Hiring in the public sector comes with its own unique challenges. Between frameworks, compliance requirements, and multiple layers of governance, getting the right person into the right role isn’t always straightforward.

That’s why the difference between a good recruitment agency and a great one is rarely about ticking procedural boxes. It’s about how well they understand the system, how quickly they can move within it, and how effectively they can align recruitment with real-world outcomes.

Here’s a look at what that difference really looks like across each stage of the process.

Stage 1: Getting onto Frameworks

Frameworks are essential to public sector hiring. They allow organisations to work with pre-approved suppliers who meet defined standards, without needing to run a full procurement each time. But getting onto a framework is no small task. It requires financial transparency, evidence of service delivery, and increasingly, clear commitments to social value, diversity, and sustainability.

What sets great agencies apart here is the depth of preparation. They don’t just meet the requirements, they build their delivery models around them — ensuring the standards are more than just compliance, but embedded into every part of their recruitment process.

Stage 2: Receiving Role Briefs

Once a supplier is on a framework, they begin to receive role requests directly — often before roles go to market. At this stage, it's not just about what's written in the brief. It's about reading between the lines and understanding the transformation behind the role title.

Great agencies know how to ask the right questions. They understand the difference between needing someone to "lead" and someone to "fix." They spot where a role requires deep sector knowledge, or where a fresh external perspective could make all the difference. And when urgency hits, they’re ready — not scrambling.

Stage 3: Sourcing the Right Talent

Public sector roles often demand a blend of rare skills, relevant experience, and the ability to operate in complex, highly structured environments. Some require clearance, others need niche technical capabilities, and most come with tight budget parameters.

The agencies that consistently deliver in this space do more than just search a database. They cultivate trusted talent pools over time. They stay close to their networks. And they headhunt with precision when the brief calls for it. Most importantly, they understand that success isn’t just about a CV match — it’s about cultural fit, resilience, and the ability to navigate public sector challenges.

Stage 4: Compliance and Vetting

This is often where momentum is lost. Vetting processes in the public sector can be extensive, covering DBS, BPSS, SC or DV clearance, references, and qualification checks. When managed poorly, these steps slow everything down.

What makes a difference is anticipation. Great agencies don’t wait until the offer stage to begin compliance. They run processes in parallel, gather documentation early, and keep all parties informed. The result is a smoother, faster route to onboarding — without cutting corners.

Stage 5: Placement and Onboarding

Getting someone into post isn't just about finalising paperwork. There are stakeholders to coordinate, expectations to align, and organisational cultures to prepare for.

This is where recruitment becomes more than just logistics. The best agencies act as partners — guiding candidates through onboarding, managing communication between teams, and ensuring that when someone starts, they’re ready to deliver from day one.

Bringing It All Together

At a glance, the process seems linear: Tender → Role Request → Sourcing → Compliance → Placement. But in practice, it’s anything but simple.

The agencies that stand out are the ones that bring agility, experience, and insight to every stage. They’re responsive without being reactive. They understand the system, but never lose sight of the people within it. And they focus on outcomes, not just activity.

That’s the approach Malikshaw brings to public sector recruitment. After two decades supporting transformation across central and local government, health, justice, and beyond, we’ve learned how to make the frameworks work — not just for hiring managers, but for the people delivering change on the ground.

If you're looking for a partner who understands how to turn process into progress, we’d be happy to talk.

Big public sector programmes are under huge pressure. In defence, national security, and central government, transformation isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s urgent, complex, and constantly under the microscope. Whether you’re leading digital modernisation, strengthening cyber resilience or overhauling outdated systems, delivery depends on one thing: the team.

And not just any team. You need the right people, in the right roles, at the right time. Often, you also need them to hold the right security clearance—SC, DV or both. That’s where things start to get complicated.

There’s plenty of discussion about the best resourcing model for delivery. Some organisations try to build permanent teams from the outset. Others lean on contractors to move fast. Interims bring immediate leadership, particularly in challenging or unstable environments. And fractional experts offer focused senior support without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire.

