high-profile technology firms. She has over 10 years experience in a FTSE 100 company and has recently joined the Digital and Creative team Specialising in IT & Web Recruitment.
Clark Litster
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - IT
Before starting a career in recruitment, Clark completed a BSc in Podiatry and worked within the private healthcare services for 2 and a half years. Clark moved to Northern Ireland from Glasgow, Scotland and is now working in the key accounts team within the specialist IT services team alongside Claire and Paula.
Sarah Martin
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - IT & Digital
Sarah has a first-class bachelor’s degree in Primary Education. After working for a year as a primary school teacher Sarah decided she wanted to travel and see more of the world. She spent a year in Australia before moving to New Zealand where she began her career in recruitment. Sarah has recently moved back home and is now utilising her experience working within the specialist IT recruitment team.
Paula McCalmont
Candidate Resourcer – Software Engineering
Paula is working within the IT and Digital division at MCS Group, specialising in the Software Engineering space. She has graduated university with a degree in Communication with PR and comes from a background in sales, marketing, employee training.
Adam Devlin
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - IT
Adam attained a BCS (Hons) Degree in Geography but has a real passion for self-growth and career development. This has, in turn, has led him into a Specialist Recruitment role within the IT industry specialising in Software Engineering and Delivery. With a welcoming personality and passion for great customer service, Adam utilises his own interpersonal skills to assist both IT Companies find their perfect candidate and IT professionals find their perfect role.
Jennifer Curran
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - IT Contracts (Infrastructure)
Jennifer has over 8 years’ experience in B2B sales, 3 of which she managed an outbound telesales team for ones of NI’s leading digital solutions providers. Jennifer specialises in Contract and Temporary assignments within the IT Infrastructure space.
Ryan Calvert
Manager | Human Resources, Legal and Compliance
Ryan completed a Psychology degree before carving a successful career in Recruitment particularly within the HR Market. As part of the growing Professional Services Team, Ryan will be managing HR, Legal and Compliance roles. His approach is highly personable and customer service focused, building sustainable working relationships with both candidates and clients at all times
David McCallum
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Legal
David specialises in Senior Legal appointments and has nearly 10 years’ experience of working closely with some of the leading Solicitor firms in Ireland, managing and maintaining key stakeholder relationships. Previous to recruitment he was working in banking for over 12 years.
Catherine Rushe
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Legal
After gaining her degree in Law and French from Queens, Catherine worked and gained experience within the Legal industry. Now working in recruitment, specialising in Junior Legal roles, she is using her great experience and knowledge on the current market.
Aileen Mackin
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Legal
Aileen works on our Legal desk where she specialises in the recruitment of legal professionals across all levels in Private Practice and Industry in Belfast and Dublin. She began her career in Dublin where she specialised in Legal recruitment for over 2 years, partnering with Top Tier and International Private-Practice law firms, sourcing the best legal talent in a highly competitive market. Aileen is currently completing her CIPD Qualification.
Karl Webb
Manager – Marketing, Commercial & Sales
Karl brings a wealth of experience in helping organisations recruit Marketing, Commercial and Sales professionals who drive business growth. One of NI’s most experienced recruitment specialists, with local and international recruitment experience, he is passionate about driving the local economy and has strong networks across all industry sectors.
Emma McFetridge
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Marketing, Commercial & Sales
With a background in Marketing Management in the tech space, Emma has had the opportunity to work with many companies throughout Northern Ireland and connect with great talent. Now working in recruitment, Emma’s aim is to connect talented Marketers to the current market that NI has to offer.
Stephen Turkington
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Accountancy & Finance
Stephen has joined the Accountancy I&C team specialising in permanent Part-Qualified and Transactional. With a clear passion for recruitment Stephen has successfully established long term relationships by gaining trust and confidence in this market.
Sara Mitchell
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Accountancy Practice
Sara leads our Accountancy Practice team and personally specialises in roles within general practice, audit, corporate finance and forensics. She has built a client base that spans the breadth of the province and beyond and is regarded as a trusted adviser to some of the brightest talent in the industry.
Adam Macklin
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Accountancy & Finance
Adam has recently returned to Northern Ireland after a year of living in Houston, Texas. Adam has joined the recruitment industry after a career in professional rugby, including playing for Ulster. He specialises in recruiting within accountancy practice across NI and Ireland.
Phoebe Preston
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Accountancy & Finance
Phoebe, a First-Class Honours Graduate in Environmental Science with Education, chose a career in recruitment within MCS Group. Phoebe’s personable traits and the customer service skills she has acquired through working in sales are an asset to assisting those who are wishing to start or further develop their careers in Accountancy and Finance.
Eve Turkington
Specialist Recruitment Consultant - Accountancy & Finance
After completing a degree in International Business with Spanish, Eve joined the Accountancy team to specialise in permanent Part-Qualified and Transactional finance. Her approach is highly customer service driven and puts her focus on maintaining meaningful relationships with both candidates and clients.