Lead Recruiter

Lead Recruiter (Player/Coach)

Location: Hybrid Alexandria, VA (on-site several days per week)

About the Role

We are seeking a dynamic Lead Recruiter to join our fast-paced, mission-driven small business supporting customers across the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD). This is a player/coach role: you will lead recruiting strategies and team efforts while remaining hands-on in sourcing, engaging, and closing top-tier technical and cleared talent.

The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-moving environment, has a deep understanding of the national security contracting landscape, and can partner directly with stakeholders to deliver innovative and strategic talent solutions. This role requires balancing contingent proposal support with direct funded hiring, while building scalable processes and developing high-performing recruiting approaches.

Key Responsibilities

· Serve as a player/coach, managing and mentoring recruiting team members while actively driving full lifecycle recruiting efforts.

· Develop and execute diverse and creative sourcing strategies to attract cleared professionals across technical, programmatic, and mission-critical roles.

· Partner with business leaders, capture teams, and program managers to deliver talent acquisition strategies aligned with new business pursuits and ongoing program needs.

· Support both contingent recruiting for proposals and funded contract hiring, ensuring rapid response to evolving requirements.

· Engage candidates through proactive outreach, relationship building, and tailored engagement strategies to ensure a high-quality candidate experience.

· Negotiate offers and close hires in a competitive talent market, balancing candidate expectations with business requirements.

· Maintain strong awareness of the IC and DoD programmatic landscape, labor categories, and customer missions to anticipate talent needs.

· Build and maintain a pipeline of cleared talent aligned with both near-term and future mission requirements.

· Provide regular reporting and insights to leadership on recruiting metrics, pipeline health, and market intelligence.

Qualifications

· 3+ years of recruiting experience in a high-volume, fast-paced environment within the IC and/or DoD contracting community.

· Experience leading or mentoring recruiters in a team or project capacity is highly desirable

· Demonstrated success in full lifecycle recruiting, including sourcing, candidate engagement, offer negotiation, and closing.

· Strong experience balancing contingent proposal recruiting with direct funded hiring.

· Knowledge of national security program requirements, labor categories, and customer landscapes across the IC and DoD.

· Proven ability to deliver strategic recruiting solutions while adapting to shifting priorities.

· Proven ability to work with hiring authorities in finding and identifying staffing solutions