Space, defense and growth leadership moves across the market

Auria Space

Philip “Duke” Labasi has moved up to executive vice president and general manager for the space software developer’s strategic and defense solutions business unit.

Labasi first joined the Enlightenment Capital-owned company in 2023 as a vice president and before that led business development capture functions at Lockheed Martin.

The three-decade defense sector veteran also is a former Army officer and once served as director of ballistic missile defense system cybersecurity testing for the Missile Defense Agency.

BryceTech

Martha Coombe has joined the professional services provider as senior vice president of operations to oversee the establishment of two new divisions: biosecurity and health, and aerospace and defense.

Coombe will lead BryceTech’s client delivery function as the company looks to further scale out its operations. The two-decade market veteran recently worked as an operations executive at Northrop Grumman.

BryceTech also promoted three-decade industry veteran Tim Gooley to lead the A&D practice, along with Nathan Sanders as director for biosecurity and health.

Eutelsat-OneWeb

Four months after announcing Kevin Steen as CEO, the combined entity has unveiled the integrated leadership team for its U.S. government-focused subsidiary.

Steve Perreault has been appointed chief financial officer and Ian Canning will work as chief operating officer. Both were senior leaders at OneWeb Technologies prior to the merger.

Ed Slater was named chief commercial officer, Lesley Rahman as chief information officer, Rodrigo Gomez as chief architect, and Joe Uglialoro as general counsel.

Guidehouse

Duke Heinz, a retired Navy rear admiral and three-decade military veteran, has joined the consulting and professional services firm as a leader in its defense and security segment.

Heinz is tasked to work with Guidehouse’s client set across the Defense Department on their operational transformation and readiness initiatives.

He is a former commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command’s Weapon System Support team and more recently served as a director of logistics at European Command.

Raft

William "Bill" Bal has joined the government software engineering startup as senior vice president of growth in the wake of a new private equity backer coming into the fold.

Bal is a 23-year public sector veteran who most recently was an executive at Omni Federal and before that served as an Air Force intelligence officer.

Raft’s founder and chief executive Shubhi Mishra joined our WT 360 podcast in August to discuss her choice of Washington Harbour Partners and where the company wants to go next.

SentinelOne

Brandon Wales has joined the cybersecurity company as vice president of strategy following approximately two decades in government, most recently at the Homeland Security Department’s cyber agency.

Wales served as executive director at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency for four years until his departure in August.

That role is CISA’s highest-ranking career executive position.

Special Aerospace Services

Dan Dumbacher has joined the space and missile defense engineering company as chief innovation and strategy officer following six years as CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The three-decade space veteran and former NASA official will lead SAS’ innovation strategy and overall approach to technology and system integration.

In August, WT spoke with SAS’ chief executive Heather Bulk to go over the company’s next steps with the backing of private equity firm Godspeed Capital Management.

Tria Federal

Katie Webb has joined the midsized technology and advisory services provider as executive vice president for its public health business.

Webb arrives at Tria after a stint at IBM’s consulting arm, where she led its federal health care business that includes the Health and Human Services Department portfolio.

Her career also includes roles at Northrop Grumman, Global Professional Solutions, Nortel and Federal Resources Corporation.

American Systems

David Dacquino, who led Serco Group’s U.S. arm as CEO from 2017 until his 2022 retirement, has taken a seat on American Systems’ board of directors and his term took effect Monday.

Dacquino will take an independent seat on the board and also chair the panel’s human resources committee.

Serco credited Dacquino with leading the U.S. business to a 15% compound annual growth rate during his tenure as CEO.

Leidos

Tina Jonas, a former Defense Department comptroller and two-decade federal service veteran, will join Leidos’ board of directors Wednesday and sit on its audit and finance committee.

As Pentagon comptroller, she essentially served as the department’s finance and budget chief from 2004 to 2008. She also is a former CFO for the FBI.

After leaving government, she worked in senior industry roles at companies such as United Technologies Corp. and UnitedHealth Group.