Corporate espionage and competitive intelligence at Deloitte.

According to its website, the firm is looking to hire a federal contracts manager, a federal cybersecurity consultant and is even advertising for military officers with top-secret government clearances.

What none of the people applying for those jobs know — and few of the people doing the hiring know, either — is the secret history of Deloitte’s robust federal practice.

It’s a classic tale of corporate espionage.

Flash back 10 years. At the time, Deloitte was not the major player in federal consulting it is today. “Deloitte had fits and starts in trying to do the federal business,” recalls a former Deloitte partner who asked not to be named. “In ’05 and ’06, Deloitte was doing maybe $300 million a year in revenue and had maybe 1,000 people.” The former partner says the firm had a lofty internal goal of getting its federal business to the billion-dollar level. “They wanted to do an acquisition, but they weren’t sure which one.”

Then, in early 2007, a phone rang inside Deloitte. On the line was a source, passing on some valuable information. BearingPoint, the struggling consulting firm, had just called an emergency meeting. BearingPoint partners from around the world would be coming to a hastily scheduled session at the convention center in Orlando, Florida. The source didn’t know why the meeting was scheduled. It was a complete mystery. But Deloitte’s managers were prepared to go to unusual lengths to unravel it.