Recruiting for GovTech startups in 2024 lives in a state of sometimes paradoxical trends, similar to many other industry-focused markets that feed the technology industry. There is a healthy wave of investment dollars funneling into the sector and many open jobs, but companies in the space are still hiring cautiously and selectively sourcing candidates, often looking for specific skills or knowledge.
In this article, we will dive deeper into the developments impacting recruiting for government tech startups and how these trends will affect talent acquisition in the space going forward:
GovTech Solutions Market in 2024
The GovTech solutions market saw a period of increasing growth from 2023 to 2024 as the public sector gradually worked towards digitization of various processes and services. This created a demand for new systems that could facilitate this shift as well as help various institutions automate their own operations, with a growing number migrating away from their legacy IT stacks. Additionally, the rise of emerging technologies, namely Generative AI, is creating more opportunities to shore up deficiencies and scale operations.
Emerging Opportunities in Digital Infrastructure
Many government agencies are migrating to more cloud-based systems and ditching their legacy infrastructure, creating opportunities for SaaS startups to meet this growing demand. There also remains a need for specific solutions in areas such as analytics, cybersecurity, smart technologies and more, making a path for additional growth in the industry and spurring increased go-to-market (GTM) hiring as tech companies scale up.
AI Solutions for Government:
You cannot speak about the technology sector in 2024 without bringing up AI, which has become ubiquitous across the market and is adding new avenues for disruption in many categories. Artificial intelligence startups for GovTech are some of the most active new players in the space and often are hiring at higher rates to scale for increasing demand for their solutions.
Political Landscape in U.S. for 2025
The results of the 2024 election placed a new ‘question mark’ on the future of the public sector and the government technology market that serves it, with a new Trump administration and Republican control of Congress potentially shifting the direction of different agencies. Time will tell the full impact of these changes on this sector, but at the current pace of growth it is still likely that those agencies will continue to invest in new technology for the short-term at least.
Top Recruiting Trends for GovTech
GovTech recruiting trends in 2024 are being driven by many of the same patterns seen in other parts of technology, but are also being impacted by several unique developments. Here are the top factors we found influencing hiring in this sector:
Growth of Go-To-Market Jobs Offset by Slow Hiring
Recruitment for GTM jobs in the government tech solutions space is in a bit of a paradox – there are many open positions yet most startups are still hiring fairly slowly. This level of caution and selective approach to talent acquisition is a common trend throughout the entire technology sector, which has been plagued by economic uncertainty and racked by layoffs for most of the 2020’s. What sets GovTech apart, however, is the ongoing recruitment for both entry-level roles and those that require a “unicorn seller.”
The Rise of the Unicorn Seller
Throughout the SaaS sector, most startups have increasingly sought to source experienced go-to-market candidates that already align with their sales motion and culture. These unicorn sellers are not only faster to onboard, but bring critical knowledge and skill sets that are needed to help firms bridge the gap with prospects and speak to their priorities more effectively. For subsectors like GovTech, this expertise must also extend to understanding the complexities of regulatory concerns and how they affect buyers.
Certifications & Specific Knowledge Requirements
The government technology solutions market is a space that often requires additional specialization or best practices for sales and other GTM professionals to adhere to the guidelines of their clientele. The public sector works with critical processes and information, with quite a bit of the latter being of a sensitive nature and having a major potential impact if mishandled or exposed, making security clearance and other certifications a significant factor when recruiting. Additionally, familiarity with specific regulatory standards and protocols is also often needed as it enables candidates to address client pain points around data security and compliance.
Top Tech Sales Unicorn Roles for GovTech
For sectors that require more market knowledge and specialized expertise, we have found that senior-level and more technically-minded roles are often a better fit for your unicorn seller. For example, Sales Engineers (SEs) play a vital role in connecting the technical and business value dots for prospects, while Enterprise Account Executives (EAEs) or Enterprise Customer Success Managers (ECSMs) are experienced in speaking to C-level titles and consolidating the points they need to hear to make decisions.
Entry-level & Mission-Driven Recruitment
One recruiting trend that is a little more unique to GovTech than many other SaaS spaces in 2024 is hiring for more mission-driven candidates. This is not universal across every role, but some companies are seeking to attract applicants who are prioritizing a specific cause as their main incentive and are willing to take an entry-level position that supports it in some way. This is also often seen as a viable avenue for candidates starting their careers who need an entryway into gaining experience in tech.
Market Diversification & Cross-Specialization
One trend helping to propel the growth and add disruption to the industry is the entry of new players in GovTech from other SaaS spaces, who are diversifying their portfolios with solutions for the public sector. This is increasing demand for customer success and account management roles that can cross over into this space, which will add to the talent pool in the future and give hiring managers in more focused government tech solution startups access to experienced candidates outside of their traditional networks.
Source Unicorn Candidates for GovTech with Betts Recruiting
Navigating GovTech recruiting trends requires a partner who understands the intricacies of public sector needs and how to source top talent for government-facing GTM roles. At Betts Recruiting, we leverage our proprietary data and deep network to match you with the best candidates equipped to help you scale up your revenue and drive your growth forward.
Contact Betts here to get started on your search for your unicorn sales, marketing and customer success candidates for GovTech.