Skip to main content

Getting Started with Illumera

Illumera is the federated talent marketplace built for federal government contracting. This guide walks you through what the platform is, how to create your account, and how to choose your role.

What is Illumera?​

Illumera connects three groups of users through a single unified platform:

  • Talent Professionals — individual consultants, contractors, and specialists who build profiles, list their skills and availability, and find government contracting engagements.
  • Contracting Companies — prime contractors, subcontractors, and partner firms that post projects, source talent, and manage their bench across the federated network.
  • Platform Administrators — Illumera staff who manage tenants, users, system configuration, and audit compliance across the entire platform.

At its core, Illumera maps skills across the network, scores candidates against open project slots using six independent dimensions, and manages the full engagement lifecycle from invitation through completion.

The Three Portals​

Talent Portal

Manage your profile, skills, availability, and engagements. Browse the marketplace and find projects that match your experience and work style.

Company Portal

Post projects, define staffing requirements, search the marketplace, and manage your team of contractors and subcontractors.

Admin Portal

Manage tenants, users, feature flags, audit logs, and system settings across the entire platform.

Creating Your Account​

  1. Navigate to the platform sign-up page and enter your name, email address, and a password.
  2. Verify your email address via the link sent by Clerk (the platform's identity provider).
  3. After verification you are redirected to the platform. First-time users proceed through an onboarding wizard to set up their profile.

Choosing Your Role​

On first login you choose how you will use the platform. This determines which portal you land in and what content is visible to you.

Talent Professional
Choose this if you are an individual looking for contracting engagements. Assigns the person role.
Company Administrator
Choose this if you represent a contracting company. Assigns the company_admin role.

Users can hold multiple roles simultaneously — for example, an individual who is also a company owner. Initial roles are claimed through the onboarding flow (person via the talent path; company_admin via the company setup wizard). Subsequent role changes are managed by platform administrators via Admin → Users → [user] → Edit Roles.

Onboarding Wizard​

New users are guided through a step-by-step onboarding wizard before accessing the full platform. The wizard collects the minimum information needed for the matching engine to function.

  • Talent: Basic information (name, city, country, availability hours) and at least three skill entries. A headline describing your professional focus is also required for marketplace visibility.
  • Companies: A three-step wizard collects company basics (legal name, display name, website, industry, size), identity details (EIN, headquarters city and country), and a confirmation step to review and accept the terms of service.

You can return to complete or update these sections at any time from your profile or company settings.

Getting Help​

Use the in-app feedback button (bottom of the sidebar) to report issues or request features.

Platform administrators can access system logs, audit trails, and feature flag settings for deeper debugging.