KeyW Holding Corp. has appointed Kirk Herdman, who joined KeyW as part of its acquisition of Sotera Defense Solutions, as the company’s executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development.
Herdman has more than 28 years of experience in operational and business development leadership positions in the national security sector of the federal government contracting market. He most recently served as the company’s executive vice president of corporate strategy, and the new role adds business development responsibilities, KeyW said.
“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 KeyW CEO Bill Weber. “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.”
Herdman will take over the duties of KeyW’s former executive vice president of business development, Michele Cook, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Weber thanked Cook for her work in growing KeyW’s business and integrating Sotera’s team with KeyW, wishing her well in the next chapter of her career.
Cook, for her part, said she was proud of the work that KeyW’s business development team had done during her time with the company.
“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,” Cook said.
Before the acquisition, Herdman was executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Sotera Defense Solutions, and played a critical role in developing and driving the strategies that captured many of Sotera’s prime contracts, KeyW said. Herdman previously held leadership positions with Wyle Information Systems, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems and ManTech International.