Defense, growth and operations leadership moves across the market

AE Industrial Partners

Chris Aguemon and Bill Strobel have moved up to the principal ranks at this private investment firm, which they both joined in 2025.

Aguemon is on the board of directors at Attilius Technologies, a portfolio company of AE Industrial, and was formerly a vice president at Arlington Capital Partners.

Strobel is on the board for fellow portfolio company CASE and was formerly a vice president at Liberty Strategic Capital.

Kirk Konert, managing partner at AE Industrial, appeared on our WT 360 podcast in June to discuss the firm’s approach to investing and the overall private capital landscape.

Aretum

Lisa Talcott has joined the technology and professional services provider as leader of its federal civilian sector, a role she brings three decades of experience to.

Talcott most recently led NTT Data’s federal civilian business for 10 years with responsibility for growth, staffing, delivery and client development functions in a team of 300 employees.

Before that, she led the federal civilian sector at Procentrix.

C5MI

Mark Zabierek has joined this provider of IT and supply chain software solutions as vice president of strategy, a role he brings two decades of defense and government operations experience to.

Zabierek will work with other members of C5MI’s executive team to refine and carry out its business plan, including corporate development initiatives and the overall operating rhythm.

He most recently worked as a principal at Fairmond Consulting Group and was at Deloitte before that. He is also a former Air Force intelligence officer.

Document Storage Systems

Meggie Soliman has moved up to vice president of federal product operations at the health IT company, which she first joined in 2013 as a product line manager.

Soliman now leads efforts to align product teams with DSS’ business objectives. She also broadens her previous innovation-focused role to cover all of the company’s federal operations.

She most recently worked as director of strategic innovations for applications at DSS.

Entarian

Cale Husted has moved up to senior vice president of defense at this technology and engineering services provider, which he joined this year via its acquisition of Sev1Tech.

Husted previously led Entarian’s maritime operations portfolio with the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He was vice president of operations at Sev1Tech and Geocent.

Entarian has also promoted Cooper Jumonville to vice president of the maritime division. He also joined Entarian via the combination with Sev1Tech.

This coming Monday’s episode of our WT 360 podcast will feature Entarian’s chief executive Mark Lee.

Mitre Corp.

Susannah Wright has moved up to vice president and deputy general counsel at the nonprofit science and technology firm, which she first joined in 2017 as assistant general counsel.

Wright provides legal advice and support on complex challenges, enterprise risk and other matters related to Mitre’s work as an operator of federally-funded research-and-development centers.

Prior to Mitre, she represented government contractors and other organizations in complex civil litigation cases.

Paragon Space Development Corp.

Micah Webb has joined the provider of life support and thermal control systems as vice president of business development and growth, a role he brings two decades of experience to.

Webb will work with other members of Paragon’s executive team to shape the company’s growth strategy, investments, business development campaigns, and approaches to mergers and acquisitions.

He most recently worked at KBR as vice president of strategy for its government services business, which is being spun off to create Trinzic. He was on the strategy team for KBR’s acquisition of LinQuest in 2024.

Peraton

Melissa Murray has joined this government technology integrator as vice president of capture for its defense team, a role she brings 15 years of industry experience to.

Murray most recently worked as a capture manager at Google’s public sector arm and before that spent a decade at Science Applications International Corp.

Peraton announced its hire of Murray in a LinkedIn post.

Science Applications International Corp.

Stephen Smith has joined the government technology integrator as a vice president and client executive, a role he brings 35 years of Army service experience to.

Smith’s career in the Army concluded in 2024 with service as deputy commanding general of Army Forces Command and the branch’s Western Hemisphere Command. He retired with the rank lieutenant general.

SAIC’s LinkedIn post on its hire of Smith describes his new role as focusing on joint and multi-domain operations.

Second Front Systems

Nick Woodruff has moved up to general manager for North America at this public benefit software company, which he first joined in February as executive vice president and head of U.S. government.

Woodruff now oversees both federal and commercial efforts in his new role. Prior to Second Front, he was chief growth officer at Research Innovations Inc.

Second Front also promoted Troy Goodnough to executive vice president of finance and operations after he first joined in January as VP of finance. He formerly worked in financial leadership roles at Nasuni.

Sift

Chad Duffield has joined this developer of telemetry and observability software as head of its federal team, a role he brings 27 years of public sector experience to.

“We’re investing heavily in expanding production capacity and accelerating the development of advanced systems,” Duffield wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role. But building more hardware, faster, is only part of the equation. We also need to fundamentally improve how we test, evaluate, and sustain those systems.

Ursa Major

Jason Meredith has moved up to president at the joined the rocket propulsion system manufacturer, which he joined in February as president of solid missile systems.

His new role covers business execution efforts across Ursa Major and profit-and-loss functions.

Meredith’s two-decade industry career prior to Ursa Major includes stops at Pratt & Whitney, Northrop Grumman, Orbital ATK and ATK.

Westat

Edward “Ted” Wright has joined this provider of research, data collection and analysis services as vice president and practice director for clinical research.

Westat has tasked Wright to lead a 140-person team that works on efforts across clinical trials, bioinformatics, health IT and epidemiology research. He will guide the practice’s growth strategy and strategic planning functions including business development, project quality and talent management.

The two-decade public sector veteran most recently worked as president of Icon Government and Public Health Solutions Inc., a specialized division of the global contract research organization Icon PLC.

XLight

Richard-Duane Chambers has joined this developer of free electron lasers as vice president of its global public sector team, a role he brings two decades of experience in the ecosystem to.

Chambers most recently served at the National Institute of Standards and Technology as chief strategist and policy director for its CHIPS R&D office. XLight designs its lasers to aid in the manufacturing of computer chips.

“We're working to transform semiconductor manufacturing by delivering unlimited extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light,” Chambers wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role and XLight’s strategy.

Claritev

Jennifer Main, former chief operating officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from 2018 to 2021, has joined the board of directors at this healthcare technology company.

Main’s career in government also includes service as chief financial officer for the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program at the Treasury Department.

She currently works as chief financial officer for Certuma and Overture Life. Before that, she held the CFO and COO roles at Amlagam Rx from 2021 to 2026.

Concurrent Technologies Corp.

Errol Campbell and Tonya Wilkerson have joined the board of directors at this nonprofit science and research firm, which welcomed new CEO Christopher Hamilton in June.

Campbell’s three-decade career in the Navy includes leadership positions over air-to-air missile and mission integration programs, as well as special programs involving areas like autonomy. He currently works as a director of business development at Anduril after working in senior roles at Booz Allen Hamilton and ManTech.

Wilkerson’s three-decade career in the intelligence community includes service as deputy director at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, associate deputy director for science and technology at the CIA, and director of the mission operations directorate at the National Reconnaissance Office.

Joseph Yakovac is stepping down from CTC’s board after 10 years on the panel, the maximum term limit for members.