Cleared Recruiters
Cleared Recruiters is a private, Reston-based staffing firm that since 2002 has specialized in recruiting security-cleared professionals for U.S. intelligence agencies and top defense contractors, leveraging a proprietary database of nearly 100,000 cleared candidates.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersReston, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Cleared Recruiters does
Cleared Recruiters is a private, specialized staffing firm founded in 2002 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia, focused exclusively on sourcing, recruiting, and placing security-cleared professionals for the U.S. Intelligence Community and federal defense contractors. The company serves intelligence agencies including the CIA, DIA, FBI, NGA, NSA, and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as large defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Booz Allen Hamilton, and L3Harris. Its core technical asset is a proprietary database of nearly 100,000 cleared candidates accumulated over more than two decades, combined with an applicant tracking system and automated job-spidering technology that continuously aggregates candidates from electronic sources and assigns them to open positions. Performance metrics cited by the company include a 50% submission-to-interview ratio, a 50% interview-to-hire rate, and a 28-day average fill time for full-scope polygraph-cleared roles.
The business operates through five distinct service lines: Container Search (retained search bundled for fewer than 5 roles, with a 20% of first-year salary backend fee), Rapidfill (contingent search for small business contractors at a 10% placement fee), the Recruitment On-Demand Center (a cloud-based recruitment outsourcing engagement for 15+ roles over 4+ months), Proposal Support or PPA (pre- and post-award bid personnel support with a claimed 80%+ bid win rate), and Large Enterprise Recruitment (on-site engagements of 6+ months). The company claims it has won over 80% of supported bids and has supplied entire personnel requirements for major defense contract awards, such as 156 cleared resources for an Afghanistan bid within 20 days. Customer segments include the U.S. Intelligence Community, top defense and government contractors, and small business government subcontractors, with a vertical segmentation approach and direct enterprise field sales as the primary go-to-market motion.
Commercially, Cleared Recruiters generates revenue through a mix of recurring retained search retainers, transaction-based contingent placement fees, managed-services outsourcing fees for ROC and enterprise engagements, and project-based professional services fees for proposal support. White-label posting across 10+ job boards, confidential candidate sourcing, and bundled pricing that includes postings, advertising, database access, and recruiter time differentiate the offering. The company is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, no M&A activity, and no publicly available revenue figures; it operates as a single U.S. entity serving primarily CONUS-based clients.
Cleared Recruiters firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cleared Recruiters
- Legal name
- Cleared Recruiters
- Website
- https://cleared-recruiters.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cleared Recruiters is a private, Reston-based staffing firm that since 2002 has specialized in recruiting security-cleared professionals for U.S. intelligence agencies and top defense contractors, leveraging a proprietary database of nearly 100,000 cleared candidates.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cleared Recruiters industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Security Clearance Recruiting
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS) (BPACAPAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG), Contingent Workforce / Contractor RPO (Contractor Recruiting) (BPACABAK)
Keywords
Where Cleared Recruiters is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Reston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Cleared Recruiters business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Retained Search (Container Search): Small bundled search service for less than 5 roles. Clients pay a retainer per position plus a percentage of salary on the back end (typically 20% of first-year salary). Minimum of 3 roles required with discounts for large-scale projects.
- Contingent Search (Rapidfill): Contingent search service for small businesses with less than 10 roles requiring poly-level clearances. CR charges a minimal placement fee of 10%, invoiced weekly.
- Recruitment On-Demand Center (ROC): Recruitment outsourcing center providing cloud-based recruitment support with senior recruiters, sourcing center, full database access, ATS, and job spidering technology. Minimum 4-month engagement with 15+ roles, scalable to 10 hires.
- Proposal Support (PPA): Post and Pre-Award services for bid personnel requirements. Minimum 15 roles required. CR has won over 80% of bids submitted.
- Large Enterprise Recruitment: On-site enterprise recruitment engagement with minimum 6-month commitment, utilizing world-class recruitment methodologies.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Container Search (Retained) - For <5 roles |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Rapidfill (Contingent) - For small business <10 roles |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Recruitment On-Demand Center (ROC) - 15+ roles, 4+ months |
| Outcome Based/ Performance | Multi-year contract | Proposal Support (PPA) - 15+ roles |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Large Enterprise - 6+ months |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels2 records
Cleared Recruiters product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cleared Recruiters is a specialized staffing firm that sources, recruits, and hires security-cleared professionals for the U.S. Intelligence Community, defense contractors, and federal agencies. The company delivers five distinct service offerings — Container Search (retained), Rapidfill (contingent), Recruitment On-Demand Center (ROC), Proposal Support (PPA), and Large Enterprise Recruitment — all powered by a proprietary database of nearly 100,000 cleared candidates, an applicant tracking system, and automated job spidering technology. Services are bundled to include postings, advertising, database access, and dedicated recruitment teams.
