Top 5: Chief Financial Officers in GovCon

Geopolitics and regulatory obligations have been identified as key challenges to companies' financial risk and compliance. The responsibility to steer an organization through such factors falls on the chief financial officer.

CFOs are taking on more operational duties in 2020 in the face of a looming recession. To address issues such as corporate fraud and expense mismanagement, CFOs are expected to more widely leverage artificial intelligence and automation tools.   

The Potomac Officers Club – a division of Executive Mosaic – features five CFOs from major defense contractors and federal agencies.

Troy Edgar, Department of Homeland Security CFO

Troy Edgar serves as the Department of Homeland Security's chief financial officer, a position to which the Senate confirmed him on May 12. 

He is responsible for managing and ensuring the integrity of the department's $90B budget in support of about 240K employees, DHS said.

Edgar oversees 10 financial divisions with duties in program and cost analysis, budget, financial and risk management, financial operations, policy, transformation and workforce development. 

As CFO, he leverages over 30 years of business and executive experience serving companies in the sectors for aerospace, defense, automotive, consumer and industrial products, construction, entertainment, high technology, software and telecommunications.

Edgar joined the agency in January to serve as the associate deputy undersecretary for management, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He was responsible for ensuring that DHS employees have well-defined roles and that managers have an efficient way of communicating with their team members.

Before he joined DHS, Edgar founded and served as the CEO of Global Conductor, a privately held management consulting firm based in Orange County, California. 

He spent 11 years serving the Casa Youth Shelter as a member of its board of directors and as its treasurer.

Edgar also held board roles at OCSD and Orangeline High-Speed Rail Authority. His other former roles include principal consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and business operations leader for military transport programs at Boeing. 

He earned a master's degree in information and operations management and a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Southern Carolina's Marshall School of Business.

Kenneth Possenriede, Lockheed Martin CFO, EVP

Kenneth Possenriede has been serving as Lockheed Martin’s chief financial officer and executive vice president since February 2019. In the said role, he handles the entirety of Lockheed Martin’s financial strategies, processes and operations.

As a 15-year Lockheed Martin executive, Possenriede managed the corporation’s multiple business segments, including its aeronautics unit, where he served as vice president of finance and program management and took charge of areas like accounting, contracts, business management, financial planning, scheduling and earned value, Lockheed Martin said.  

Possenriede also handled the company’s worldwide banking activity during his tenure as vice president and treasurer, giving him responsibility over global treasury operations, foreign exchange and capital markets, rating agency relations, capital planning, facilities and risk management.

Previously, he also served as the vice president of finance of Lockheed Martin’s rotary and mission systems and space segments for over five-and-a-half years and 10 months, respectively. 

In a press release, Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin chairman, president and chief executive officer, summed up Possenriede’s 30-year career by acknowledging his track record in delivering outstanding results for the company’s customers and shareholders.

Possenriede attended Rutgers University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in economics. He also obtained a master of business administration degree from the University of Michigan.

James Reagan, Leidos CFO, EVP

James Reagan, a member of the Potomac Officers Club, serves as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Leidos, a role he assumed in July 2015.

For five years now, Reagan has been responsible for all of the company’s financial activities, including accounting and financial reporting, treasury, tax, planning and analysis, and investor relations.

With more than three decades of industry experience, Reagan has gained expertise in handling the finances of large, publicly held companies, Leidos said.

Reagan’s work for Leidos, particularly his involvement in the company’s acquisition of federal contracts, merited him a 2020 Wash100 Award, marking his fifth consecutive Wash100 award. In 2019, he was recognized for driving business growth at Leidos through his financial expertise. 

He transitioned to Leidos in 2015 after serving as senior vice president and CFO of Vencore, an information solutions, engineering and analysis service provider catering to the U.S. intelligence community, the Department of Defense and federal and civilian agencies. 

During his extensive career, Reagan was also named as the EVP and CFO of companies such as PAE, Deltek, Aspect Communications and American Management Systems. He was also the vice president of finance at Nextel Communications and ICF International. 

Reagan is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland.

Jay Malave, SVP and CFO at L3Harris Technologies

Jesus "Jay" Malave serves as L3Harris Technologies' senior vice president and chief financial officer, roles he has held since June 2019.

He is responsible for overseeing all internal and external financial reporting, financial regulatory compliance, financial planning, banking and investment relationships, financial controls, capital structure, accounting, audit, financial services, tax and treasury.

Malave is also in charge of investor relations and plays a key role in developing L3Harris' strategic growth plan and merger-and-acquisition integration, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Before joining L3Harris, Malave served as vice president and CFO at Carrier, a United Technologies Corporation business unit. 

He led Carrier's finance function globally, including accounting and controls, financial planning and management and cash management.

Malave joined UTC in 1997 and held financial roles of increasing responsibility. In 2011, he led the financial function integration of Hamilton Sundstrand and UTC's acquisition of Goodrich. 

UTC named him head of investor relations in 2012. In the said role, he helped UTC business units effectively communicate their outlook and performance to investors.

The corporation later appointed him as CFO of UTC Aerospace Systems, a role he held until he joined Carrier in 2018. 

Malave also spent nearly 12 years at Pratt & Whitney, holding roles such as financial director, controller, FP&A manager, FP&A analyst and senior accountant. 

He began his professional career as a compliance analyst at the Department of Labor, a role he held for over five years.

Malave earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Connecticut, a master's degree in accounting from the University of Hartford and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of law.

Rich Sawchak, Novetta Solutions CFO

Rich Sawchak is the current chief financial officer of Novetta Solutions, a McLean, Virginia-based company that specializes in advanced analytics, deep learning frameworks and architecture, cloud services and biometric and biographic fusion. 

His current position puts him in charge of Novetta’s corporate finance, accounting, contracts, compliance, information technology, security and treasury management.

Sawchak, a member of the Potomac Officers Club, fulfills his duties as CFO while concurrently serving as the company’s corporate secretary, Novetta said. 

In his 25 year-career, Sawchak managed the finances and the execution and integration of acquisitions for public and private equity-backed companies.

Prior to joining Novetta, he was the executive vice president and CFO of defense and space company Shafer, where he managed all aspects of the company’s finance, accounting, contract administration, compliance, human resources and recruiting. 

He also dedicated six years as the CFO and senior vice president of Paradigm Solutions, taking on similar areas of responsibilities including finance, accounting, corporate development, recruiting and information technology functions.

Earlier in his career, Sawchak served as director at Nokia, integration services provider GXS, and Multilink Technology, which offers e-business and media convergence solutions.

Sawchak graduated summa cum laude from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in finance. He also completed his master’s degree in entrepreneurial finance and strategic cost management at the Olin Graduate School of Management at Babson College.

ABOUT POTOMAC OFFICERS CLUB

The Potomac Officers Club is owned and operated by Executive Mosaic. Since 2002, Executive Mosaic has been a leader in media and exclusive senior executive networking programs primarily targeted to the U.S. federal government contracting (GovCon) marketplace. In addition to connecting executives of consequence into a fabric of like minded communities, the company’s growing cross-media platform serves as a leading source of news about the people, policies, trends and events shaping the nation’s GovCon sector.

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