In reality, successful programmes rarely rely on just one of these. The best results come from a carefully considered mix. A programme might start with a fractional CIO to set the vision and align stakeholders. As delivery ramps up, cleared contractors come in to build capability and execute fast. Then permanent hires are phased in to support continuity, governance and handover. The mix evolves alongside the programme’s needs.

But secure environments add another layer of complexity. Clearance can’t be an afterthought. It affects who you can hire, how fast they can start, and what roles they can take on. We’ve seen entire programmes grind to a halt because the team structure was sound on paper—but didn’t account for clearance availability or vetting timelines.

Here are some of the key challenges you could face when designing your talent mix in secure delivery:

• Clearance takes time. Vetting can stretch over months, delaying start dates.
• Not all skilled professionals hold active clearance, especially for DV.
• Clearance portability between departments or projects isn’t guaranteed.
• IR35 and compliance considerations affect contractor engagement.
• Permanent hires require long lead times for clearance and onboarding.
• Interim and fractional roles can provide fast, flexible leadership without full-time commitment.
• Contractors with clearance can accelerate delivery but need clear governance.

We’ve seen this play out in programmes like the MOD’s Digital Backbone initiative, which combined civil service governance, interim leadership, and SC-cleared delivery squads to maintain momentum and control. HMRC used a similar approach, bringing in interim leadership to stabilise a struggling programme and deploying cleared analysts to rebuild pace.

This is why working with a specialist transformation recruitment partner can make all the difference. A partner who understands the nuances of security clearance, government delivery, and transformation means you can design and deploy the right team from day one. Malikshaw combines deep experience with access to a network of vetted professionals across delivery, cyber, digital, and data roles. We also provide guidance on vetting timelines, IR35 compliance, and workforce transition planning to ensure your team is compliant, capable, and ready to deliver.

If you’re at the start of a new programme, or mid-flight and feeling the strain, now is the time to get your talent mix right. The earlier you involve a specialist partner, the smoother your delivery will be.

Learn more about our security clearance services here:

Or head straight to our contact page to book a strategy call:

Your programme is mission critical.  Let’s make sure the team behind it is too.

Commercial Services Group is ideally positioned to provide support and guidance on a range of business models across a variety of industry sectors.

What Executive Teams Can Learn from Start-Up Thinking (Even in Legacy Organisations)

It’s easy to assume that start-up culture and legacy organisations live on opposite ends of the business spectrum. One moves fast and breaks things. The other follows process and protects reputation. But as more transformation projects stall, stretch or miss their targets, it’s worth asking: are we missing a trick?

Because when we talk to senior leaders in both public and private sectors, the appetite for change is clear. They know transformation isn’t optional anymore. It’s expected. What’s less clear is how to cut through the inertia that often surrounds large-scale change.

Here’s the good news. You don’t need to act like a start-up to think like one. And often, it’s executive teams who can lead the way by shifting how their organisations approach risk, delivery, and most importantly, people.

So, what does start-up thinking actually mean?

It’s not about beanbags or buzzwords. It’s a mindset. One that values agility over hierarchy, iteration over perfection, and rapid learning over drawn-out planning. Start-ups build quickly, test with real users, and adjust as they go. They get things wrong all the time, but they learn fast and get to what works faster.

For legacy organisations, especially those leading complex transformation programmes, there’s a lot to take from this.

The reality in most established organisations — whether that’s a government department or a decades-old FTSE company — is that change is hard. Bureaucracy, siloed teams, and a fear of failure can all slow things down. Add rigid hiring structures and cautious governance, and even the most well-funded transformation programmes can lose momentum.

Start-ups don’t have the luxury of slow. That’s why they rely on small, cross-functional teams. They launch minimum viable products instead of waiting for a polished final version. They keep customer feedback front and centre. And they allow teams to make decisions without waiting for layers of approval.

That may sound impossible in a large, risk-sensitive organisation, but it isn’t. We’ve seen public sector teams make it work. The UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) is a great example. They changed how digital services are designed and delivered by introducing agile methods, bringing in digital and design talent from outside government, and making user needs the focus from day one.

