Government contracts often require US-based developers. Here is what to do when your engineering team is entirely offshore.
Winning a government contract is a major milestone for a software company — until you realize your entire dev team is offshore and the contract requires US-based developers. Here is how one SaaS company solved that problem without a single full-time hire.
A SaaS inventory management software company won a contract to modernize asset tracking at a branch within the US Department of Defense. Their platform provided the foundation for the project — but the engagement came with significant staffing constraints.
The project did not involve classified data. However, all software customizations, production data, and production environments could only be handled by US citizens working within the borders of the United States. The development and DevOps work could be performed remotely, as long as it took place on US soil.
This posed a direct problem: the company’s entire engineering team was located offshore in Europe.
US-person restriction: a contract clause — common in Department of Defense and other government engagements — that limits access to code, data, and deployment environments to US citizens physically located within the United States. It applies even when the project does not involve classified information.
Prior to the government contract, the company’s offshore European team had worked effectively for its private sector client base. Global locations were not a problem when clients were commercial SaaS buyers.
But serving a US military branch changed the equation entirely. Only US citizen developers based in the United States could touch code customizations, data, and the deployment environment. The offshore team — regardless of their seniority or technical capability — was simply ineligible for the restricted portions of the work.
The company determined they needed a single senior full-stack .NET / C# engineer to deliver the domestic portions of the contract. The question was how to find that person quickly, cost-effectively, and without committing to a full-time hire for a project of uncertain duration.
| Option | Speed to start | Cost | Key risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time hire | 8–16 weeks | $150K+ / year fully loaded | Overcommit for a scoped project |
| Staffing agency | 4–8 weeks | High markup, variable quality | Candidate pool may lack domain experience |
| Fractional developer | Under 1 week | Fraction of a full-time hire | Must find the right match for the stack and domain |
Fraction has seen increasing demand from public sector clients — including military, federal, state, and local government organizations. In many cases these organizations cannot work with developers outside the United States, and they cannot allow data to leave the country. Even when security clearance is required, developers are frequently permitted to work remotely within the US.
Because Fraction focuses exclusively on US-based senior developer talent, the team was ready to respond when the client explained their needs. Within the developer pool, Fraction identified a senior .NET developer with over 15 years of experience and prior project history with a branch of the US military. She onboarded immediately and worked flexibly alongside both the offshore team and domestic counterparts.
Her prior government project experience was a meaningful differentiator. Related domain knowledge reduces startup transition time — understanding the operational context, documentation requirements, and security considerations that come with government work is not something a technically strong developer automatically has. It is accumulated through direct exposure.
Fraction maintains a pool of senior, US-citizen developers with government and defense project experience. Get matched in days, not months.
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One additional factor that makes government and public sector professionals well-suited to fractional work: they typically do not carry restrictive non-compete agreements. Private sector developers are often bound by agreements that limit the industries or clients they can work with on a fractional basis. Government and public sector employees generally are not, which opens the door to this kind of engagement.
Fraction’s initial engagement covered code customizations, DevOps and deployment environment setup, and the full deployment and data migration. The project delivered on time, with production launch completing on schedule.
From a cost perspective, the fractional model delivered at a fraction of what a full-time hire would have cost — appropriate for a scoped project with defined deliverables and a clear endpoint.
As the initial phase concluded, the question shifted to ongoing support. Fraction’s approach to post-launch maintenance is built around preserving the knowledge base the developer accumulated during the build cycle. A developer who stays connected to a project after launch can respond to the inevitable operational issues far faster than someone brought in cold.
For this client, quarter-time coverage after launch offered cost-effective ongoing bug support and maintenance, backed by the same project management and software architecture guidance as the full engagement. The offshore team handles the parts of the work they are eligible for; the fractional US developer handles the rest.
Many government contracts — especially those involving the Department of Defense — restrict access to code, production data, and deployment environments to US citizens working within US borders. This is driven by security requirements, data residency rules, and regulations such as ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) that limit who can handle sensitive technical information. The restriction applies even when the work itself does not involve classified data.
It depends on the contract and the specific tasks involved. In some engagements, non-US developers can handle internal tools, documentation, or non-production work that never touches restricted systems or data. However, any code customization, data migration, or interaction with the production or deployment environment typically must be performed by US citizens within the United States. Companies should review each contract’s specific terms and consult legal counsel before assigning offshore team members to any portion of a government project.
Fractional hiring lets you bring a senior US-based developer onto the project at part-time hours — typically half-time during the build phase and quarter-time for ongoing maintenance. This gives you access to qualified domestic talent without the cost of a full-time hire. Because fractional developers are already vetted and available, onboarding is fast, and the engagement can scale up or down as contract needs change.
US citizenship and physical presence in the United States are baseline requirements. Beyond compliance, look for prior experience with government or defense projects — domain familiarity significantly reduces ramp-up time. The required technical stack also matters: for many legacy government systems, .NET and C# experience is essential. Finally, confirm that the developer is not bound by non-compete agreements that would restrict government or public sector work, as government employees typically do not have such restrictions.
Not always. Many government software projects — including those involving military branches — do not require a formal security clearance, particularly when the work does not involve classified data. The most common restrictions are around citizenship, physical location, and data handling. Developers who meet those conditions can often begin work without a clearance. Projects involving classified systems or sensitive national security information will require the appropriate clearance level, which takes additional time and vetting.
Quarter-time fractional coverage is a cost-effective model for post-launch support. Keeping the same developer engaged preserves the institutional knowledge they built during the project — they can respond quickly to bugs and operational issues without a re-onboarding cycle. This continuity matters especially for government clients, where turnover and knowledge loss create compliance and operational risks.
Praveen Ghanta is a five-time founder and serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of DevHawk.ai, an AI-powered engineering management platform, and Fraction.work, which connects fast-growing companies with top fractional tech and growth marketing talent. Previously, he founded HiddenLevers, a risk analytics platform for wealth management that he bootstrapped from inception to acquisition by Orion Advisor Solutions in 2021, serving thousands of advisors and $600B in assets. He earlier founded SmartWorkGroups, acquired by Intralinks in 2000.
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