Federal Contracting Recruiting for Teams Staffing Against an Award Date
Contract, contract-to-hire, and direct placement talent, including cleared professionals, from recruiters who understand how this business actually works.
Whether you're a prime ramping up on a new award or a small business chasing your first full-and-open win, the hiring math in this industry is brutal. You need named people before you have funded seats. You need clearances that take months to process on a program that starts in six weeks. And you're competing for the same cleared talent as every other contractor inside the Beltway and beyond. Catch finds federal contracting professionals who get it: cleared, credentialed, and used to working the way your programs actually run. From Software Engineers to Program Managers to Contracts Specialists, we deliver interview-ready professionals who fit your team, your customer, and your culture.
Three Ways to Get the People You Need
Different problems, different solutions. Here's how government contractors actually use us.
Contract Staffing
When you need capacity, not headcount.
The task order came in bigger than scoped, two people transitioned off the program, and you can't add direct headcount until the mod clears. Catch puts vetted federal contracting professionals on your team fast, on our payroll, with the flexibility to scale as the program changes.
Vetted talent with real government contracting experience
Co-employment protection, we handle W2, payroll, and compliance
Flex your team up or down as funding and task orders shift
Local presence with a national footprint
Meaningful reduction in time-to-hire
Direct Placement
When the seat needs a long-term owner.
Some hires can't be temporary. A Program Manager, a Facility Security Officer, a Director of Contracts, a Capture Lead. For those, we run the full search: position-specific sourcing, pre-screening, qualification, and selection, then stay in it as your partner all the way through offer and close.
Talent attraction and engagement strategy built for your programs
Position-specific sourcing and long-term pipeline development
Pre-screen, qualify, and select, so you only meet real contenders
Interviewing strategy and development
A strategic partner and liaison through the close, not a resume vending machine
Contract-To-Hire
When you want to test the waters.
The role matters and the funding is there, but a bad hire on a program with a watchful customer costs you more than money. Bring someone on contract, watch them work your program and your customer environment, and convert when you're confident. Both sides get a real look first.
Try before you commit, and so do they
Lower risk on program-critical and customer-facing roles
Clean, straightforward conversion terms
Candidates get a genuine feel for your culture and your mission
Federal Contracting Roles We Fill
Federal contracting isn't one talent market. It's cleared engineers, program managers, contracts professionals, and the capture teams who win the work in the first place. Here's where our recruiters have real depth and a network to match.
Software Engineering & Development: Software Engineer, Full-Stack Developer, Backend Engineer, DevSecOps Engineer, Application Developer, Software Architect
Cybersecurity & Information Assurance: Cybersecurity Engineer, Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO), Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM), RMF Analyst, Penetration Tester, SOC Analyst
Systems & Network Engineering: Systems Engineer, Systems Administrator, Network Engineer, Network Architect, Field Engineer
Data & Analytics: Data Engineer, Data Scientist, Analytics Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, Data Architect, BI Developer
Systems Engineering & Integration: Systems Integration Engineer, Requirements Engineer, Test and Evaluation Engineer, Modeling and Simulation Engineer, Configuration Manager
Intelligence & Mission Support: All-Source Analyst, Intelligence Analyst, Targeting Analyst, Mission Support Specialist, Linguist Program Support
Program & Project Management: Program Manager, Deputy Program Manager, Project Manager, Task Order Manager, Scheduler, PMO Analyst
Capture & Business Development: Capture Manager, Business Development Director, Growth Lead, Pipeline Analyst, Partnership Manager
Proposal Management: Proposal Manager, Proposal Coordinator, Technical Writer, Volume Lead, Pricing Analyst, Orals Coach
Government Accounting & Finance: Government Contract Accountant, DCAA Compliance Manager, Program Control Analyst, Cost Analyst, Indirect Rate Specialist
Quality & Process: Quality Assurance Manager, CMMI Process Lead, ISO Compliance Specialist, Audit Manager
Implementation & Professional Services: Implementation Consultant, Onboarding Specialist, Technical Account Manager, Professional Services Manager
Executive & Operations Leadership: VP of Programs, Chief Growth Officer, Director of Operations, Chief Technology Officer, General Manager
Cloud, Platform & Infrastructure: Cloud Engineer (AWS/Azure GovCloud), Platform Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, Infrastructure Engineer, Virtualization Specialist
Marketing & Demand Generation: Demand Generation Manager, Product Marketing Manager, Content Strategist, Growth Marketing Manager, VP of Marketing
Why Government Contractors Keep Calling Us Back
TALENT
Fully-vetted, offer-ready candidates of the highest quality. In this industry that means we've confirmed clearance status and currency, verified the credentials your customer actually requires, and pressure-tested whether someone has really worked in your program environment or just near one. Cleared and clearable are two different candidates, and treating them as interchangeable is how programs slip. We don't forward resumes, we send people who are ready to say yes.
