Letters of Intent From Veteran Candidates for a Proposal

Your proposal is due in three weeks. The RFP names four key personnel slots. You have strong resumes for two of them. The other two need a cleared program manager and a senior logistics lead. Nobody on your bench fits.

So you go looking for people who don't work for you yet. Many of the best fits are veterans. Some are still in uniform. Some are on terminal leave. Some left last year and took a job they already want to leave. You need each of them to say yes on paper before the volume locks.

That paper is a letter of intent, or a letter of commitment. This guide covers the pre-award part of the job. It shows how to find veteran candidates for a bid. It shows how to ask them to sign and what goes in the letter. It also covers the risks of naming a person who never shows up. Filling seats after the award? Read how to source cleared veterans for a contract recompete instead. If you are a sub filling a prime's seats, the subcontractor hiring guide fits better.

What Is a Letter of Intent, and What Does It Not Do?

A letter of intent is a short, signed note from a candidate. It says they plan to take a named role if your company wins the contract. Many firms call it a letter of commitment. Some RFPs use one name and some use the other. Treat the two as the same thing unless the RFP says otherwise.

The letter does a few jobs. It tells the government this person knows about the bid. It says they agreed to be named. And it says they plan to work the contract if you win.

The letter has limits. Nobody should read it as a job offer or an employment contract. In most cases, it does not bind the candidate to show up. It does not bind you to hire them either. Have your own counsel confirm how your letter reads. The whole thing hangs on one condition: the award.

Say that out loud to every candidate. A veteran who signs and later hears "we lost, so there's no job" should not be surprised. If they are surprised, you wrote the letter wrong, or you skipped the talk.

Why the government cares

Evaluators often score key personnel as part of the technical volume. A strong named person can lift your score. That's the whole reason to chase these letters. It's also why naming someone without real buy-in is a risk. The section on losing and slipping covers that below.

When Does an RFP Ask for Letters of Intent?

Read the proposal instructions first. Many solicitations put them in Section L, with the scoring rules in Section M. Some task orders put everything in one short document. Look for these words:

• Key personnel: A list of named roles, often with minimum years, degrees, certs, or a clearance level.
• Resumes: A page limit and a format for each key person, usually inside the technical volume.
• Letter of commitment or letter of intent: A signed letter from anyone not on your payroll.
• Availability: A line asking you to confirm the person can start on day one of the contract.

Some RFPs ask for a letter from every non-employee. Some only ask for resumes. Some say nothing at all. If the RFP is silent, a letter is still smart. GAO has rejected the argument that a silent RFP excuses naming people with no real basis.

That comes from a real protest. Look at T3I Solutions, LLC (GAO, December 13, 2019). The awardee named an incumbent employee in its Air Force proposal. The awardee had never contacted that person. GAO sustained the protest.

GAO put it plainly. An offeror "may not represent the commitment of incumbent employees based only on a hope or belief".

A signed letter is the plain fix for that problem.

Where Do You Find Veteran Candidates Who Fit the Slot?

Start with the key personnel table, not with a job board. Copy each slot's minimums into a short checklist. Then go find people who clear every line. A veteran who clears four of five lines is a gamble that loses points.

Map military roles to your labor categories before you search. A battalion S4 or a Navy supply officer may fit a logistics lead slot. A senior network chief may fit an IT operations manager slot. The LCAT mapping guide walks through how to match military work to billable roles.

Cleared candidates

If the slot needs a clearance, read the clearance line on each resume with care. Level, status, and investigation date all matter. Learn how to read a security clearance on a resume before you build your short list. A clearance that lapsed may change your plan for that slot.

Candidates still on active duty or terminal leave

Service members near the end of service can be great key personnel. Their skills are current and their timing often lines up with a contract start. But check two things before you ask them to sign.

First, check the date. The contract start should come after their separation date, unless counsel clears work during terminal leave. If the RFP asks you to confirm availability, the dates have to work on paper.

Second, check their current job. Federal law has a rule for this. Under 41 U.S.C. 2103, some officials must report job talks with a bidder. It covers officials who work "personally and substantially" on that procurement. The law's definition of "official" includes members of the uniformed services. So if a candidate works on the very contract you are bidding, stop. Talk to your counsel before you go further.

Most candidates will not be in that spot. But ask the question on the first call. It costs you one minute. See our guide on how to interview a service member still on active duty for the rest.

How Do You Ask a Veteran to Sign?

Call first. Don't open with a PDF and a deadline. A cold letter in an inbox reads like a form. A real call shows respect for the person's time and name.

On that first call, cover these points in plain words:

1. The agency and the work, at the level your capture rules allow you to share.
2. The exact role you want to name them in, and why they fit it.
3. That the job only exists if you win.
4. When the government expects to decide, if you know, and that dates often slip.
5. The pay and title you plan to offer if you win.
6. That signing does not lock them in, and does not stop them from taking another job.

Then ask one question: "If we win, would you want this job?"

A clear yes is what you need. A "maybe, send me the details" is not a yes yet. Follow up, but don't name that person until you get the real answer.

Be honest about exclusivity

Strong veterans may get asks from more than one bidder on the same contract. Some firms ask a candidate to commit to only one team. You can ask for that. But you can't force it, and the candidate may say no. Respect the no. Our guide to recruiting cleared veterans without poaching covers the ethics of chasing people who have jobs.

What Goes in the Letter?

