Finance, tech and growth leadership moves across the market

Acentra Health

Deborah Ricci has joined the technology solutions integrator as chief financial officer, a role she brings three decades of industry experience to.

Ricci most recently worked in the CFO role at Guidehouse, starting with its 2018 inception as an independent professional services firm and including the late 2023 sale to Bain Capital.

Her career also includes the CFO roles at companies such as Constellis, Centerra Group and A-T Solutions.

Aeon

Dean Love has joined the tactical weapons systems developer as chief strategy officer, a role he brings two decades of military and industry experience to.

Love most recently worked as director of emerging technologies at ManTech, where he focused on initiatives for the special operations community.

He is also a two-decade veteran of the Navy, where his career includes service in the Naval Special Warfare PMS-340 program office.

Arlo Solutions

Venice Goodwine, the former Air Force chief information officer, has joined this technology and professional services provider in the dual roles of CIO and artificial intelligence product owner.

Goodwine will lead Arlo’s enterprise technology strategy, digital transformation and product development efforts. She will report directly to Lonye Ford, CEO of the woman-owned small business.

Goodwine’s career in government also includes service as chief information security officer at the Agriculture Department.

Asc3nd Technologies Group

Brian Hennigan, formerly a division chief at the Defense Information Systems Agency, has joined the cybersecurity and cloud computing migration specialist as chief technology officer.

At DISA, Hennigan led the endpoint security division and oversaw its work to integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques into Defense Department cyber tools.

Hennigan also founded 3WM in 2024 to focus on sovereign compute in extreme environments, according to Asc3nd’s LinkedIn post on the hire.

Astrion

Ignacio “Iggy” Alvarez has moved up to an executive vice president and general manager post at the national security and space technology integrator, where he now leads its Air Force business.

Alvarez joined Astrion in 2022 as a portfolio manager within the company’s Air Force unit and brings two decades of military and industry experience to his new role.

Prior to Astrion, he worked at Jacobs in positions of increasing responsibility. His two-decade career in the Air Force culminated with service as chief of the Secretary of the Air Force Communications and Information Programs Integration Branch, which involved the branch’s $7 billion IT portfolio.

Bombardier

Sandra Hodgkinson has joined the aerospace manufacturer as senior vice president of strategy and M&A to help shape the Bombardier Defense business’ long-term strategy.

Hodgkinson most recently worked for 14 years at Leonardo DRS, where she led its strategy and corporate development function that includes mergers and acquisitions. She has also served in senior roles at the departments of Defense and State, plus in the White house.

Bombardier also has appointed Steven McCullough as executive vice president for engineering and product development within the defense business. He has been with the company since 1989.

CAE

Ryan McLeod will join the aerospace, training and simulation systems provider as chief financial officer on Feb. 23 from his current role as CFO at ATS Corp.

McLeod has altogether spent 16 years at ATS, including the past six as CFO and the automation tech outfit’s initial public offering in 2023.

CAE’s U.S. business includes simulation products, training services and training centers for the military and its international partners.

Empower AI

Carlton Graves has joined the artificial intelligence technology integrator as vice president of capture and proposal management, a role he brings three decades of market experience to.

Graves most recently worked at ASRC Federal as senior director for capture management in the civilian and health business.

His career also includes capture leadership roles at companies such as Peraton, Perspecta, DXC Technology, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Northrop Grumman. The first four companies in that list have a shared history thanks to several merger-and-acquisition transactions.

Honeywell Aerospace

Josh Jepsen will join the soon-to-be independent, publicly-traded company on Feb. 23 as chief financial officer from his current role as CFO at Deere & Company.

Jepsen will work with chief executive-designate Jim Currier to shape the direction and vision of Honeywell Aerospace as it prepares to go standalone later this year.

Honeywell Aerospace also announced its segment-level presidents and CEOs. Bob Buddecke will lead electronic solutions, Dave Marinick will oversee engines and power systems, and Rich DeGraff will manage control systems.

