Talent Acquisition Lead

Are you passionate about Talent, very competitive, naturally able to develop relationships and sell solutions? Intrepid Prosperity is a Special Forces veteran-owned talent strategy and workforce solutions firm based in Tampa, Florida, specializing in helping government contractors, small businesses, and PE-backed companies build all-star teams. It is also part of the value creation arm for Thurion Capital, a SOF-veteran owned M&A firm that grows, scales, and acquires businesses that serve critical missions.

This is not a job board operation! We run incumbent-capture campaigns, design and execute holistic talent strategies & workforce solutions, build cleared talent pipelines, and provide RPO services. Our mission is to help companies develop and execute talent strategies that deliver results, and that begins with Talent.

We are hiring a senior Talent Acquisition lead at Intrepid Prosperity. This is a player-coach seat. You will run end to end talent acquisition and workforce solutions. Technical recruiting is the lowest level of work.

• The desk. You personally run searches: cleared technical talent (Data, Dev Sec Ops , AI and ML, Cloud, Software at TS/SCI, SCI, Secret) and leadership hires for our portfolio and private equity clients.
• The system. Own how we recruit end to end: intake and scorecards, sourcing strategy, interview design, ATS discipline, offer and close, KPI reporting. Sharpen what exists. Build and document what does not.
• The client relationship. Run intake with hiring managers and executives, push back on requirements the market will not clear, and say so when there is an org design problem behind the req.
• The growth. Spot where clients need more than we are giving them, and bring it back as new work.

• You build. You have walked into a partial process and made it whole. You do not need the runway paved before you will move.
• You do not wait to be told. At this size, the difference between a good hire and a great one is the number of things that get done without anyone assigning them.
• You get involved because it is necessary, not because you are willing. You will source, screen, and chase a candidate on a Friday night to save a start date. That is what owning an outcome looks like here.
• You turn vision into action. Objective to sequenced steps with owners and dates, driven to done. Strategy that stays a slide is not strategy.
• You are outgoing. Candidates, hiring managers, primes, veteran networks. You start the conversation and you follow up.
• You work with partial information. You make a defensible call at 70 percent, communicate it, and adjust.
• You prefer a small business. Multiple hats, not a lane, including the parts that are unglamorous or do not exist yet.
• You operate efficiently. You automate what repeats and use AI tools as leverage, not novelty.

• 5+ years full-cycle recruiting, with 2+ in a lead or management capacity (team leadership, or clear ownership of a desk, client book, or process)
• Demonstrated govcon recruiting expertise: clearances, contract-driven hiring, incumbent capture, proposal and contingent-offer staffing, and how a recompete changes a pipeline
• A specific track record of placements, including cleared and hard-to-fill technical roles
• Evidence you built something from a standing start: a process, pipeline, team, reporting system, or client relationship
• Proactive sourcing depth:
  Boolean, Linked In Recruiter, Clearance Jobs, veteran and SOF networks, direct outreach
• Strong negotiation and closing skills with senior technical and executive candidates
• Working fluency with AI tools, Claude included, applied to real recruiting workflow
• Based in or relocating to Tampa, FL, hybrid with flexibility

• Agency, staffing, or RPO background in a small firm where you owned more than delivery
• Private equity portfolio or post-close talent experience
• Organizational design or talent consulting: workforce planning, comp benchmarking, org structure, hiring manager enablement
• Structured hiring methodology: scorecards, behavioral interviewing, chronological or Topgrading-style evaluation
• Government contract vehicles (IDIQ, BPA, OTA), DCWF, DoD 8140, or NICE labor categories
• Military veteran or military spouse with defense community connections
• An established network of DoD talent and of the decision makers who need our services

Base salary plus uncapped commission. Scope and pay grow with the function you build. Direct access to ownership, no…