We’ve seen this thinking in action in the private sector too. One of our clients, a traditional financial institution, launched an internal digital venture to compete with newer players. They gave the new team autonomy and hired talent from outside the banking sector. The result was a customer-first product delivered at start-up speed, but within the structure of a legacy organisation.

This isn’t about copying start-ups. It’s about adapting their mindset in a way that works for your organisation. That could mean giving teams more space to experiment. Or creating fast feedback loops so decisions are based on evidence, not assumptions. Or empowering leaders at all levels to act, not just escalate.

It also means rethinking how you bring people into your organisation. Start-ups thrive because they attract people who are comfortable with ambiguity, who move quickly, and who care deeply about solving problems. Legacy organisations can attract the same kind of talent — but it often requires a more flexible and strategic approach to hiring.

That’s where Malikshaw comes in.

We help organisations access the people who can drive transformation forward. From agile delivery managers and product leads to programme directors and digital specialists, we work with public and private sector clients to build teams that get results. Teams that bring in fresh thinking, challenge the status quo, and help legacy organisations move like modern ones.

If you're facing a big change programme or looking to inject new energy into your transformation team, let's talk. You don’t have to become a start-up to benefit from start-up thinking.

Need a partner who understands transformation and knows how to build the right team?
We’d love to help. Get in touch and let’s talk about what you’re building next.
Contact Malikshaw today.

It’s one of the most quoted lines in business: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Originally attributed to Peter Drucker, the phrase has since taken on a life of its own. Today, it’s often trotted out in meetings and boardrooms as a neat way of explaining why the best-laid plans so often unravel. But while many leaders agree with it in theory, far fewer act on it in practice.

When organisations embark on large-scale transformation programmes, their focus tends to gravitate towards the visible aspects of change: systems, structures, governance frameworks, timelines, KPIs. These are tangible, controllable, and in many ways, comforting. Culture, on the other hand, is harder to define. It lives in the day-to-day behaviours, the water-cooler conversations, the assumptions that people carry with them but rarely say out loud.

This is why so many transformations stall. The blueprint is sound, the funding is approved, the team is in place – but the organisation simply doesn't move. Or worse, it actively resists. Leaders find themselves in endless meetings trying to re-energise initiatives that never really took off. Employees quietly disengage. And a programme that once promised bold change becomes just another slide deck gathering dust.

The issue is not always strategy. More often than not, it’s a misalignment between the new direction and the prevailing culture.

You can introduce a cutting-edge digital platform, but if the dominant mindset rewards caution over innovation, adoption will lag. You can restructure your organisation to be more agile, but if collaboration hasn’t been built into the culture, silos will persist. Culture is what determines whether people lean into change or quietly undermine it. It’s the undercurrent that either accelerates transformation or drags it under.

So, what can leaders do?

The first step is to take culture seriously as part of transformation planning, not as an afterthought. That means engaging early with the informal networks that shape behaviour in an organisation – not just formal hierarchies. It means listening carefully to the mood and tone of the business, especially at the middle management level, where so much of the real influence sits. And it means being honest about which behaviours are celebrated versus which are simply written on posters.

Leadership also plays a pivotal role in modelling the cultural shift. That doesn’t always mean the existing leadership team must do it all themselves. In fact, bringing in interim executives or external transformation leaders can be one of the most effective ways to catalyse cultural change. These individuals often arrive without legacy baggage, able to ask the difficult questions and act as a bridge between strategy and lived experience. We've seen interim leaders enter complex, change-weary environments and provide the kind of neutral energy that helps unlock momentum.

Crucially, leaders must also understand that cultural alignment isn't a single milestone to be ticked off. It’s an ongoing effort – communicated repeatedly, demonstrated visibly, and reinforced consistently through actions, not just messaging. People rarely resist change because they dislike the outcome. More often, they resist because the process feels unclear, imposed, or misaligned with their lived reality.

Transformation without cultural alignment is like building a house on unstable ground. It might hold up for a while, but sooner or later, the cracks will show.

At Malikshaw, we work with organisations to ensure their change initiatives are not just well-planned, but well-received. That often involves placing senior interim leaders who can act as cultural translators – bridging the gap between strategy and delivery. But more broadly, it means helping clients see transformation as something deeper than process. When leaders treat culture as the real work, not the side issue, transformation becomes not only possible, but sustainable.