HumanTouch

Joe Castle has joined the digital solutions and professional services provider as vice president of technology solutions, a role he brings two decades of experience to.

His responsibilities at Human Touch involve strategy and solution development across areas such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other emerging tech.

Castle’s career in government includes roles such as director of the General Services Administration’s digital service, plus director of Code.gov. In 2019, Castle was selected for a Nextgov/FCW Fed 100 award for his leadership over the Code.gov initiative.

LMI

Zeki Saleh has shifted to a new role at the digital solutions provider as senior vice president of growth operations, a role that cuts across the entire enterprise.

Saleh joined LMI in 2022 as senior VP for its health and civilian market following two decades at other contractors.

His career includes a stint as vice president and general manager of Peraton’s global health unit, plus 10 years at Northrop Grumman.

ODME Solutions

Tim Miller has joined the provider of technical and other professional services as president, a role he brings two decades of market experience to.

Miller announced his new role in a LinkedIn post, where he noted his most recent five years as chief revenue officer at ProSync Technology Group.

His career also includes roles at Janus Research Group, Infinitek Consulting, Catapult Technology and IBM.

PDW

Graham Kessler has joined the drone technology maker as senior vice president of corporate development, a role he brings three decades of military and industry experience to.

His responsibilities at PDW include its acquisitions, partnerships, cooperative research-and-development, and other investment activity in support of the larger strategy.

Kessler previously led strategic growth initiatives at ADS and is a former Navy intelligence officer.

RiverMeadow

Noel Hara has joined this provider of workload mobility and cloud computing software as a senior vice president, where he will lead efforts to expand across government markets such as federal.

RiverMeadow’s technology strategy centers around automated modernization of operating systems, hybrid and on-premise mobility, and partner integration.

A 27-year market veteran, Hara most recently worked as vice president and chief technology officer for NTT Data’s public sector unit.

STR

Matthew Turek, formerly an office-level deputy director at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has joined the cybersecurity tool developer as chief scientist for its intelligence division.

At DARPA, Turek helped lead the information innovation office and its research portfolio that includes work in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Turek briefly served as the office’s acting director prior to joining STR, a move he explained in a LinkedIn post.

Turek’s private sector career before STR includes roles at Kitware and General Electric’s global research arm.

Systems Planning & Analysis

Raj Badhwar has joined this national security- and space-focused technical services provider as chief information officer, a role he brings three decades of tech experience to.

Badhwar now leads SPA’s enterprise IT organization and collaborates with teams across the company on aligning their tech offerings to customer priorities.

He most recently worked as chief information security officer at Jacobs for three years. His career also includes roles at companies such as Oracle, AIG, BAE Systems and Bank of America.

TDI Technologies

Thomas Litwin has moved up to president at the provider of research-and-development and engineering services provider, where he oversees all operational and enterprise delivery functions.

The three-decade defense veteran first joined TDI in 2024 as a vice president focused on transformation and strategic initiatives. He then moved up to the SVP ranks one year later to lead growth and operations.

Litwin is also a Navy veteran and served in assignments involving electronics training and cryptography.

Virtru

Angel Smith has joined the data security software provider as president of its global public sector unit, a role that involves go-to-market strategies and user adoptions of the platform.

Smith most recently worked as vice president for Microsoft’s Americas public sector unit, where she also led the defense and intelligence team. She is also a former staff member for the House Intelligence Committee and a 23-year Marine Corps veteran.

Virtru has also hired John Dancy as executive vice president of customer solutions and engineering. He most recently worked as chief transformation officer at Nightwing, the cyber and intelligence solutions provider spun out of RTX in 2024.

Excella

Luanne Pavco, former chief operating officer for Avantus and a veteran IBM executive, has joined the board of directors at this digital transformation services provider.

Pavco worked in the COO role at Avantus for two years and helped lead it through its sale in late 2022 to QinetiQ US, where she subsequently held a stint as COO. Her 10 years at IBM involved leadership roles within its public sector business groups.

Excella’s network of investors includes Attain Capital, which backed the company in the spring of 2024.