Cleared Recruiting Lead

Overview

Kentro is hiring for a Cleared Recruiting Lead to support Kentro's Cleared contracts and all hiring needs. The Cleared Recruiting Lead oversees all recruiting delivery for Secret, TS, TS/SCI, and CI Poly, hiring needs across government contracts. This role supervises a team of cleared recruiters and ensures consistent, compliant, and timely staffing of the intelligence community (IC), DoD, and federal civilian programs. The Lead serves as the primary operational point of contact for cleared recruiting activities and is responsible for reporting hiring performance, resource needs, risks, and contract-based staffing updates directly to the Senior TA Manager. This role partners closely with program leadership, Personnel Security, and TA leadership to sustain a healthy cleared pipeline and meet mission-critical contract requirements.

Location: Preferred locations- Hybrid Tampa, FL or McLean, VA. Willing to consider Remote- USA, with ability to travel to support events and contract needs. Eastern Time Zone working hours.

Compensation Range: The anticipated base salary range for this position is $100,000-140,000 annually and reflects Kentro's good-faith expectations at the time of posting. Final compensation is determined based on the role's requirements, relevant skills, experience, education, certifications, work location, applicable security clearance requirements, market conditions, internal equity, and contract requirements.

This Job Description reflects the primary duties of the role; however, it is not intended to be all-inclusive. Team members may be asked to take on additional responsibilities in alignment with customer expectations, business needs, and Kentro's culture of collaboration and adaptability.

Responsibilities

Cleared Recruiting Leadership
• Lead all cleared recruiting activities and ensure coverage across all programs requiring Secret, TS, TS/SCI, CI Poly, and FS Poly talent.
• Manage, mentor, and coach 1-2 cleared recruiters; oversee workflow, performance, productivity, and quality of delivery.
• Establish daily, weekly, and monthly operating rhythms to ensure recruiting commitments are met.
• Review and approve all Job Description submittals for hire, and review/ approve all offers following the process for approvals and exceptions.
• Enforce compliance with government contract requirements, labor categories, candidate documentation, and personnel security standards.
• Act as the clearance subject matter expert for the Cleared team, supporting recruiters and hiring managers with clearance-related questions.

Strategic Operational Management & Reporting
• Provide consistent, structured reporting to the Director, including pipeline status, risks, hiring trends, and contract-level performance metrics.
• Communicate program staffing demands, recruiter workload, resource gaps, and escalation issues in a timely, proactive manner.
• Ensure the Director is briefed on all hiring risks, delays, candidate issues, and market conditions affecting cleared recruiting delivery.
• Collaborate with the Director and Transition Manager on strategic planning for contract start-ups, surge hiring, proposal staffing, and future pipeline development.

Talent Pipeline Development
• Build and maintain clearance-specific pipelines and long-term talent communities across Secret through FS Poly levels.
• Develop targeted outreach programs, including military transition pipelines and veteran hiring strategies.
• Drive referral generation across cleared networks and internal employee communities.
• Plan and represent the company at cleared recruiting events, including intelligence community job fairs.
• Plan/Coordinate with Communications and Marketing on continued presence on marketing/sourcing tools. Posting and maintaining connections for recruiting growth and pipelining

Client & Contract Support
• Serve as the TA point of contact for cleared staffing across the intelligence community, DoD, and federal civilian programs that require clearances.
• Partner with Program Managers to understand hiring timelines, contract deliverables, and customer expectations.
• Support proposal staffing through rapid pipeline development and prequalified candidate pools.
• Communicate hiring challenges, market availability, and competitive intelligence to program leadership and TA leaders.

Compliance & Clearance Management
• Conduct and oversee clearance verification for all candidates and ensure documentation aligns with contract requirements.
• Collaborate with Personnel Security for clearance transfers, upgrades, and crossover processing.
• Maintain accurate candidate records in the ATS, ensuring full compliance with audits and gov-contract documentation standards.
• Ensure team members adhere to customer-specific submission requirements, resume formats, and labor category validation.

Performance Metrics & Delivery Accountability
• Recruiter (all steps of the process for designated roles). > 50% of the time is still active recruiting while supervising other cleared recruiter(s).

• Track, report, and improve cleared recruiting KPIs, including:
  - Clearance-level time-to-fill
  - Submission-to-interview ratio
  - Interview-to-offer ratio
  - Clearance pipeline health (by program and clearance level)
  - Offer acceptance rate
• Provide weekly and monthly metric dashboards to the Director.
• Conduct quarterly review and report for recruiter incentives and team metrics
  • Identify performance gaps and implement corrective actions or workflow changes when necessary.
  • Ensure transparency, consistency, and full visibility into contract staffing performance.

Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree preferred, or 8+ years of experience
• 5+ years of cleared recruiting experience supporting IC, DoD programs.
• 2+ years of experience leading cleared recruiting teams or serving in a senior cleared recruiter capacity.
• Experience with clearance levels, investigations, adjudications, and crossover processes.
• Experience with federal contracting environments, labor category requirements, and proposal staffing.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and customer expectations in fast-paced environments.
• Proficiency with ATS systems, cleared sourcing tools, and sourcing tools.
• Strong communication skills-capable of summarizing risks, updates, and hiring performance for TA leadership.
• Ability to build relationships across military communities, veteran networks, and cleared talent pools.

Location- Remote, USA-, with ability to travel for contract and event needs. Preferred in Tampa, FL, or the DMV due to the majority of our cleared contracts, Job Fairs,and networking events.

Preferred Qualifications:

• location listed above
• experience with DOD organizations, SOCOM, DIA, or other Federal Gov cleared networks.
• Experience with ICIMS (ATS)

Clearance Requirement:

• US Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card)
• Willing and able to obtain and maintain Public Trust Clearance or higher

Benefits

We offer competitive benefits package including paid time off, healthcare benefits, supplemental benefits, 401k including an employer match, discount perks, rewards, and more. We invest in our employees - Every employee is eligible for education reimbursement for certifications, degrees, or professional development. Reimbursement amounts may fluctuate due to IRS limitations. We want you to grow as an expert and a leader and offer flexibility for you to take a course, complete a certification, or other professional growth and networking. We are committed to supporting your curiosity and sustaining a culture that prioritizes commitment to continuous professional development.

We work hard; we play hard. Kentro is committed to incorporating fun into every day. We dedicate funds for activities - virtual and in-person - e.g., we host happy hours, holiday events, fitness & wellness events, and annual celebrations. In alignment with our commitment to our communities, we also host and attend charity galas/events. We believe in appreciating your commitment and building a positive workspace for you to be creative, innovative, and happy.

How to Apply

To apply to Kentro Positions- Please click on the job link and then click the blue "Apply" button at the top right of Job Description. Please upload your resume and complete all the application steps. You must fully submit the application for Kentro to consider you for a position. If you need alternative application methods, please email careers@kentro.us and request assistance.

Accommodations

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. If you need to discuss reasonable accommodations, please email careers@kentro.us.

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