We are pleased to announce that Malikshaw has been appointed as an approved supplier on the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) framework. This appointment reflects our strong track record in delivering high-quality, value-driven services to the public and education sectors. Being part of this framework complements our existing positions on other national and regional frameworks, reinforcing our commitment to supporting clients through compliant, flexible procurement routes.

Malikshaw is proud to have been selected as an approved supplier to the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) for Northamptonshire. This recognition highlights our continued dedication to delivering professional, responsive services in the public safety and community support sectors. Our appointment aligns with and strengthens our growing portfolio of work with local and national public bodies.

Southern Universities Procurement Consortium.  A leading provider to the education sector of high-quality, innovative procurement services.

It’s common to reach a point in your career where things feel like they’ve slowed down. The role you once enjoyed no longer brings the same energy. You’re not learning much. The motivation that once drove you has faded.

We hear this often from people in our network. Experienced professionals who know they’re capable of more but aren’t sure what their next step should be.

If that sounds familiar, it may be time to re-evaluate what you want from your work and how to move toward it.

Start by asking yourself a few honest questions. What parts of your job do you still enjoy? What drains your energy? What skills do you wish you were using more often? These questions can reveal patterns and help you reconnect with what matters to you professionally.

Talking it through with someone can help too. Whether it’s a mentor, a former colleague or someone in a role you admire, a conversation can offer a new perspective. If you’re not sure where to begin, our team at Malikshaw is always open to a conversation. Sometimes just hearing what’s happening in the market, whether in interim or permanent roles, can unlock new ideas.

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. A small shift can help you regain momentum. That could be a short-term project, a secondment, or a new challenge within your current organisation. For many people, interim roles provide the flexibility to explore something new without making a long-term commitment straight away.

Interim work can also help you:

• Step into transformation projects where your experience is highly valued
• Build confidence by delivering quick wins in new environments
• Expand your network across different organisations
• Reignite your interest in work that has a clear purpose and outcome

For some, interim becomes a long-term way of working. For others, it’s a bridge to a more permanent move. Either way, it gives you space to move forward without waiting for the perfect role to appear.

Investing in yourself is key too. Whether that’s a new certification, staying informed on sector trends, or simply reconnecting with peers, it keeps your thinking fresh and your options open.

And of course, sometimes a deeper change is needed. If your current environment no longer supports your growth or values, then exploring new opportunities, interim or permanent, might be the right move.

At Malikshaw, we support professionals at all stages of their careers, helping them step into roles that make a real difference. Many of the roles we place are at the heart of public sector transformation, where experience, perspective and resilience matter.

So if your career feels like it’s paused, it may simply be preparing you to press play again. This time on something that better reflects your skills, goals and values.

We’re here to help you figure out what that might look like.

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Malikshaw Interim and Executive is pleased to announce its appointment as an approved supplier to Cirrus Purchasing, further strengthening our presence in the public procurement and strategic resourcing space.

This partnership reflects Malikshaw’s proven track record in delivering high-calibre interim and executive talent to organisations across the public and regulated sectors. As a trusted supplier to Cirrus Purchasing, Malikshaw will support their work with public sector clients by providing leadership and expertise that drive effective procurement and operational outcomes.

“Being appointed as a supplier to Cirrus Purchasing is a proud moment for us,” said Rob Shaw, CEO of Malikshaw Interim and Executive. “We look forward to working closely with Cirrus and their partners to deliver exceptional talent solutions that make a measurable impact.”

 Legacy systems rarely feature in project headlines, but anyone who’s led a transformation will know their impact is real — and far-reaching.

They sit quietly in the background, rarely discussed in early planning meetings, but slowly shaping what is and isn’t possible. They increase delivery risk, add costs that weren’t budgeted, and often leave teams trying to build modern services on unstable ground.

If you’re a hiring manager, transformation lead, or programme sponsor, this probably isn’t news. You’ve likely seen the signs before. Projects running slower than expected. More stakeholder meetings to explain technical blockers. Highly skilled teams spending more time working around old systems than delivering innovation.

These systems are often seen as too costly to replace, too embedded to disrupt, and too risky to touch without a major business case. So they remain, year after year, draining resources and patience.

But the real issue isn’t just technical. It’s human.

The presence of legacy systems changes the kind of people you need to deliver successfully. It’s no longer enough to find someone who’s great at solution design or agile delivery. You need people who understand the constraints, who know how to make progress in less-than-ideal conditions, and who can bring calm, clarity and direction when the systems don’t cooperate.

That’s not always an easy brief to write — let alone fill.

Some organisations try to tackle this by doubling down on specialist technical hires, but skills alone don’t solve the problem. What’s needed is a more nuanced approach to recruitment. One that considers not just what someone knows, but how they think and how they operate under pressure.

The most effective programmes we’ve seen take a strategic approach to hiring, especially around legacy. That means:

• Blending legacy expertise with forward-looking transformation talent
• Bringing in analysts and architects who can act as translators between old and new
• Hiring delivery leads who know how to plan realistically and manage stakeholder expectations
• Finding candidates with both technical credibility and interpersonal skills
• Building resilience into teams by thinking ahead about succession and support

This is where a good recruitment partner earns their place. Not just by filling gaps quickly, but by helping you shape the roles in the first place. By understanding the challenges behind the job title and offering practical, experience-based advice on how to attract the right people.

At Malikshaw, we’ve worked with public sector teams across local government, health, housing and education. We’ve seen how legacy systems frustrate even the most well-resourced programmes — and how the right interim or project hire can help unblock progress.

We don’t claim to have all the answers. But we do understand the real-world pressures hiring managers are under. And we know how to find people who thrive in that space.

So if you’re facing a digital delivery challenge and legacy systems are part of the equation, let’s talk. Whether you need an interim to steady the ship or a team to deliver real change, we’ll help you find the right people to keep things moving.

Talk to Malikshaw. Let’s see how we can help.

Working throughout the UK supporting the social housing, public sector and private sector.

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:

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