Five Talent Acquisition Executives in Government Contracting

The pandemic and societal pressures have created uncertainties in the job market. According to Deloitte, the availability of talent is of growing importance for many businesses. Organizations may need to invest in reskilling or tapping into alternative workforces to adapt to trends in talent acquisition.

In the public sector, agencies are facing a historical shortage of cybersecurity talent, an issue highlighted by high-profile cyberattacks on U.S. organizations over the past years.

The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Cyber Command established new programs to address the workforce shortage in a sector that has a profound impact on national security.

The Potomac Officers Club—a division of Executive Mosaic—features five talent acquisition professionals in the government contracting sector.

Justin Joseph, Senior Talent Acquisition Leader at Amazon Web Services

Justin Joseph is a senior talent acquisition leader at Amazon Web Services, working out of the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area. Over the past 25 years, he has built relationships, led teams, developed strategies and influenced decisions that have helped hundreds of professionals transition into more fulfilling career opportunities across the public and private sectors, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Joseph describes himself as an experienced talent acquisition leader who is “driven by the desire to serve, create and succeed.” He is most passionate about servant-leadership and helping organizations evolve through the promotion of diversity and inclusion initiatives, his profile reveals.

Joseph joined AWS in July 2019. During his almost three years with the company, he has applied talent acquisition, leadership and consulting best practices to grow its footprint across the federal government.

Before joining AWS, Joseph was a senior manager of government and public services talent acquisition at Deloitte. In that role, he led the talent acquisition strategy in support of the company’s efforts to serve the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.

At one time, Joseph tried his hand at entrepreneurship as the founder and chief executive officer of Hyperlink Consulting. The company sought to help professionals find roles and organizations that best matched their qualifications.

Previously, Joseph was the vice president of the talent acquisition group at Leidos’ surveillance and reconnaissance group.

Joseph earned his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Virginia.

Joy Williams, Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Xcelerate Solutions

Joy Williams is the vice president of talent acquisition at Xcelerate Solutions, working out of the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area. She is a trusted adviser and strategic leader in talent acquisition with over 20 years’ experience in all aspects of government contract staffing and compliance, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Williams has the ability to successfully lead talent acquisition teams, merger and acquisition integration efforts, drive organizational growth, and successfully implement complex process improvement projects. She has a proven track record of results-oriented talent acquisition for technology and professional services companies, her profile states.

Williams joined Xcelerate, a cybersecurity and IT consulting firm, in November 2021. In her role as a member of the executive leadership team, she is responsible for leading the talent acquisition staff, as well as developing and implementing the most valuable and effective talent acquisition strategies.

Before joining her current employer, William was president at JL Miller Solutions, a provider of talent acquisition consulting services. She helped the company deliver customized staffing solutions and consulting services during her almost two years there.

Previously, Williams was the director of talent acquisitions at Centauri, a position she held for almost 10 years. In that role, she led all talent acquisition initiatives and strategies for the company and its portfolio of wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Earlier in her career, Williams was the human resources and recruiting manager at Enterra Solutions. In that role, she managed recruitment staff and functions across all divisions of the company, as well as handled day-to-day human resources responsibilities.

Jennie Salehi, Talent Acquisition Director at ICF International

Jennie Salehi is the director of talent acquisition at the management consultancy firm ICF International. She has been holding her current leadership role since 2019.

Salehi leads ICF’s talent acquisition teams, which support clients in improving their workforce. She also ensures that both ICF and its clients have the best career opportunities and the best employees.

Salehi was the senior management of talent acquisition at ICF before assuming her current role. She held this position from 2005 to 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She was responsible for employee relations and oversaw the recruitment of social science experts during her time as senior human resource generalist at Caliber Associates from 2001 to 2005. Caliber was acquired by ICF in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Other leadership roles that Salehi held include technical recruiter and account manager at Kenda Systems-US and team leader at the Cheshire County Council Careers Service in the U.K.

She attended the University of Wolverhampton, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in social science. She also attended Canterbury Christ Church University, formerly Kent College for the Careers Service, where she took postgraduate studies in careers guidance.

ICF offers analytics, cybersecurity, digital transformation and research services to various clients, including those in the health care, finance, disaster management and education sectors. It is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, and has multiple offices within and outside the U.S.

Amy Doherty, Director of Talent Acquisition at Serco

Amy Doherty is the director of talent acquisition at public services firm Serco, working out of Leesburg, Virginia. She has over 20 years of experience in human resources, with 15 years spent in management roles, giving her the ability to “provide proven and innovative organizational driven results,” according to her LinkedIn account.

Doherty helps deliver proactive, solutions-based strategies and partnerships to support company goals as well as customers’ requirements, her profile states. Her areas of expertise include staffing and recruitment, business partnerships, proposal strategy, contract transition management, staff management, and branding and marketing.

Doherty joined Serco as a senior talent acquisition manager in January 2019. She was promoted to her current directorial role in early 2021, a job that sees her leading some 55 geographically dispersed managers, leads, recruiters and coordinators. The current talent acquisition team was grown from a group of only ten recruiters when Doherty joined the firm in 2019.

Before joining Serco, Doherty had short stints leading the talent acquisition departments of Engility Corporation and CSRA.

Earlier in her career, Doherty held several human resource and talent acquisition posts at aerospace and defense company Raytheon. She was an inaugural member of the company’s then newly-formed “Front End of the Business” Human Resource department.

Doherty earned her degree in psychology from Shepherd University. She later earned her master’s degree in human resource management from Villanova University.

Kari Van Curen, Talent Acquisition and Workforce Planning VP at BAE Systems

Kari Van Curen is the vice president of talent acquisition and workplace planning at BAE Systems. She has been holding her current leadership role since 2019.

Van Curen oversees talent acquisition and workforce strategy across the company. She is also responsible for acquiring strategic workforce planning technologies and developing processes and policies to support current and future business success.

She was the senior director of talent acquisition and human resource operations before taking on her current leadership role. In this position, she supported the talent acquisition and HR operations team for BAE’s Intelligence & Security sector.

Van Curen started working at BAE in 2015 as sector director of talent acquisition, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The industry veteran worked at Northrop Grumman Information Systems prior to joining BAE. She was sector director of talent acquisition, a role where she led talent acquisition and provided leadership and guidance to a team of recruiting professionals.

She started working at Northrop in 2003 as division director of human resources. In this position, she provided strategic leadership to over 5,000 employees within and outside the U.S. and collaborated with other company leaders to implement HR initiatives.

BAE Systems offers technology products and services that support military missions in all domains, from sea to space and cyber. It is headquartered in Farnborough, U.K., and has multiple offices in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

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.

Category: Executive Profiles