If your transformation programme is struggling to gain traction, culture could be the missing piece. Let’s talk.

Ready to unlock momentum in your transformation?

Speak to a Malikshaw leadership specialist about how the right interim or executive talent can help shift your organisation’s culture and deliver meaningful change.

We're proud to be approved suppliers on these leading frameworks, enabling us to deliver our services efficiently and compliantly to a wide range of clients.

 A government framework that provides public sector customers with a range of routes and services to engage talent that includes Contingent Hiring and Recruit, Train, Deploy.

 A diverse and dynamic market of pre-approved suppliers accessible to both the public and private sector

What Makes a Great Interim CV (And What to Leave Out)

As an interim, your CV isn't just a record of employment. It's your personal pitch deck. It needs to land quickly, speak clearly, and show exactly how you create value.

In a market shaped by AI screening, shortlisting software, and overloaded decision-makers, even seasoned professionals can get overlooked for the wrong reasons. So how do you stand out?

Start With Outcomes, Not Job Descriptions

Hiring managers don’t want a list of tasks. They want to know what changed because you were there.

Whether it’s a digital transformation, service redesign, operating model shift, cost reduction, or cultural change, show the outcomes. What was the challenge, what did you do, and what happened as a result?

Use numbers where you can. They build trust fast.

✅ “Delivered £2.3M in savings through procurement review and supplier renegotiation”
✅“Led CRM implementation across 3 business units, increasing lead conversion by 28%”

Focus on Projects, Not Just Positions

Interim work is all about solving problems and delivering change. Your CV should reflect that.

Structure your experience around key projects, not job titles. For each project, include:

• The organisation and context
• The challenge or objective
• Your role
• The outcomes achieved

Three to five strong, recent examples are enough. Earlier experience can be summarised briefly unless it’s directly relevant to the roles you’re targeting today.

Keep It Clean, Clear, and Jargon-Free

Avoid overused buzzwords like “strategic thinker” or “results-driven.” Instead, let your results speak.

Keep formatting simple and easy to scan. If your CV can’t be read by applicant tracking systems (ATS), it may not be seen at all. Use:

• Clear headings and bullet points
• A standard font and layout
• A clickable LinkedIn profile link at the top

Make AI Work for You

Many CVs are now screened by software before a human ever sees them. That means keywords matter.

If a role talks about “target operating models,” “change delivery,” or “service integration,” and you’ve done that work, include those terms using the same language.

Don’t overdo it. A well-written, human-readable CV that mirrors the brief will always perform better than one packed with keywords but no clarity.

Final CV Checklist for Interims

✅ Built around 3 to 5 relevant transformation or project examples
✅ Clear outcomes with metrics where possible
✅ Keywords that match the types of briefs you're aiming for
✅ 2 to 3 pages max
✅ Simple formatting that is ATS-friendly
✅ LinkedIn profile link included

Why Work With a Recruitment Partner Like Malikshaw

At Malikshaw, we specialise in transformation and project talent. We know what clients are really looking for, often beyond what’s written in the brief, and we know how to help you position yourself for the right opportunities.

We don’t just send CVs. We speak to clients, advocate for candidates, and support you throughout the contract, not just until the paperwork is signed.

In a hiring market dominated by AI filters and job board noise, having someone who understands your work and how to talk about it gives you a real edge.

If You're Hiring

A clear, well-structured CV isn’t just helpful to candidates. It saves time for hiring managers too.

When someone outlines their work clearly, with outcomes front and centre, you can tell within seconds whether they understand transformation or are just using the right words. You move faster, shortlist better, and avoid costly mismatches.

And if a CV doesn’t quite tell the full story, that’s where we come in. We help you decode it, ask the right questions, and find the people who can actually deliver.

Want a Second Opinion

If you’re updating your CV, repositioning yourself, or thinking about your next step, we’re always open to a conversation.

Drop us a line. We’re here to help.

A framework through which Nest accesses specialist recruitment services for permanent, fixed term and interim roles.