The Problem
The field support team was three people short at peak workload. One seat was a replacement after a well-funded autonomy competitor hired the incumbent away. Two were growth. The shortage was pushing travel onto everyone still on the team.
The role asked for an unusual stack in one person: military UAS operations or maintenance, customer-facing field support, technical troubleshooting and system readiness, flight operations and demonstrations, curriculum development or instruction, and the maturity to represent the company independently at a customer site. It also carried travel advertised at up to 75 percent.
Sourcing had been informal. The hiring manager said candidates had historically come from people he knew or from referrals by existing representatives. For a profile this rare, that produced a thin pool. The written job description also did not distinguish the requirements that were genuinely non-negotiable from the ones a strong candidate could pick up after starting.
What ALAC Did
ALAC defined the mission before sourcing, then screened for operating environment rather than job title.
Separated real requirements from trainable ones
Intake established that FAA Part 107 was preferred but could be obtained after hire, and that direct experience with the client’s specific system was ideal but transferable military UAS experience could be sufficient. That single distinction opened a far larger pool than the job description implied.
Searched on transferable skill, not prior title
Rather than hunting for people already carrying the exact title, ALAC targeted UAS operators, maintainers, instructors, evaluators, and master trainers, including transitioning military personnel whose experience mapped directly onto the work.
Surfaced the compensation story that was not on paper
The real package was roughly $80,000 base plus overtime and per diem, with total earnings closer to $120,000 during heavy deployment periods. Putting that on the table early changed which candidates would seriously consider the role.
Submitted evidence, not resumes
Every submission documented mission alignment, accomplishments, compensation, availability, travel tolerance, clearance, credentials, motivation, and the specific gaps the client should validate.
Held the slate open for an exceptional late addition
A sixth candidate was submitted on August 26, after the initial shortlist was complete, because the profile was too aligned to leave out simply to respect a numerical cap.
By the Numbers
3 days
First five candidates delivered
5 of 6
Moved into client interviews
2 of 2
Offers accepted
100%
Offer acceptance rate
The Search, Stage by Stage
Field Support Representatives
Three openings
- Candidates submitted
- 6
- Moved into client interviews
- 5 of 683 percent
- Advanced through subsequent stages
- 2
- Offers extended
- 2
- Offers accepted
- 2 of 2100 percent
Two hires accepted offers, while qualified, interviewed candidates remained active in the client’s decision pipeline for the third opening. That seat was awaiting a client selection decision, not further sourcing.
How the Search Moved
Aug 3
Client sends an urgent request for three field support representatives.
Aug 11
Intake defines the mission, the travel reality, and which requirements are trainable.
Aug 13
First candidate submitted.
Aug 15
Fifth candidate submitted, completing the initial shortlist in three days.
Aug 26
A sixth candidate is added after screening surfaces an exceptional profile.
Sep 3
Client confirms offers will be prepared for two candidates.
Sep 5
Two offers issued.
Sep 6
First offer accepted.
Sep 10
Second offer accepted.
Sep 14
One representative begins onboarding. The second holds an October start date.
All dates 2026.
The Result
Five of six submitted candidates moved into the client’s interview process. Two advanced through subsequent stages, received offers, and accepted, a 100 percent acceptance rate on the offers extended. One began onboarding in September and the second held an October start date.
Both hires brought the combination the role actually required. One carried Special Operations UAS operations and instruction, FAA Part 107, and an active TS/SCI clearance. The other brought roughly fifteen years of UAS instruction and evaluation, a decade of aircraft armament maintenance, quality-assurance exposure, and an active TS/SCI clearance.
Two hires accepted offers, while qualified, interviewed candidates remained active in the client’s decision pipeline for the third opening. Among them was a Group 1 through Group 3 master trainer and maintainer the hiring manager ranked first of the remaining candidates. The third seat was waiting on a client selection decision, not on more sourcing.
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The Strategic Impact
The two accepted hires cut the staffing deficit that had been driving peak travel across the existing team, and they did it for a role the client had previously filled only through personal networks.
The engagement also left a qualified bench rather than two hires and an empty pipeline. Additional interviewed candidates with Group 1 through Group 3 maintenance, master-trainer, curriculum-development, and security-clearance experience were already in the client’s process. The company did not need to restart the search to fill the third seat.
One constraint surfaced that sourcing alone could not solve. At one point four interviewed candidates were waiting on a clear next step, and one strong remaining candidate accepted another opportunity during the wait. ALAC escalated the delay and recommended a 24 to 48 hour disposition cadence with shared accountability.
Why Six Candidates Was Enough
Five of six reached interviews. That ratio comes from screening decisions made before submission, not from volume.
Transferable skill, not job title
Screening on UAS operations, instruction, and evaluation experience rather than an exact prior title opened a real pool for a seat the client had been filling through referrals.
The operating environment was the test
Candidates were screened for independence, customer judgment, humility, and adaptability, because the role puts one person alone in front of a military customer.
Gaps disclosed before submission
Each brief named what the client should validate. Nothing was hidden to protect a submission, which is why five of six converted to interviews.
Travel and pay raised up front
A role advertised at up to 75 percent travel filters itself quickly. Surfacing the real earnings during heavy deployment periods kept qualified candidates engaged instead of discovering the tradeoff at offer.
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