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Recruiting · Hire through 6DOTS

Technical recruiting by people who build the same things you're hiring for.

We recruit engineers, RF and hardware specialists, and federal business development talent for defense, space, sensing, federal technology, and software companies in the Washington DC metro and remote. You work with Ross Day directly, and every candidate is judged on work they have shipped.

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Who we place

We stick to roles we understand from doing the work ourselves.

Software & AI engineers

Full-stack, mobile, and backend engineers, and AI engineers who have put retrieval, agents, or document intelligence in front of real users. We look for work in production, not demos.

Hardware, RF, embedded & sensor engineers

RF, firmware, embedded, and signal-processing engineers, plus the test and integration people who get hardware out of the lab. We build sensing hardware ourselves, so we can tell a bench prototype from a fielded system.

Federal BD, capture & proposal talent

Capture managers, business developers, and proposal leads who have worked GSA Schedules, GWACs and IDIQs, set-asides, and teaming with primes. People who have won federal work and kept it through recompetes.

Go-to-market for deeptech

Sales, business development, and marketing hires who can sell a technical product to engineers, program offices, and enterprise buyers. The people who take a product from first demo to first revenue.

How it works

  1. 1

    Scope the role with Ross

    A working call about what the person will build or win in their first year, who they will work with, and what the job pays. You talk to Ross, not an account manager.

  2. 2

    Warm search through the network

    We start with people we know and people they vouch for. Referrals come first. We do not scrape job boards.

  3. 3

    Meet a short list

    You meet a few candidates, each judged on work they have shipped: code, hardware, proposals, revenue. Not a stack of résumés.

  4. 4

    You hire

    You make the offer and the hire. The search runs on contingency or retainer, agreed before it starts.

Why 6DOTS

Ross ships hardware and software himself

6DOTS builds its own products: DemandAI.Pro, GivingStump, and, with Nextage, the NextMAG magnetometer. Candidates are judged on shipped work by someone who does the same work.

Nearly ten years of federal capture

Ross ran corporate development and federal capture at Infina, Ltd for nearly ten years, and has advised Bastille and careMESH since 2019. He knows what a real capture or BD person looks like.

Warm referrals, not job-board scraping

6DOTS started in 2016 by connecting technical people to each other. Searches start in that network, with people who have worked together and will vouch for each other.

You deal with Ross directly

No account managers and no handoffs. The person who scopes the role runs the search and makes the introductions.

Engagement

Terms are quoted per search, once the role is scoped. We don't publish a rate card.

Contingency or retained search

Full-time searches run on contingency or retainer. Each one is quoted once the role is scoped, and the terms are agreed before the search starts.

Project-based and fractional

Need someone for one build, one proposal, or a few days a week? We also place people from the 6DOTS network on project-based and fractional engagements.

Common questions

What roles does 6DOTS recruit for?

Software and AI engineers; hardware, RF, embedded, and sensor engineers; federal business development, capture, and proposal talent; and go-to-market hires for deeptech companies. We stick to roles we understand from doing the work.

Where do you recruit?

6DOTS is based in Great Falls, Virginia, in the Washington DC metro. We recruit for defense, space, sensing, federal technology, and software companies in the DC area and Northern Virginia, and for remote roles across the US.

Do you work on contingency or retained search?

Both. Each search is quoted once the role is scoped, and contingency or retained terms are agreed before the search starts.

How is this different from a staffing agency?

You deal with Ross directly, not an account manager. Candidates come from warm referrals rather than job-board scraping, and they are judged on shipped work by someone who ships hardware and software himself. You meet a short list, not a stack of résumés.

Do you place contractors or only full-time hires?

Both. We run full-time searches, and we also place people from the 6DOTS network on project-based and fractional engagements.

How fast can you fill a role?

It depends on the role, the location, and how specialized the skills are, so we do not quote a number up front. After the scoping call, Ross will tell you honestly what the search looks like.

How do I start a search?

Use the form on this page, or email rday@6dotsdc.com with the role, the company, and the location. Ross will reply to set up a scoping call.