Positioning for recompetes: an 18-month capture plan

A recompete is a new competition for work that an incumbent is already performing under a contract that is ending. Recompetes are the most predictable opportunities in federal contracting: the requirement exists, the funding history is public and the end date is in the award record. They are also the easiest to lose by starting late. Agencies plan acquisitions well before the current contract ends (FAR Part 7), and by the time a solicitation is released the requirement, the evaluation criteria and often the customer's preferences are largely set.

Find the recompetes worth chasing#

Federal award data tells you most of what you need before you ever talk to the customer. On USAspending.gov, an award record shows:

• Period of performance: the current end date and the potential end date if all options are exercised
• Obligations: how much has actually been spent, and the trend year over year
• The incumbent: the recipient's name and UEI, which leads to its registration, size and other awards
• Classification: NAICS and product or service codes, the awarding and funding agencies, and the set-aside type
• Competition details: such as the extent of competition and, where reported, the number of offers received
• Subawards: first-tier subcontracts the prime reported under FAR 52.204-10

Read the incumbent's position#

Contractor performance evaluations in CPARS are not public, so you will not read the incumbent's ratings. You can still assemble a fair picture:

• Scope growth or decline in contract modifications and obligations
• Size and status changes: an incumbent that grew out of the size standard, graduated from 8(a) or was acquired may not be eligible if the recompete stays set aside (see NAICS size standards)
• Protest history: GAO bid protest decisions are public
• Registration and exclusions: an expired SAM.gov registration or an exclusion changes everything (see SAM exclusions and responsibility)
• Workforce signals: job postings and turnover for the contract's key positions
• Customer signals: questions raised in requests for information, industry days and draft solicitations

Neither "the incumbent is entrenched" nor "the incumbent is vulnerable" is a strategy. Find evidence for one or the other before you commit bid and proposal money.

Shape the requirement while you still can#

FAR 15.201 encourages exchanges with industry from the earliest identification of a requirement through receipt of proposals, and FAR Part 10 makes market research a required step. That is your window:

• Answer sources sought notices and RFIs with a focused capability response; they help decide whether the work is set aside and what it requires (see capability statements).
• Attend industry days and use one-on-one sessions to understand the customer's problems, not to pitch.
• Comment on draft solicitations: ambiguous requirements and unrealistic evaluation criteria are easier to fix before the final RFP.

A capture timeline#

These are planning norms, not rules; scale them to the size and complexity of the contract.

Build a team that beats the incumbent#

A challenger has to offer the customer a lower-risk path to a better outcome. That usually means:

• A transition plan that shows how you will keep the mission running from day one, including how you will recruit the incumbent workforce where the customer wants continuity
• Partners who close your gaps: past performance with this customer, the clearance or CMMC level the work requires, small business status for a set-aside, or a technical discriminator
• Proof: metrics from similar work, not adjectives (see past performance)

Recompete checklist#

Common pitfalls#

• Starting at RFP release. By then you are reacting to a requirement others helped shape.
• Chasing too many recompetes. A disciplined bid/no-bid gate beats a long pipeline of long shots.
• Ignoring set-aside changes. A recompete can move from unrestricted to set-aside, or the other way, based on market research.
• Underestimating transition. Customers fear disruption more than they love innovation.

How TeamingIndex helps#

• The Recompete Radar lists expiring contracts 6 to 18 months ahead by agency, NAICS code, set-aside, incumbent UEI, obligated ceiling and end date, with CSV export.
• Open the incumbent's profile for its vehicles, award history, registration health and compliance credentials, then find challenger partners, for example verified CMMC Level 2 (C3PAO) companies.
• Generate a recompete brief grounded in the award facts, then assemble the challenger team in the Team Builder.