A DoD prime contractor had critical-path staffing dependencies tied to a large intelligence community modernization program. 120+ cleared positions. Five sites. One contract year. 96% stayed through month twelve.
A DoD prime contractor working on a large intelligence community modernization program had a contract structure where staffing milestones were on the critical path. Failing to fill positions on schedule would trigger schedule slippage, and the contract had financial penalties tied to milestone dates. The prime had been through two prior rounds with other vendors who had filled positions slowly, at cost, and with high first-year attrition.
Ingress was brought in to take over the cleared staffing program at the start of a new contract year. The requirement was 120+ cleared IT professionals across five sites: NCR, Huntsville, San Antonio, Colorado Springs, and Dayton. Roles ranged from Secret-cleared network engineers to TS/SCI-cleared cloud architects and senior program managers.
The prior vendors had filled positions in 45 to 60 days on average, with first-year attrition above 30%. The longer fill times pushed the prime's milestone dates, triggering contract remedies. High attrition meant the staffing cycle repeated throughout the contract year rather than stabilizing, consuming program management bandwidth that should have gone to delivery.
The technical bar for the positions was genuinely high. TS/SCI cloud architects who have delivered inside DoD IL4 or IL5 boundaries are a constrained talent pool. Network engineers with active SCI eligibility and current Cisco/Juniper experience are not generalist cleared talent, they are specialists. The prime's prior experience was that vendors over-promised on technical qualifications and delivered candidates who cleared the background investigation but could not perform the technical role.
The process inversion that drove our fill-time and retention results: every candidate was screened for technical qualifications before clearance status was confirmed. This eliminated the attrition driver where a candidate passes a clearance check but cannot perform the technical role.
All 120+ positions were filled within the contract year, with an average time-to-fill of 21 days from position opening to clearance-confirmed placement start. The prior vendor benchmark was 45 to 60 days. No critical-path staffing milestones were missed. The program delivered its year-one milestones on schedule and the prime contractor attributed the staffing program as a contributing factor in the program review.
Twelve-month retention was 96%, compared to the industry baseline of approximately 70% for cleared IT placements at comparable clearance levels. The prime exercised the option year with expanded scope, adding 40 additional positions across two new program areas. Ingress continues to support the program into year two.
No critical-path staffing milestone missed. 21-day average time-to-fill compared to prior vendor benchmark of 45 to 60 days.
Versus an industry baseline of approximately 70% for TS/SCI cleared IT placements. Attrition treadmill eliminated.
Prime contractor cited staffing program execution in year-one program review. No milestone dates required schedule relief.
Prime added 40 positions across two new program areas. Ingress continues to support the program into year two.
Secret, Top Secret, and TS/SCI placements across cloud architecture, network engineering, cyber analysis, and senior program management roles.
NCR (Tysons, Bethesda, Fort Meade), Huntsville (Redstone Arsenal), San Antonio (JBSA), Colorado Springs (Peterson, Schriever), and Dayton (WPAFB).
Cloud architects (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, IL4/IL5), network engineers, cyber analysts, systems engineers, and TS/SCI-cleared senior program managers.
Cleared staffing, IL4/IL5 engineering, air-gapped AI, and DoD boundary delivery via GSA MAS.
Vetted cleared and non-cleared tech talent on demand. Senior practitioners only, no junior bench.
Federal, financial services, healthcare, and defense delivery records across cloud, data, AI, and staffing.
Bring the position requirements, clearance levels, and sites. We come back with qualified candidates and a realistic timeline. GSA MAS-contracted. No sub-relationship required.