Cleared IT recruiting in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is an Air Force research, acquisition and intelligence market.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just east of the city in Greene and Montgomery counties, is controlled by Air Force Materiel Command and hosts the headquarters of the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and the Air Force Institute of Technology's main campus is on the base. The University of Dayton Research Institute and Riverside Research in Beavercreek supply the engineering, and the contractors cluster in Beavercreek and Fairborn along the base's boundary. Requisitions run from Secret for acquisition and engineering support to TS/SCI at the intelligence center.
Interstate 675 runs 27.41 miles around the east side of the metro, according to the federal route log, past the base, Beavercreek and Fairborn, and it is the commute for most cleared candidates in the region.
Installations, agencies and employers that shape hiring in Dayton
The organizations below shape the Dayton market. They are named as facts about the area; none is a client of the firm.
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Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
The base lies just east of Dayton, its host unit is the 88th Air Base Wing, it is controlled by Air Force Materiel Command, and it hosts the headquarters of the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The City of Fairborn describes it as one of the largest military bases in the United States.
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The Air Force Institute of Technology
AFIT's main campus is at Wright-Patterson, and it describes itself as the Department of the Air Force's leader for advanced, multidisciplinary academic education; since 1956 it has awarded 20,831 master's degrees and 1,037 doctorates, and it serves an average of 30,000 students a year through continuing education.
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The National Space Intelligence Center
The center at Wright-Patterson advertises intelligence specialist positions whose postings state that the incumbent must be able to obtain and retain a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information.
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The University of Dayton Research Institute
UDRI organizes its work into materials; digital and systems engineering, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, autonomous systems and sensing; and sustainment and readiness, including corrosion prevention, structural repair and life cycle management. On May 4, 2026 it announced that it would become a wholly owned subsidiary of the university.
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Riverside Research and the VA
Riverside Research lists an office at 2640 Hibiscus Way in Beavercreek and a second location in Fairborn. The VA Dayton Healthcare System is at 4100 West Third Street in Dayton, and Wright State University is in Fairborn.
Commuting and remote work around Dayton
Interstate 675 runs 27.41 miles from I-75 south of the city to I-70 near Fairborn and serves Dayton, according to the federal route log, and it is the road to the base's gates, Beavercreek and Fairborn; I-75 runs 211.28 miles through Ohio and I-70 225.58 miles, crossing north of the city.
The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, headquartered at 4 South Main Street, operates fixed-route buses, paratransit and on-demand service, and announced route adjustments beginning September 6, 2026; most base and contractor commutes are by car on I-675.
Research, acquisition and intelligence work on the base is on site, and much of the contractor engineering in Beavercreek is in controlled facilities. Unclassified engineering support and IT positions offer hybrid work where the program allows, and the requisition should say so.
Clearance levels commonly requested in Dayton
Acquisition, engineering and IT support requisitions around the base ask for Secret, program office and research positions ask for Top Secret, and the intelligence center's positions require TS/SCI, as its own postings state. The VA's positions are Public Trust. Dayton's cleared pool is deep in acquisition and research support and thin in TS/SCI analysts, and the intelligence requisitions are worked nationally.
Ohio has no statewide posting rules on pay, though Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo have ordinances that bind employers in those cities, and Ohio's ban-the-box statute applies only to public employers.
Specialties in demand in Dayton
Industries hiring in Dayton
Related markets
Questions about hiring in Dayton
Which Dayton requisitions require TS/SCI?
Those at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and its space intelligence center, whose own postings state the requirement, and the contractor positions that support them. Most acquisition, research and engineering support requisitions around the base ask for Secret or Top Secret without SCI.
Where do Dayton's cleared candidates live?
Beavercreek, Fairborn, Kettering, Centerville, Huber Heights and the communities along Interstate 675, within a short drive of the base's gates. Recruiters Workforce records the home community and the gate a candidate will accept before submittal.