Two dozen corporate leadership moves to note as 2026 begins

Aquia

David Maskeroni, who co-founded the digital transformation specialist in 2021, is returning to the CEO position after previously working as its chief revenue officer since August 2024.

Maskeroni became CRO at that time when Chris Hughes became chief executive. Hughes is stepping down and departing Aquia as part of an agreement on the transition, the company said.

Aquia has recorded $7.6 million in unclassified prime contract revenue over the trailing 12 months with the Commerce Department representing 73.5% of that spend, according to USASpending.gov data.

MARTAC

Tony Smeraglinolo has joined this maker of unmanned surface vessels as chief executive after he stepped down from that position at Sincerus Global Solutions in December.

MARTAC designs its USVs to augment larger vessels and operate autonomously. The company touts its vehicles as having participated in exercises with the navies of U.S., U.K. and Australia.

Smeraglinolo succeeds founder Bruce Hanson, who is transitioning to vice chairman. Smeraglinolo is best known in the market for his tenure as CEO of Engility Corp. from its 2012 inception until 2016.

Mission

Mark Quantock, a retired Army major general, and veteran technology executive Carlton “Bubba” Fox have taken up the chief executive roles at Mission’s primary operating subsidiaries.

Quantock leads the Mission Essential entity that specializes in systems integration, intelligence, language and operational support services. The 37-year Army veteran has worked in senior roles at companies such as Babel Street and Global Dimensions since his retirement from service.

Fox oversees Mission Sciences, the entity that develops technology products for defense and commercial sectors. His 19-year industry career includes roles at NCI Inc., Olive and Science Applications International Corp.

Also regarding Mission Essential, Daniel Soller is now chief operating officer and Greg Crawford is now chief growth officer.

Tetra Tech

Roger Argus, a 30-year company veteran and its president since October, is slated to succeed CEO Dan Batrack on Feb. 19 and will also join the board of directors.

Batrack will transition to the role of executive chairman after 21 years as CEO. Tetra Tech has acquired several federal technology companies during his tenure, including the purchases of Amyx and LS Technologies.

Argus’ career at Tetra Tech includes management of multidisciplinary contracts and projects for U.S. government agencies.

Tetra Tech posted $5.4 billion in revenue for its most recent fiscal year ended Sept. 28 and federal work represents 31.4% of that, according to the company’s annual report.

Acclaim Technical Services

Gloria Glaubman has joined the provider of language, operations and tech services as its first-ever chief technology officer after two decades in the U.S. government.

ATS wrote in a LinkedIn post that Glaubman will help lead its push to grow the portfolio of cybersecurity, engineering and technology offerings for intelligence agencies.

She most recently was a senior cyber adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan and is a Navy veteran.

Ajax Defense

Wesley Sparks has joined the supply chain-focused investment holding company as chief strategy officer, a role he brings 25 years of military and industry experience to.

Sparks will lead corporate strategy, growth initiatives and long-term business development efforts as Ajax Defense pushes to expand across the ecosystem.

He is former Army infantry and acquisition officer who subsequently worked at companies such as Honeywell, Rheinmetall and Science Applications International Corp.

Alpha Omega

David Walls has joined the technology integrator as chief financial officer, a role he brings two decades of market experience to.

Walls is a former CFO at contractors such as Valkyrie Enterprises and McKean Defense Group. More recently, he was a managing director at Maximus Partners.

His career also includes financial leadership roles at American Hospital Services Group, Pennhurst Group and Procurian.

ASRC Federal

Lori Stallard has joined the government services company as senior vice president of growth operations, a role she brings three decades of market experience to.

Her responsibilities at ASRC Federal include leadership over its capture and proposal teams, plus facilitating collaboration across the enterprise.

Stallard’s career includes business development leadership roles at Leidos, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics IT and KBR.

Blue Origin (and United Launch Alliance)

Tory Bruno, who led ULA as chief executive for 12 years, has joined the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin outfit as president of its national security division.

Bruno will lead Blue Origin’s push to challenge SpaceX and win a greater share of launch contracts after having overseen ULA’s transition to the Vulcan rocket, for which Blue Origin supplies its BE-4 engines for.

