Fractional Talent Acquisition
What does fractional talent acquisition actually include?+
Full-cycle recruiting — sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offer management — plus hiring manager coaching, ATS management, pipeline reporting, and process documentation. Unlike a staffing agency, a fractional TA partner builds your infrastructure and hands it back when the engagement ends. You're not renting a seat; you're building a function.
What's the difference between fractional TA and a staffing agency?+
A staffing agency gets paid per placement and moves on. A fractional TA partner is embedded into your business — running the full recruiting function, building your process, and accountable to outcomes across every open role. No per-placement markup. No incentive to push a candidate who isn't right. Pricing is flat-fee or retainer-based so the economics align with yours.
How quickly can an engagement start?+
Most engagements start within one to two weeks of a signed agreement. For interim fractional coverage where a people leader has just departed, the turnaround is typically faster. The first step is a 30-minute discovery call to scope what you actually need.
What does the day-to-day look like on a retainer?+
Embedded. That means attending your standups, joining hiring manager debriefs, working inside your ATS, and being reachable when a candidate situation needs a fast decision. Weekly pipeline reporting and a consistent point of contact — not a different recruiter on every role.
Cleared & DoD Recruiting Cleared
Do you recruit cleared talent?+
Yes. Cleared recruiting is a core specialty — not a capability bolted on to win a proposal. Hire Up Resources sources active and passively cleared talent from Secret to TS/SCI, CI-Poly, Full-Scope Poly, and SAP access levels across C5ISR, Space, Missile Defense, and Intelligence programs. If your time to fill on cleared roles is high, I can audit your current process and identify where the bottlenecks are to help bring that number down.
Do you provide RFI support?+
Yes. RFI (Request for Information) support is a service offered under the GovCon track. This includes resume pulls for incumbent staffing requirements, labor category mapping, cleared talent pipeline summaries, and staffing approach narratives for teaming partners. RFI support is scoped per engagement — reach out with your timeline and requirements to discuss fit and availability.
What is GovCon proposal and post-award staffing?+
GovCon proposal staffing means building rapid-fill candidate pipelines timed to a contract proposal submission or post-award ramp-up — not on a standard agency calendar. OFCCP and AAP federal compliance is built into every search from day one, not added after a problem surfaces.
What cleared programs and roles have you recruited for?+
20+ years across DoD programs including C5ISR, Space, Missile Defense, SAP, and Intelligence. Roles include Data Scientists, AI Engineers, Cloud Architects, Systems Engineers, Program Managers, and senior technical leaders at the TS/SCI, CI-Poly, and SAP access levels. Multimillion-dollar DoD contract TA leadership — not a learning curve.
Tech Stack & ATS Infrastructure
Can you build our ATS from scratch?+
Yes. ATS implementation is an active service. iCIMS is the platform I have the deepest build experience with — configuration, integration, sourcing tool connection, and adoption training from the ground up. I can also implement and optimize a number of other platforms depending on your environment and team size, to name a few. Every build starts with scoping what your workflow actually needs before recommending a platform.
What sourcing and automation tools do you use?+
The tools vary by engagement and what your stack already has in place. The focus is always on what will work inside your existing workflow — not adding software for its own sake. Capabilities span talent sourcing and discovery, pipeline management, screening and scheduling automation, and multi-system workflow automation. This is not a fixed or exhaustive list — every engagement is scoped to what you actually need.
Pricing & Engagement
How much does fractional recruiting cost per month?+
Starter retainer starts at $5,500/month for 1 active role. Core starts at $9,500/month for up to 3 concurrent roles. Growth starts at $14,000/month for up to 5 roles. All pricing is fixed before the engagement starts — no surprises mid-engagement.
What does a flat fee search cost?+
Entry and coordinator-level roles start at $5,000. Senior ICs from $8,500. Management from $10,500. Niche technical and cleared roles from $13,500. Candidate identified within 15 business days. Cleared technical roles are included at standard flat-fee rates — no premium for cleared sourcing.
Is there a minimum commitment?+
All embedded retainer and advisory engagements carry a 2-month minimum. Growth retainer and Fractional TA Leader engagements have a 90-day minimum with a 4-6 month recommended commitment. After the minimum, retainers continue month-to-month with 30 days notice to adjust scope. Flat-fee searches have no ongoing commitment beyond the scoped role.
How does this compare to a contingency agency?+
A contingency agency charges 18-25% of first-year base salary per placement. Three hires at $150K average through a contingency agency at 20% totals $90,000 — and you own nothing at the end. Three months of embedded Core retainer covering those same three hires runs $28,500 and leaves all data entered in your existing ATS, a documented process, and a pipeline that makes every future search faster.