Product overview
Cleared Recruiters operates as a security clearance recruiting firm rather than a traditional software product company. The company's service portfolio consists of five distinct recruitment service offerings: Container Search (retained search for small role bundles), Rapidfill (contingent search for small businesses), Recruitment On-Demand Center/ROC (outsourced recruitment center), Proposal Support/PPA (pre-and-post-award bid support), and Large Enterprise Recruitment (on-site enterprise recruiting). These services are powered by proprietary technology including an applicant tracking system and a database of nearly 100,000 cleared candidates, which represent the core technology assets enabling the delivery of recruitment services across all product lines.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Rapidfill: Small business offering for contingent search services with poly-level clearances restricted, with a minimal placement fee of 10%.
Quantifiable outcome
- 50% submission to interview ratio
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Cleared Recruiters
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Cleared Recruiters technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Cleared Recruiters partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators8 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Cleared Recruiters competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Aerotek (Allegis Group): Technical and professional staffing firm under Allegis Group with a defense and government services practice placing engineers, technicians, and cleared professionals. Comparable through overlapping delivery of cleared technical roles to government contractors and intelligence agencies.
- Robert Half: Major public staffing and consulting firm with federal government services capabilities. Comparable through overlap on certain cleared administrative, finance, and technology placements, though Robert Half's federal practice is a small portion of its broader commercial staffing business.
- Lucas Group (Korn Ferry): Executive search firm (now part of Korn Ferry) that places senior cleared defense, aerospace, and intelligence leaders. Comparable through overlap on cleared executive and program-management placements, though Lucas Group is much broader across commercial sectors.
- Insight Global: Large IT and government staffing firm that places cleared and uncleared professionals across defense, intelligence, and federal civilian agencies. Comparable through its federal government services practice that competes with CR for cleared technical roles, though it operates a much broader non-cleared staffing business.
- ManpowerGroup (Experis): Global staffing conglomerate with IT and federal recruiting capabilities through its Experis brand. Comparable through overlap on technical cleared placements and RPO-style engagements, though ManpowerGroup's federal/cleared business is a small fraction of its broader commercial staffing portfolio.
- Kforce: Public staffing firm with a dedicated Federal Government Services division that places cleared technology, intelligence, and defense professionals. Comparable because it competes for the same cleared-placement engagements with top government contractors, though Kforce operates as a much broader staffing firm with a wider occupational footprint.
Regional players
- Hays plc: Global staffing firm with government and defense recruitment capabilities, including cleared placements in select international markets. Comparable through overlap on cleared recruiting methodology and enterprise recruitment process outsourcing, though Hays primarily serves European and APAC government markets rather than U.S. intelligence community.
Direct peers
- ClearanceJobs: Direct peer operating the largest job board and talent marketplace for security-cleared professionals. While Cleared Recruiters is a service-based recruiter and ClearanceJobs is primarily a platform/marketplace, both serve the same buyer (defense/intelligence contractors) with the same cleared-candidate pool, and ClearanceJobs has expanded into recruiting services that directly compete with CR.
- CyberCoders: Technology recruiting firm placing cybersecurity, software, and engineering professionals including cleared candidates into government contractors. Comparable through overlap on technical cleared roles, though CyberCoders operates much more broadly across commercial technology sectors.
Emerging players
- Halcyon Solutions Group: Smaller specialized defense and intelligence recruiting firm placing cleared professionals into government programs. Comparable as a niche competitor focused on the same cleared-talent pool, though Halcyon is smaller in scale and database breadth than Cleared Recruiters.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cleared Recruiters social profiles
Digital presenceCleared Recruiters financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cleared Recruiters leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Cleared Recruiters funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cleared Recruiters M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cleared Recruiters
What does Cleared Recruiters do?
Cleared Recruiters is a specialized staffing firm that sources, recruits, and hires security-cleared professionals for the U.S. Intelligence Community, defense contractors, and federal agencies. The company delivers five distinct service offerings — Container Search (retained), Rapidfill (contingent), Recruitment On-Demand Center (ROC), Proposal Support (PPA), and Large Enterprise Recruitment — all powered by a proprietary database of nearly 100,000 cleared candidates, an applicant tracking system, and automated job spidering technology. Services are bundled to include postings, advertising, database access, and dedicated recruitment teams.
Is Cleared Recruiters a public or private company?
Cleared Recruiters is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Cleared Recruiters founded?
Cleared Recruiters was founded in 2002. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cleared Recruiters based?
Cleared Recruiters is headquartered in Reston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cleared Recruiters make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Retained Search (Container Search) is the primary driver. The others are contingent Search (Rapidfill), recruitment On-Demand Center (ROC), proposal Support (PPA) and large Enterprise Recruitment.
Who are Cleared Recruiters's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Aerotek (Allegis Group), Robert Half, Lucas Group (Korn Ferry), Insight Global, ManpowerGroup (Experis) and Kforce. Hays plc is listed as a regional player. Direct peers are ClearanceJobs and CyberCoders. Halcyon Solutions Group is listed as an emerging player.
Does Cleared Recruiters have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cleared Recruiters.
What industry is Cleared Recruiters in?
Cleared Recruiters's product category is Security Clearance Recruiting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAPAD, Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS), with a secondary code of BPACAKAG, Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops). Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.