KeyW appoints Kirk Herdman as EVP, corporate strategy and business development

The KeyW Holding Corporation of Hanover, MD announced on September 15 that it has appointed Kirk Herdman as executive vice president (EVP) of corporate strategy and business development. Herdman joined KeyW in April through the company’s acquisition of Sotera Defense Solutions. He most recently served as the company’s EVP of corporate strategy.

“As part of the integration of Sotera, we believe that combining the corporate strategy and business development roles into a single, executive function is the right next step for our continued growth–they are inextricably tied to our progress going forward,” said Bill Weber, KeyW’s president and chief executive officer. “Kirk’s operational knowledge of both KeyW and the legacy Sotera business—along with his proven track record of winning many large prime contracts in our industry—made him the right fit for this expanded role.”

KeyW also announced that with this appointment, the current EVP of business development, Michele Cook, will depart the company to pursue other opportunities.

“I am proud of the hard work put in by the KeyW business development team to get to this point,” said Cook. “As I’ve gotten to know Kirk and this combined team during the integration, I am comfortable the time is right for me to transition to other career goals—and confident they will continue to deliver great results for the company.”

“I cannot thank Michele enough for partnering with us on this initial leg of the transformation of KeyW.  Because of her leadership, we are able to consider growth on a level that was not possible before her arrival,” said Weber. “On behalf of the executive team and everyone at KeyW, we wish Michele all the best on the next chapter of her career.”

About Kirk Herdman
Kirk Herdman joined KeyW in April 2017 as part of the Sotera acquisition to lead the company’s corporate strategy. He has more than 28 years of experience in operational and business development leadership positions creating, leading and growing organizations in the national security sector of the federal government contracting market.

Before joining KeyW, Herdman was EVP and chief strategy officer for Sotera Defense Solutions, Inc. He joined Sotera as the senior vice president for business development and operations to create a centralized business development organization and to integrate legacy components of an emerging, mission-focused, national security company. He played a critical role in developing and driving the strategies that captured many of Sotera’s prime contracts.

Earlier in his career, he held leadership positions with Wyle Information Systems, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems and ManTech International.

Herdman holds a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from Virginia Tech and is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Executive Training Program on Leadership Change.

Source: KeyW