Keep it to one page. The evaluator reads it in a minute. The candidate should be able to read it in two. Most letters carry these parts:

• Header: Your company name, the solicitation number, and the date.
• The role: The key personnel title exactly as the RFP writes it.
• The statement: The person agrees to be named and plans to take the role if you win.
• The condition: The job depends on award. It may also depend on a clearance.
• Availability: The date the person can start, or "on the first day of contract performance."
• Duration: If the RFP asks, how long they plan to stay on the contract.
• Consent: Permission to use their resume and name in the proposal.
• Signature and date: The candidate signs. Check the RFP for signature rules before you collect it.

An example letter (made-up names)

This is an example only. "Jane Sample" and "Example Corp" are not real. Your counsel and the RFP set the final wording.

Example Corp, Solicitation No. [number], [date].

I, Jane Sample, agree to be named as the Program Manager in Example Corp's proposal for this solicitation. If Example Corp wins this contract, I intend to accept the Program Manager role. I can start on the first day of contract performance. I understand this role depends on contract award and on keeping my current clearance. I give Example Corp permission to use my name and resume in this proposal.

Signed: Jane Sample. Date: [date].

Notice what the example leaves out. It does not list salary. Pay usually lives in a separate offer letter that the candidate gets from you, not the government. Some firms attach a pay summary to the candidate's copy. Keep it off the copy that goes in the proposal unless the RFP asks.

How Do You Handle Pay, Title, and Clearance Up Front?

This is where many letters fall apart later. A veteran signs a letter. Six months later you win. Then the pay offer comes in low, or the title is not what they thought. Now your key person walks.

Fix it before they sign. Give each candidate a short written summary that stays between you and them. It should name the pay or a firm range and the title. Add the work location and any remote rules. Price the bid with that number. If your cost volume uses a lower rate than you promised the candidate, your bid has a problem.

Titles from military to contract

A retired O-5 may expect "Director." Your labor category may say "Program Manager II." Explain the difference before the letter, not after the award. Tell them how the role is billed and who they report to. Then let them decide.

Clearance conditions

Be clear about what happens if the clearance is not ready. Some candidates hold an active clearance today. Some had one and it has gone out of scope. Some never held one. Each case changes your timeline. Plan to sponsor a clearance? Read how an employer sponsors a security clearance so you can explain the steps. If the start may hang on an interim, see our guide to contingent offers pending a clearance.

Never tell a candidate their clearance will "go through." You can't know that. Say what you will do and what the government decides.

How Do You Keep Candidates Warm Through a Long Evaluation?

Proposals go in. Then they sit. Evaluations can run for months, and protests can add more. Your candidate keeps getting calls the whole time. Some will take another job. That's normal, and the letter does not stop it.

So build a simple touch plan. Assign one person on your team to own each candidate. That person checks in on a set rhythm. Pick a rhythm your team will keep, and write it on the capture calendar.

Each check-in should do three small jobs. Share any news you can share. Confirm the candidate is still available. And ask if anything has changed, like a new offer or a move.

Ask this one directly: "If an offer comes before we hear back, will you call me first?"

Many people will say yes. That call gives you time to act before the person is gone.

When a candidate takes another job

Find out fast. Then talk to your contracts lead about what to tell the government. Look at Sehlke Consulting, LLC (GAO, May 18, 2022). A proposed key person resigned before the agency made its award. The agency was the National Reconnaissance Office. KPMG, the winning bidder, told the agency the person had resigned.

GAO held the agency then had two choices. It could evaluate the proposal without that person. Or it could hold discussions and let offerors revise their proposals. GAO sustained the protest because the agency did neither.

The lesson for your team: a missing key person can reshape the evaluation. Hiding it is not an option. Knowing early gives your contracts lead room to plan.

What Happens If the Bid Loses, Slips, or Your Named Person Walks?

If you lose

Call every candidate yourself. Do it the week you find out. Thank them by name. Tell them the result and what you know about why, if you can share it. A veteran who hears from you directly is more likely to sign with you again. Silence makes that harder.

Keep their resume and contact details, with their permission. The next recompete in that same agency may need the same slot.

If it slips

Tell them the new dates as soon as you know. Ask again if the timing still works. A candidate who planned a retirement date around your old award date may need to adjust. Give them that chance.

If you win and someone backs out

This is the risk the whole letter is built to lower. Many contracts carry a key personnel clause. Those clauses often ask for notice and approval before a named person is swapped. One example is the HHS version at 48 CFR 352.237-75. It calls key personnel "essential to work performance."

The clause calls for notice and a request at least 30 days before voluntarily diverting one of them. Other agencies use their own wording. Read the clause in your contract, not a general summary.

Your best defense is the work you did before you signed anyone. Real calls, a real yes, honest pay, and honest conditions make a no-show less likely. They also give you a clean record if a protester asks how you picked those names.

The risk of naming people who will not show

Some teams name a big resume to win points, with no real plan to hire that person. GAO calls this a "bait and switch."

In T3I Solutions, GAO set out the test a protester must meet. First, the awardee knowingly or negligently named people it had no reasonable basis to expect to furnish. Second, the agency relied on that. Third, the reliance had a material effect on the evaluation. GAO sustained that protest. Don't build a bid that has to survive that test.

What to Do Next

Pull up the key personnel table for your next bid. Mark each slot you can't fill from your own staff. Those are the slots that need letters, and they need them weeks before the due date, not days.

Then you need a list of real candidates to call. That's where BMR fits. Best Military Resume holds a searchable pool of thousands of veterans. Over 1,000 new profiles are added every month, and veterans have built 75,916 resumes on the platform. You can search by the skills and clearance your key personnel table calls for. Then you reach out to the people who clear every line.

For the wider hiring process, read how government contractors hire cleared veterans.

Ready to find people for your next bid? Reach out to access BMR's veteran talent pool.