A pair of CEO transitions and more leadership moves across the market

Bell

Danny Maldonado will move up to CEO of Textron’s rotorcraft subsidiary on Jan. 4 and succeed Lisa Atherton, who is slated to become the conglomerate’s chief executive on that date.

Maldonado currently works as Bell’s chief commercial officer, a role that involves sales of the platforms and related aftermarket solutions. His role also involves new product development and the Bell Training Academy for pilots.

He has been with Textron since 1990 and is a former CEO for its customer financing solutions arm.

Honeywell Aerospace

Jim Currier, who has led this business unit as chief executive since 2023, will assume the role of CEO once it becomes an independent company following the conglomerate’s planned breakup in 2026.

Currier is a two-decade veteran of Honeywell, which makes aircraft engines and avionics systems. Honeywell Aerospace recorded $15 billion in revenue during 2024 from a roughly even split of defense and commercial work.

Craig Arnold, a former CEO of Eaton Corp. and two-decade General Electric veteran, was appointed chairman of the Honeywell Aerospace board of directors.

AE Industrial Partners

Chris Aguemon and Bill Strobel have joined the private investment firm’s national security team as vice presidents and will work out of its Washington, D.C. office.

Aguemon most recently worked at Arlington Capital Partner, another investment firm focused on defense and national security. He is also a former Army Reserve officer.

Strobel is formerly of Liberty Strategic Capital, where he led investments in national security and financial services. He served as a nuclear submarine officer in the Navy for seven years.

BWX Technologies

Toby Smith has joined the nuclear fuel and component supplier as senior vice president and general counsel, a role that encompasses all of its legal and regulatory functions.

The two-decade corporate law and trade compliance veteran most recently spent 11 years at Otis Elevator, where he was senior VP and corporate secretary. Otis is a spinoff of the former United Technologies Corp., where he held legal leadership positions.

Smith succeeds Ronald Whitford, who will remain in an advisory capacity with BWXT until early 2026.

Capgemini Government Solutions

Yemi Oshinnaiye has joined the global IT services provider’s U.S. federal arm as chief technologist and has been tasked with leading the delivery of commercial offerings to clients.

Oshinnaiye most recently served as chief information officer at the Transportation Security Agency for three years. Prior to that, he served deputy CIO at the Homeland Security Department for three years.

CGS touts his background as including work in programs related to customer experience, agile delivery, cyber, applied intelligence and enterprise IT modernization.

Conti Federal Services

The federal construction and design-build firm has made a series of changes in its C-level leadership team, highlighted by appointments for the chief strategy officer and chief operating officer roles.

As chief strategy officer, Lou Zecca will guide Conti Federal’s corporate strategic initiatives as it seeks to grow its portfolio of projects around the world. Zecca joined Conti Federal in 2020 from Pernix Federal.

Zecca transitions to that role from COO, which Anthony Blommel is moving into after previously working as chief administrative officer.

General Dynamics IT

Paul Nedzbala, currently senior vice president of the business unit’s civilian division, has been appointed to the newly-created role of chief business officer in a move taking effect Jan. 1.

Nedzbala will lead GDIT’s new enterprise business office that covers functions such as real estate and facilities, program support, technology shared services, security, supply chain and subcontracts. He joined GDIT through its acquisition in 2018 of CSRA.

Also on Jan. 1, Jylinda Johnson will move up to senior VP for the civilian division. She currently leads GDIT’s government operations and citizen services team and also joined via the acquisition of CSRA.

Guidehouse

Ron White has joined the professional services firm as chief information officer, a role he brings 35 years of technology experience to.

White’s new responsibilities include internal IT operations, cybersecurity and cloud-first initiatives.

He most recently worked as global CIO at Avanade.

JPMorgan Chase

Jay Horine, former co-head of global investment banking at the firm, has moved into a new role overseeing its $1.5 trillion initiative focused on U.S. national security.

Horine will be responsible for coordinating JPMorgan’s global banking activities across key industries identified in the bank’s Security & Resiliency Initiative. He will also work with the team tasked with investing up to $10 billion of JPMorgan’s own capital in companies, according to an announcement shared with WT.

JPMorgan is also hiring bankers and standing up an external advisory council to help guide the initiative.

MetroStar

Kameke Mitchell has joined the venture-backed technology integrator as chief strategy officer to assist in the push for expansion across defense and national security programs.

Mitchell is a former Senior Executive Service member and longtime acquisition leader in government. Her career includes service as director of procurement strategic operations and head of contracting activity at NASA, plus chief of contracts for Space Force’s Commercial Space Office.

Her new role at MetroStar covers functions related to enterprise strategy, market positioning and growth initiatives.

Oshkosh

Logan Jones has joined the specialty truck and military vehicle manufacturer as a chief growth officer, where he will support both its defense segment and a business unit focused on last-mile and commercial delivery.

Jones is a two-decade veteran of the defense, aerospace and emerging technology sectors. He joins Oshkosh after three years as chief business officer of SiFly and is also a 13-year veteran of Boeing, where he co-founded the HorizonX venture capital and innovation group.

Jones appeared on our podcast in May 2022 during his stint as president of the government business at SparkCognition, which was backed by HorizonX and is now known as Avathon.

Precise Systems

Matthew Orsino has joined the defense technology services provider as chief growth officer, a role he brings 28 years of defense sector experience to.

This appointment marks Orsino’s return to Precise Systems, where he worked from 2013 to 2018 as senior vice president of business development. He most recently worked as CGO at Valkyrie Enterprises and is a former executive vice president for McKean Defense Group.

Orsino will lead Precise Systems’ business development operations and customer engagement strategies.

QinetiQ Inc.

Tracy Gee has joined the defense technology company’s U.S. subsidiary as chief people officer, a role that covers all aspects of human resources.

The 30-year HR veteran most recently worked as chief people officer at the National Association of Corporate Directors, where she also led its Center for Inclusive Governance. She established NACD’s HR department and human capital strategy.

Her career also includes leadership roles at Raytheon, Liberty Mutual and Fidelity.

Safran Defense & Space

Christopher Keefer has joined the aerospace and defense company’s subsidiary for U.S. government work as president of its space solutions division, a role he brings 25 years of industry experience to.

Keefer will lead portfolio that includes space propulsion systems, onboard communications, space domain awareness and ground systems. He will also oversee Safran DSI’s efforts to ramp up small satellite production at its new space hub in Parker, Colorado.

He most recently worked as vice president of space systems at General Dynamics’ mission systems business unit. His career also includes senior leadership roles at Northrop Grumman and Orbital ATK.

Advanced Technology International

Dr. Steven Walker, a former director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has joined this nonprofit organization’s board of directors.

Walker most recently worked as Lockheed Martin’s chief technology officer for five years until he retired from the company in the spring. He led DARPA from 2017 to 2020.

ATI works with government agencies on managing their consortium portfolios.

Frontier Technology Inc.

David Dacquino, the former chief executive for Serco Group’s subsidiary in North America, has joined this defense technology integrator’s board of directors.

FTI is pushing to expand its footprint across the Defense Department and availability of a digital data platform that incorporates functions in analytics, modeling, simulation and defensive cybersecurity. FTI designed the platform to also use artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.

Dacquino led Serco Inc. from 2017 to 2022, a period that saw the company make two major acquisitions and emphasize pursuits of larger contracts. Serco Inc. bought Alion Science and Technology’s marine engineering and sustainment business, as well as WBB during his tenure there.

He is also a member of the board of directors at American Systems and RA Federal Services.