ULA’s chief operating officer John Elbon has stepped in as interim CEO of the business, which is a 50-50 joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Client Solution Architects

Stephen Dolski has joined the provider of technology and operational support services as chief financial officer, a role he brings two decades of market experience to.

Dolski most recently worked as CFO at SilverEdge, which Science Applications International Corp. acquired in the fall for $205 million.

His career also includes senior roles at SC3, Serco Inc., Illuminate, ASRC Federal and Lockheed Martin.

Codan

Aydin Mohtashamian is now president of Kagwerks and DTC North America, both U.S.-based subsidiaries of the Australia-headquartered communications tech maker.

The two-decade defense market veteran most recently worked as chief operating officer at Parry Labs for three years, a tenure that involved efforts to expand manufacturing capacity and further advance product strategies for open architecture environments.

His career also includes senior leadership roles at QinetiQ North America, MTEQ and L3 Technologies.

Converged Security Solutions

Joshua Robin has joined the parent company of Evolver and eVigilent as chief growth officer, a role he brings two decades of market experience to.

Rubin will lead the work to integrate the growth strategies and brand positioning for both CSS businesses. His areas of responsibility include business development, capture and proposal functions.

His career includes CGO stints at companies such as Infotrend, Ardent and Sevatec.

Elara Nova

Chad Raduege, a retired Air Force brigadier general and former chief information officer for European Command, has joined the space research and technology company as a sector president.

The 29-year Air Force veteran will lead Elara Nova’s portfolio in cyber, data and communications. Raduege is responsible for leading efforts to expand Elara Nova’s offerings for multi-domain missions.

At EUCOM, Raduege led teams that operated five networks for global operations and oversaw communications readiness across the European region.

Leonardo DRS

Sally Wallace has moved up to the chief operating officer position, which was previously held by CEO John Baylouny before his ascension to chief executive at the start of the year.

Wallace has been with Leonardo DRS since 2002 and most recently worked as executive vice president of business operations since 2016.

Her career at Leonardo DRS also includes a stint as president of its C4ISR group and other leadership roles.

Management Science and Innovation

Wynn Coggins, the former longtime Commerce Department and Patent and Trademark Office official, has joined the technology and business consulting services provider as chief growth officer.

Coggins most recently worked as director of digital modernization at Deloitte, which she joined in 2022 after three decades in government.

Her roles at Commerce included deputy assistant secretary for administration and a stint as its acting chief financial officer. At USPTO, her roles included deputy chief administrative officer and chief of staff to the deputy director.

NorthStar

Beth Michelson has taken on additional responsibilities as president of the space information services provider’s U.S. subsidiary, which she continues to be chief financial officer at.

Michelson now oversees the Canada-headquartered company’s transition to commercial services for allied countries. NorthStar participates in Space-WATCH, a development program run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

NorthStar describes space situational awareness and space domain awareness as its core focus areas.

OBXTek

Mike Schaefer has joined the IT and professional services provider as chief growth officer, a role he brings two decades of market experience to.

Schaefer will lead OBXTek’s strategic planning and business development functions as the company pushes for further expansion across defense and civilian agencies.

OBXTek cited his background as including leadership roles over BD, capture, operations, and mergers-and-acquisitions.

Shield AI

Frank Dimina has joined one of the defense technology landscape’s handful of unicorns as chief revenue officer, a role he brings 28 years of experience to.

Dimina explained his decision in a LinkedIn post, citing Shield AI’s Hivemind product as being used in live aerial missions and expanding into other domains. The company is pushing an AI-piloted approach in its tech development strategy.

Dimina was most recently a senior vice president at Splunk, where he worked for 10 years including three as head of its public sector arm.

Spry Methods

Nichole Gohman has joined the enterprise IT and cybersecurity services provider as chief operating officer, a role she brings two decades of market experience to.

Gohman will be responsible for Spry’s operational functions and efforts to drive cross-functional alignment across the enterprise.

Her career in industry includes roles at Peraton and Raytheon, plus the Minnesota state government.

The Aerospace Corp.

