Recruiter - Defense & Cleared Workforce

Defense & Cleared Workforce Recruiter

Job Type: Full-time
Location: Remote — United States
Experience: 5–8 years in full-cycle recruiting

About the Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Defense & Cleared Workforce Recruiter to build pipelines of highly qualified, security-cleared talent for mission-critical U.S. government work.

This role focuses on recruiting across federal, military, veteran, defense, and government-contracting talent pools, with responsibility for sourcing, evaluating, and placing cleared professionals across specialized roles and locations.

What You'll Do

• Manage full-cycle recruiting for cleared roles, from sourcing and evaluation through candidate closing.

• Build and maintain pipelines of security-cleared talent, including federal civilians, military officers, veterans, enlisted/NCO personnel, and professionals with prior U.S. government experience.

• Use specialized cleared sourcing channels such as ClearanceJobs, alongside military transition networks including SkillBridge, TAP, and Hiring Our Heroes.

• Screen candidates for clearance level, status, and eligibility, ensuring recruiting and qualification processes remain compliant with federal guidelines.

• Coordinate clearance verification with Facility Security Officers (FSOs) and customer security offices, using candidate self-reported information as a preliminary screening step.

• Translate military experience, including MOS/rate and service history, into relevant role fit.

• Build credibility and strong relationships with transitioning service members and veterans.

• Partner with hiring managers to define requirements, establish realistic timelines, and deliver a strong candidate experience from sourcing through offer.

• Manage pipelines for location-specific and hard-to-fill cleared positions.

Requirements

• 5–8 years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with significant experience in cleared, defense, or government-contracting talent acquisition.

• Demonstrated success placing security-cleared candidates and sourcing within cleared talent pools and specialized channels.

• Strong understanding of U.S. security clearances, including Secret, TS, TS/SCI, and polygraph requirements, as well as reactivation windows, reciprocity, and appropriate compliance boundaries in candidate conversations.

• Ability to interpret military and veteran backgrounds, including MOS/rate information, and engage effectively with transitioning service members.

• Familiarity with clearance verification workflows and working with FSOs or security offices.

• Strong sourcing, screening, and stakeholder-management skills.

• Proven ability to build pipelines for hard-to-fill, location-locked cleared roles.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Highly organized and metrics-oriented.

• U.S.-based.

• U.S. citizenship may be required for certain positions and data access.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience recruiting for specialized areas such as maritime/navy, drone/UAS, or combat operators.

• Previous experience as a military recruiter, FSO, or veteran.

• Familiarity with contingent, project-based, or RPO staffing models within the defense or federal sector.