Public Sector & Security Cleared Specialists

Our Services

Recruitment

Our Practice

We are UK Government talent specialists. Using our expertise to source those hard to find, hard to source, skills that are in high demand in the UK. Our capabilities span all DDaT skills, through Project and Programme Management and Business Transformation, to Engineering, Infrastructure and Electronics.

Our consultants work with unique candidate pools and understand the complexities of supplying UK Government, from who holds the right clearance for each Government department, to being able to ascertain the likelihood of a candidate gaining the correct clearance for those roles that will need that before start.

In all instances we work best with high levels of engagement, partnership, and collaboration. We want to own the problem working with you to find the right solution from what is an increasingly complex talent market.

We are a consultative recruitment partner, solving tricky talent problems requires more than a simple CV send, and so we seek high levels of engagement to solve your problems.

Experience

We recruit for a wide variety of roles, both directly and indirectly to government customers. Our understanding of the sector, ability to reach hard to find candidates, and knowledge of security clearance processes stands us out from our competition, examples of projects undertaken are:

  • High priority demand with a US Defence contractor to build a team of Software Engineers and Architects within a four week timescale. In partnership and with clearly defined processes this objective was achieved ensuring support for their capability on a designated secure project.
  • Working exclusively with a large government department in a permanent rationalisation of high contractor headcount we recruited 16 roles across Site Reliability, Software, DevOps and Data within a four month timeframe. By partnering and forming smooth, accessible processes for application we were able to manage candidates through a process in complex locations and with below market salary bands.
  • For a leading Management Consultancy delivering a programme into Central Government requiring SC clearance, and a range of Sharepoint, O365 and Java skills we have delivered 12 hires and been able to drastically improve their footprint in a highly sensitive contract.

Executive

Our Practice

We are a specialist Executive Search provider to UK Government and its key supply chain.

Over 20 years delivering to UK Government customers we have built up a unique understanding of the sector and marketplace, along with a network of key senior relationships that enable us to build shortlists that are diverse, directly relevant, and capture skills from other sectors to bring fresh ideas to UK Government.

We work in three ways:

  1. Private Sector Search – building long and short lists of candidates specific to UK Government market sectors. From Defence to National Security, Central Government to wider Public Sector and Arm’s Length Bodies.
  2. Public Sector Search – working on the Crown Commercial Service Executive Search framework we deliver full process search assignments for Senior Civil Service (SCS) roles at grades SCS1-4, always meeting Civil Service Recruitment principles
  3. Executive Candidate Market Representation – working with Executive level candidates to secure them the right new role, aligning their skills, sector knowledge and aspirations with organisations across the domains we serve.

Our unrivalled expertise, and network in UK Government and its key supply chain, gives us insight and access to individuals that would otherwise not be available.

And we use industry leading assessment techniques to ensure perfect fit in roles where compromise is not an option.

Experience

Examples of assignments and specific searches delivered include:

  • An individual to lead engagement and market growth into the UK MOD for a US based globally renowned secure communications group. As a result the client has been able to leverage expertise into a market they previously had little traction in.
  • Working with a UK based business providing highly complex technology solutions going through a significant growth phase. We consulted with the business to understand how their senior leadership group needed to be structured for growth and through a programme of multiple search assignments we have helped place half of the senior leadership team in a new structure that is designed for growth and which has subsequently delivered above expectation.
  • As an accredited supplier of search to government through the Crown Commercial Service framework we worked with one of the largest government departments to carry out a search for their Chief Security Officer (CSO). Given the scale and sensitivity of the data that needed to be secured this was probably the largest CSO role in the country at the time. We carried out a systematic and thorough search process that conformed with the civil service principles but also allowed us to look into industry and not just the public sector. A diverse longlist and shortlist was generated. We delivered a candidate from the private sector who has brought skills and an approach that wasn’t previously in government and is still performing in role.
  • Delivered an 18-month partnership assignment with a FTSE listed service provider to the Defence sector to drive greater diversity into their talent pools through the recruitment process. With ongoing partnering and using proactive innovative engagement methods to reach out to and bring individuals into recruitment processes that previously would not have engaged. The outcome was a significant positive change in the make-up of the candidate pool and by extension the business, which is having a continued positive effect on performance and culture.

Statement of Work

Our Practice

Our Statement of Work provision delivers a complete service solution where the requirement is to deliver a specified outcome or deliverable.

We work in a number of different ways:

  1. Fixed Price: Define the requirement, pay on delivery.
  2. Fixed Price with Milestones: Define the requirements, pay at milestones and then on completion.
  3. Capped Price: Define the requirements, agree a maximum budget and timeframe, then draw down on the budget with incremental delivery reports.
  4. Service Components: Define a catalogue of service components, agree a maximum budget and timeframe and then pay for delivery of the service components.
  5. Time and Materials: Define the requirements, pay on a daily rate basis. Retain the ability to withhold payment if requirements are not completed to a satisfactory outcome.

Our focus is to deliver a high-quality service and outcome whilst minimising your management overhead. Through active service management we will ensure our deliverables meet your expectations and that you only pay for what has been signed off as acceptable.

Experience

We run SoW projects across all National Security, Ministry of Defence, National Policing and Central Government, for example:

  • Software engineering and architecture service into a discreet project with a national security client. The service runs a Capped Price model where development tasks are completed by the team, allowing us to track quality, outcome and progress of project objectives.
  • Systems engineering service on a T&M model into a Defence client. We have a coordinated approach to setting engineering tasks, which allows us to manage the prioritisation of tasks under SoWs to quality outcomes whilst tracking time spent on each task.
  • Business consulting service operating on a component and capability model. We agree work packages built from pre-agreed service components, allowing the client to focus effort where the priority is most needed.

Talent Partnering

Our Practice

In talent short markets we have found that working as an embedded part of our customers team can lead to greater talent acquisition success. We call this Talent Partnering.

Key to this service is dedicating talent acquisition experts to work solely for our Talent Partnering customers, they work with your brand, on your systems, and develop talent strategies specifically to solve your problems, with candidates that you own.

We can deliver Talent Partnering services in a number of ways:

  1. Project Partnering – owning a specific project, business unit, or capability – building and executing a talent strategy that leverages your own systems and brand whilst bringing market leading excellence and execution to achieve an improved result
  2. Capacity Partnering – augmenting your Talent Acquisition team with key skills to be able to cope with spikes in demand or activity
  3. Capability Partnering – tackling those hard to fill roles that require a different skill set to be able to solve

Our expertise in UK Government, along with our commitment to problem solving, means that we are able to deliver solutions and process improvements against the hardest to find skills. We build this solution with you, and for you, ensuring that the outcome of our activity is owned by your business and will survive our involvement on any project.

Experience

Some examples of the great, diverse, and hard to find talent solutions we have delivered recently are:

  • Delivered a 600% uplift for security cleared permanent hires in the first 12 months of service for a UK Defence prime, and subsequently awarded the prestigious APSCo Best Client Initiative award.
  • Awarded an exclusive campaign and successfully recruited a team of Wireless and Systems Engineers with space experience, working on a ground-breaking mission to launch satellite clusters to deliver actionable intelligence for military operations.
  • Created and executed a marketing campaign and end-to-end recruitment service to deliver a cohort of trainee Cyber Engineers for a major international technology and consulting company. Following completion of the intensive six month training programme, the group were deployed immediately on to live projects.

Contact Our Government & Defence Team