Blake Bullock will join the nonprofit organization as executive vice president on Feb. 2 after five years as a VP at Northrop Grumman.

Bullock will lead Aerospace’s technical organizations that include the firm’s 3,700 engineers and scientists across customer-facing organizations and other teams. Her appointment follows the hire of CEO Tanya Pemberton in the fall.

At Northrop, Bullock led its military and missile defense space businesses.

Terran Orbital

Michael Vishion has joined the Lockheed Martin-owned satellite manufacturer as vice president of program management, a role he brings 25 years of aerospace and defense experience to.

He will lead efforts to facilitate cross-functional alignment across Terran Orbital’s engineering, manufacturing and program teams.

Vishoin’s career includes roles at ITT, Moog, VCMS, Tele-Consultants and GRD.

Teledyne Technologies

Dr. JihFen Lei, who has led the industrial conglomerate’s defense segment since 2022, has been promoted to senior vice president for the corporation and will continue leading Teledyne FLIR Defense.

Lei has overseen Teledyne’s efforts to realize product and market synergies stemming from its acquisition of FLIR in 2021.

She returned to Teledyne in 2021 following service as principal deputy director of defense research and engineering at the Pentagon. Her prior stint at Teledyne took place from 2015 to 2019.

Westat

Todd Pantezzi has joined the provider of research, data collection and analysis services as vice president for its health initiatives after three decades at other federal contractors.

He most recently worked as a principal at Credence, where he led its federal health portfolio. His career also includes leadership roles at Customer Value Partners, Perspecta and ICF.

Westat cited Pantezzi’s background as including work with the Health and Human Services Department, Veterans Affairs Department and other civilian agencies.

CACI International

Michael Gilday, a retired chief of naval operations, and longtime GovCon finance veteran David Keffer have joined the board of directors as independent members.

Gilday served as the Navy’s highest-ranked officer from 2019 to 2023, when he retired from military service after 38 years. Keffer is known for his stints as chief financial officer at CSRA, which General Dynamics acquired in 2018, and then Northrop Grumman until his retirement from that role in 2024.

Gilday and Keffer join CACI’s board following the death of then-chairman Michael Daniels in July 2025 and resignation of William Jews on Dec. 31 after 13 years on the panel.

Sabel Systems Technology Solutions

Tina Dolph and Blake Larson have joined the board of directors at this provider of digital engineering services for defense and space programs.

Dolph’s three-decade career in the market includes stints as chief executive of Siemens Government Technologies -- the industrial conglomerate’s U.S. federal subsidiary – and chief operating officer for CRDF Global. She is also a member of the board at Valiant Integrated Services.

Larson is a four-decade defense industry veteran who retired from Northrop Grumman in 2021 after previously leading its space systems segment. He joined Northrop through its acquisition of Orbital ATK in 2018 and was the latter company’s COO prior to the sale.

Sidus Space

Kelle Wendling has joined the board of directors at this satellite and sensor manufacturer after three decades at L3Harris Technologies and heritage company Harris Corp.

Her career at L3Harris included roles such as president of the mission networks sector; vice president of ISR solutions; and VP of business development, strategy and technology for a $1.5 billion-annual revenue business.

Sidus also announced the departures of board members Dana Kilborne and Cole Oliver, both as of Jan. 1.

V2X

The government services company’s board of directors has increased to 10 members with the elections of three new members.

Gerry Fasano retired in April from Leidos after four decades there and at its predecessor organizations, including the Lockheed Martin IS&GS services business that merged with Leidos in 2016. He led the integration of those businesses and most recently worked as Leidos’ chief growth officer for one year.

Dr. Ross Niebergall also is a four-decade market veteran who most recently led the Aerojet Rocketdyne segment at L3Harris Technologies until his retirement from that role in early 2025. He is also a former chief technology officer for L3Harris and heritage company L3 Technologies.

Nicole Theophilus currently works as chief administrative officer at Wabtec, a maker of hardware products for the rail industry including passenger transit vehicles and freight cars. Her 25-year career also includes a stint as Wabtec’s chief human resources officer, plus the CHRO position at ConAgra Foods.