Senior Technical Recruiter & Portfolio Owner

Team: Human Capital / People Operations

Location: Remote, McLean, VA, Tampa, FL, Fort Huachuca, AZ

Commitment: Regular

Workplace Type: remote

Why This Role Exists

Senior Technical Recruiter is where portfolio ownership becomes the job. Agile Defense needs experienced recruiters who can own a full portfolio of technical, cleared requisitions and the senior stakeholders behind them — Program Managers, Directors, Capture leads — end-to-end, while coaching and raising the floor for the Recruiter Is and IIs around them.

This is the senior individual-contributor delivery seat on the team: the recruiter other peoples hardest searches get routed to, and the proving ground for anyone interested in the operational or people-leadership track that follows — Recruiting Lead or Recruiting Manager.

Performance Objectives — What Success Requires

These are the outcomes that define success in this seat over your first year. They are not a list of duties — they are the results youll be measured against.

• Own a full portfolio of senior stakeholders. Within 90 days, take full ownership of a portfolio of technical, cleared requisitions spanning multiple senior stakeholders (Program Managers, Directors, Capture leads), and become a trusted authority on hiring cleared technical talent up through TS/SCI with polygraph.
• Mentor and coach junior recruiters. On an ongoing basis, mentor Recruiter I and II team members, with at least one showing a measurable improvement in independent req ownership, compliance accuracy, or candidate-experience feedback within two quarters of your coaching.
• Recommend and contribute to process improvement. Identify at least one process or workflow gap per year and bring a concrete, well-reasoned recommendation to your Recruiting Lead or Manager — with the credibility and data to make the case.
• Deliver consistently on the hardest searches. Be a recruiter your Recruiting Lead routes complex or sensitive requisitions to, and deliver strong outcomes on them without needing close oversight.
• Model AI-enabled, human-led recruiting. Maintain and refine your own AI-assisted practices, and actively share them with Recruiter I and II teammates — always in service of a better human experience, not a replacement for it.
• Champion diverse, qualified slates. Each quarter, partner with at least one senior hiring team to build and present a deliberate strategy for a more diverse, representative finalist slate — without lowering the bar for cleared, technical qualification.

What Success Looks Like

First 90 Days

• Youve absorbed your portfolio, built credibility with senior stakeholders, and are operating independently across the full complexity range, including TS/SCI and polygraph searches.

First 6 Months

• At least one recruiter youre coaching is noticeably more capable than when you started, and youve brought at least one credible process recommendation forward.

First 12 Months

• Youre a recruiter your Recruiting Lead or Manager routes the hardest, most senior, or most sensitive reqs to — and youre ready to consider whether your next step is deeper portfolio ownership, a Recruiting Lead track leading a program or workstream beyond delivery, or people management.

Your Scope & Environment

Youll report to the VP of Talent Acquisition and own a full portfolio — typically 15-20+ concurrent requisitions — for mid-to-senior technical and programmatic roles, working alongside the Recruiter I/II teammates you help develop and partnering closely with HR, Security/Facility Security Officers (FSO), compensation, and contracts staff.

Expect real ownership of the relationships that matter most to a programs success, and real influence over how the team works — without yet carrying the org-wide program-building, prioritization, or escalation responsibilities that define a Recruiting Lead.

What You Bring

Were not screening for years of experience or a specific past title. Were looking for evidence that you can deliver the objectives above. That typically looks like:

• A demonstrated track record independently owning full-cycle recruiting for technical, cleared positions up through TS/SCI with polygraph.
• A track record of informally or formally coaching other recruiters and genuinely wanting to see them grow.
• Confidence managing multiple senior stakeholders at once, including the ability to push back, advise, and influence a hiring decision when the data says you should.
• Experience building or meaningfully improving a process, tool, or workflow, and partnering with hiring managers to make it stick.
• A genuine, demonstrable personal interest in applying AI to recruiting work, paired with a firm point of view on where automation belongs and where it doesnt.
• A real, lived belief that diverse slates and diverse interview panels produce better hiring outcomes, evidenced by specific outcomes youve driven.
• Working knowledge of how federal contract cycles — recompetes, awards, labor categories, staffing plans — shape hiring urgency and timing.

Clearance, Location & Travel

• Location: 100% Remote (U.S.) | Travel: Minimal / occasional (client sites in the US or Reston, VA / McLean, VA & the DMV region) 
• Other ideal locations would include Greater Tampa, FL region or Ft. Huachuca, AZ
• Clearance: Must be clearable for a U.S. Secret security clearance (minimum)

• Happy - Be Infectious. Happiness multiplies and creates a positive and connected environment where motivation and satisfaction have an outsized effect on everything we do.
• Helpful - Be Supportive. Being helpful is the foundation of teamwork, resulting in a supportive atmosphere where collaboration flourishes, and collective success is celebrated.
• Honest - Be Trustworthy. Honesty serves as our compass, ensuring transparent communication and ethical conduct, essential to who we are and the complex domains we support.
• Humble - Be Grounded. Success is not achieved alone, humility ensures a culture of mutual respect, encouraging open communication, and a willingness to learn from one another and take on any task.
• Hungry - Be Eager. Our hunger for excellence drives an insatiable appetite for innovation and continuous improvement, propelling us forward in the face of new and unprecedented challenges.
• Hustle - Be Driven. Hustle is reflected in our relentless work ethic, where we are each committed to going above and beyond to advance the mission and achieve success.