Cherokee Federal, Expression Networks detail their transitions at the very top
Gettyimages.com / Ismagilov
By
Ross Wilkers
Tom Watson most recently led Serco North America for seven years, while Tim Spadafore has only been with Expression Networks since the spring.
Cherokee Federal
Tom Watson will join the federal contracting division of Cherokee Nation Businesses as president on Oct. 1, one year after he retired from the CEO role at Serco Group’s North America subsidiary.
Watson led Serco North America for a seven-year period that saw the business grow from roughly $900 million in annual revenue to $2 billion at the time of his departure. Serco North America also employed 10,000 people when he stepped down.
During his tenure, Serco North America prioritized technology services in its strategy and that push included the $327 million acquisition of Northrop Grumman’s training business.
Cherokee Federal employs close to 5,000 people and touts $1 billion in annual revenue. The contractor describes itself as focusing on defense, intelligence, health IT and logistics efforts across the federal government.
Watson’s three-decade industry career prior to Serco North America includes 22 years at Science Applications International Corp., where his most recent role was senior vice president and general manager of the Navy and Marine Corps business unit.
Before entering the private sector, he served six years in active duty with the Navy as an electronics technician.
Expression Networks
Tim Spadafore has moved up to the chief executive post at this provider of services in software engineering, data analytics and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Spadafore first joined Expression in March as chief strategy officer, which is the role that founder and now-former CEO Abir Ray is now taking on. Ray started Expression in 1997 to provide program management support for large systems integration and development projects at defense and intelligence agencies.
“As Expression’s founder, Abir will remain central to shaping the company’s future—continuing to lead corporate strategy, our technology roadmap, growth initiatives, and senior customer relationships,” Expression said in a LinkedIn post on the transition. “Together, Tim and Abir will lead Expression’s next phase of growth: expanding our AI and data capabilities, investing in our people, and translating technical innovation into meaningful results for our customers.”
Spadafore is a three-decade veteran of the market who worked as senior vice president of LMI’s defense business before he joined Expression.
His career also includes executive roles at Client Solutions Architects, CGI Federal, TeraThink and Dominion Consulting.
At TeraThink, he held the chief operating officer role and led that company through its sale to CGI Federal in 2020. He then worked as SVP of consulting services at CGI Federal for nearly two years before taking up the COO position at Client Solution Architects, where he also spent two years.