The recruiting problem
Agencies that regulate or operate in financial markets need the same expertise as the firms they oversee: people who understand mortgage-backed securities, counterparty risk, capital markets operations, and financial controls. Those people are usually employed at banks, servicers, issuers, asset managers, rating agencies, and consultancies, and they rarely search for Federal roles. A vacancy announcement alone reaches too few of them.
Roles we source
- Mortgage finance, secondary market, and securitization specialists
- Capital markets, trading operations, and treasury professionals
- Credit risk, counterparty risk, market risk, and model risk analysts
- Issuer and servicer oversight, monitoring, and examination staff
- Financial analysts, accountants, and internal control specialists
- Financial policy, program, and operations managers
- Data, analytics, and technology roles inside financial programs
Where we find them
We source from mortgage and housing-finance employers, bank and nonbank servicers, securities and investment firms, and the consultancies that serve them. We also work through professional associations and credentials in mortgage banking, structured finance, risk management, and accounting, and through conference speaker lists, industry publications, and graduate finance and real estate programs. Former regulators and examiners in the private sector are a valuable and often-missed pool.
What makes a Federal role competitive here
Mission scale, a direct view of the whole market rather than one firm, stability, and work-life balance tend to resonate. Talent market research for each role tells us which messages to lead with and where pay gaps are too large to close with messaging alone.
Questions from financial agencies
Why is it hard for Federal financial agencies to recruit mortgage and capital markets talent?
The candidates are specialized, in demand, and paid well in the private sector, and most are not looking. Federal announcements also use occupational language that differs from industry titles, so qualified people often do not recognize themselves in the posting. Targeted sourcing and plain-language outreach close both gaps.
Do you have conflicts with the financial firms these agencies oversee?
Candidate information gathered for an agency is used only for that agency’s contract. Any potential conflict of interest, including recruiting work for an institution the agency oversees, is disclosed to the contracting officer before it could affect performance.