At Needus, we thrive on solving complex hiring challenges in cyber security and IT. Most of the time, clients come to us with well-defined role descriptions. But every now and then, a request lands on our desk that makes us pause and think, “How are we going to pull this off?”
One such request pushed us to the edge of what we thought was possible in recruitment — and it turned into one of our proudest success stories.
The request
A mid-tier Australian financial services company came to us with an urgent need: they wanted a penetration tester with government-level security clearance and strong executive communication skills – someone who could not only identify vulnerabilities but also present findings clearly to the board.
The kicker? They needed this unicorn candidate in less than three weeks to meet the timeline of a critical compliance audit.
The challenge
On paper, this sounded almost impossible. We faced three main hurdles:
- Scarcity of talent: Cyber professionals with both technical depth and clearance are rare – add board-level communication skills and you’re in needle-in-a-haystack territory.
- Tight timelines: Security clearance alone can take months. Finding someone who already had it narrowed the pool dramatically.
- Dual expectations: The candidate had to win respect from engineers and senior executives – a balance few professionals can strike.
The solution
Instead of treating this as a standard recruitment process, we redesigned our approach.
We streamlined interviews: We worked with the client to cut unnecessary steps, ensuring speed without compromising rigour.
We tapped in to niche networks: We leveraged our pre-vetted cyber community and reached out to trusted referrals, rather than relying on traditional job boards.
We focused on transferable skills: While not many candidates fit the brief exactly, we identified individuals with adjacent experience (for example, red-team specialists with board exposure) and evaluated how they could transition into the role.
The outcome
In just 18 days, we secured the perfect candidate: a seasoned penetration tester with prior government project experience, active clearance and a proven record of presenting to executives.
The client not only passed their compliance audit but also extended the role into a permanent position, citing the hire as a game-changer for bridging technical and business needs.
At Needus, challenges like these remind us why we love what we do: connecting exceptional cyber talent with the businesses that need them most.
