Sourcing Quality Talent to Support a Large-Scale Military Research Program 

Date: June 16, 2025

Background

When a federal agency needed specialized research talent for a naval medical clinic, they turned to DanSources, a trusted partner with three decades of experience in federal staffing. The opportunity required skilled professionals to support the execution of funded research projects by conducting thorough qualitative and quantitative research.

Successful candidates would be supporting various aspects of military medical research, including:

• Working closely with Survey Operations teams to collect data from service members to better understand how different military-specific factors and pre-existing conditions impact retention, readiness and health.
• Evaluating the success of family welfare programs at delivering care to military parents of newborns seeking well-baby care at military pediatric clinics.
• Collecting sensitive information from the parents of special-needs children and gathering data that would eventually go on to inform policies and programs to better support the health of the armed forces and their families.

Challenges

• Positions were strictly on-site with no option to telecommute, thus narrowing our talent pool to a limited radius around the relevant naval medical clinics.
• Ideal candidates needed to possess a very specific set of qualifications that could make them particularly challenging to source:
  • Prior experience in an office, military or research environment
  • Associate’s degree/ education in the Social Sciences
  • Familiarity with human subjects research
• In addition, candidates needed to have the qualifications necessary to comply with federal requirements for access to highly sensitive and secure information. This narrowed the pool of potential applicants significantly.

Our Approach:

• Experienced Account Manager: Recruitment efforts were supported by the insights of our account manager who is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the field and able to guide the recruiters in effectively sourcing the required candidates
• Understanding Federal Staffing: DanSources has a deep understanding of the requirements of staffing for federal agencies with a focus on regulatory compliance.
• Trusted Vendor: With over 30 years of experience, DanSources has cultivated trust among our candidates and clients as a provider of high-quality project staffing in the federal space.

Results:

DanSources successfully delivered qualified research personnel within the demanding federal compliance framework, achieving measurable outcomes that directly supported the agency’s critical military medical research initiatives.

Key Achievements:

• Placement Success: The requested Research Assistant and Study Operations Assistant positions were filled with candidates who met or exceeded the stringent qualification requirements. As a result, DanSources has been approached for similar roles requiring the highest level of security clearances.
• Accelerated Timeline: Despite the narrow geographical constraints and specialized skill requirements, positions were filled fast successfully.
• Exceptional Retention: DanSources candidates have had their contracts renewed multiple times, demonstrating strong performance and cultural fit within the research teams.