TIME
Your team is executing programs, writing proposals, and managing a customer relationship. Screening resumes isn't the job, and cleared searches take longer than commercial ones because the pool is smaller and everyone is fishing it. The people you want are already billing on someone else's contract. Reaching them takes relationships built over years, and that's our problem to solve, not yours. We free up your time and resources so you can get back to the work that moves the business.
TEAM
A tenured crew with deep industry knowledge and real relationships. Our recruiters understand the difference between an active clearance and an eligible one, know why a proposal hire and a program hire are different conversations entirely, and won't waste your time sending someone who's never worked a federal program. You get people who've been doing this a while, not a rotating cast of order-takers.
Who We Are
Catch Talent is a high-touch recruiting agency that delivers end-to-end talent acquisition solutions to growing technology, financial services, healthcare, digital and creative, professional services, and government contracting companies.
Headquartered in Charleston, SC, we specialize in the full talent attraction lifecycle: sourcing and recruiting qualified candidates who are interview-ready, culturally-aligned, and ready to make an immediate impact.
Federal contracting sits at the intersection of two things we've done for years: technical recruiting and hiring inside environments where compliance isn't optional. We've helped primes, small businesses, and 8(a) firms build teams through new awards, incumbent transitions, proposal pushes, and rapid program ramps. That work built the network, and the network is what you're hiring.
Built on relationships. Focused on people. That’s how we work.
How Can Catch Help You and Your Team?
Tell us what you're building and who you need on it. Whether it's one cleared engineer for a program that started yesterday or a full team for an award you're about to win, we'd love to hear about it. Fill out the short form and we'll be in touch quickly, with actual humans.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Both sides of the house. Technical roles including software engineers, cybersecurity and information assurance professionals, systems and network engineers, cloud engineers, and data teams. Plus the business infrastructure that makes a contractor run: program managers, contracts and subcontracts professionals, capture and proposal teams, FSOs, and government accounting staff.
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Yes, across the range from Public Trust through Secret, Top Secret, and TS/SCI, including polygraph requirements. We verify clearance level and currency as part of screening, and we're careful about the distinction between an active clearance, a clearance in reinstatement eligibility, and someone who is simply clearable. Those three candidates solve very different problems for you.
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Yes, and it's a workflow most commercial recruiters don't understand. We can help identify and engage candidates for key personnel and named positions during a proposal cycle, then move quickly if the award comes through. Tell us your submission timeline and we'll structure the search around it rather than around a normal req cycle.
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That's one of our favorite problems. Ramping a program on a compressed timeline is exactly where an agency earns its fee. We adapt the engagement to the situation, sometimes a single strategic hire, sometimes a blended contract-and-direct approach to stand up a whole team against a period-of-performance start date.
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We can help. When work changes hands, retaining the people who know the program is often the difference between a smooth transition and a rough one. We approach incumbent staff professionally and above board, and we'll be straightforward with you about what's realistic given the customer, the timeline, and the terms you're able to offer.
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Faster than a job post and a hope. Because we work from an existing network instead of starting cold, most searches produce a qualified slate quickly. Cleared searches run longer than commercial ones, and we'll tell you that upfront rather than let you build a schedule around a fantasy. Tell us the position and we'll give you a straight answer on what's realistic.
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Contract means the professional works your program but sits on our payroll, ideal for surges, task order growth, and defined periods of performance. Contract-to-hire is the same setup with a built-in path to convert them once you're confident. Direct placement means we run a full search and they join you as a permanent employee from day one.
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Both. Catch is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, SC and we know the Southeast market deeply, but we recruit and place nationally, including in the National Capital Region and around major installations. Local presence, national footprint. Tell us where the work sits and we'll be honest about what we can do.
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It depends on the engagement model and the role. Contract staffing is billed at an hourly rate that includes wages, burden, and our fee. Direct placement is a fee based on the hire. There's no cost to have the first conversation, and we'll walk you through the numbers before anything gets signed.
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We stand behind our placements. Direct placement engagements include a guarantee period, and on contract engagements we can swap talent if the fit isn't right. The specifics get spelled out in your agreement, and we'd rather over-communicate on this upfront than surprise anyone later.