Ann Ackerson, Chief Procurement Officer at BAE Systems

Ann Ackerson serves as the chief procurement officer at the U.S. division of BAE Systems. She is also the chairperson of the company’s global procurement council.

She boasts more than three decades of experience in global supply chain management, procurement, strategic sourcing, material management and global supply chain, BAE said.

“Ann is a proven leader with extensive supply chain experience and customer focus across multiple industries,” BAE President and CEO Tom Arsenault, a 2020 Wash100 winner, said in a press release.

As head of procurement in the U.S., Ackerson reports to BAE’s senior vice president of finance and works closely with the group finance director of the parent organization based in the U.K.

Before Ackerson joined BAE in May 2020, she served as the SVP for global supply chain management at Freeman, an events services and management technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

She also worked for five years as CPO and VP of supply chain management at Dresser-Rand, a Siemens subsidiary that manufactures petroleum and natural gas extraction equipment.

According to BAE, Ackerson also held procurement roles of increasing responsibility at Honeywell, Boeing Satellite Systems and CNH Global, among others.

She spent the earlier years of her career in product supply management and procurement roles at Amana and Boehringer Mannheim, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Ackerson holds a master’s degree in business administration and general management from the University of Iowa’s Henry B. Tippie College of Business. 

She also earned a bachelor of business administration in transportation and logistics from Iowa State University’s Ivy College of Business.