Pair of federal sector veterans take up new industry roles

One veteran of government service and a second experienced contracting market executive have taken on new roles in industry to help steer their new employers toward more growth.

Commercial satellite imagery provider Planet has hired Robert Cardillo, the former National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency director, as chief strategist and chairman of the board for the company’s federal subsidiary.

Planet Federal has tasked Cardillo to lead the alignment of products and services with agencies’ needs, drive partnership and accelerate technology innovation.

Launched in 2018, Planet Federal is one of several businesses looking to make further inroads into the government imagery market as its agencies responsible for those acquisitions increasingly adopt a multi-provider approach.

Cardillo is also a member of the board of advisers at Peraton.

Separately, military and international pilot training device maker Veraxx has appointed former ASRC Federal CEO Mark Gray as executive chairman of the board of directors.

Gray and newly-promoted CEO Chris Conrad will work with Chantilly, Virginia-headquartered Veraxx’s board on objectives to grow its relationships with U.S. military agencies and international customers, plus pursuits of opportunities in new markets.

While at ASRC Federal, Gray led the company through growth to nearly $1.5 billion in annual revenue prior to his retirement last year. He is also a veteran of the former URS Corp., Indus and Anteon businesses.

Conrad co-founded Veraxx in 1999 and will also serve in the dual role of chief growth officer.