Eli Hammerman’s career traces the operational side of national security, from hands-on analytics work inside the federal government to leading growth teams across large government contractors. He started in data analytics at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, then spent years supporting the Department of Homeland Security’s rollout of biometrics and border technology before moving into growth leadership roles across major systems integrators.
Now, as Fusion Technology chief growth officer, Hammerman is focused on preparing the company for graduation from small business status and building a growth engine that can scale across DHS and the departments of Justice, State and Defense.
Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression?
I started working data analytics for FEMA. I was approached by a startup that specialized in modeling and simulation and ended up supporting Homeland Security ‘s rollout of biometrics and other border crossing technology for several years. With what I learned supporting DHS directly, I decided to move to the large SI world and try business development. I started at CSC, then moved to SRA in a leadership role. As the two companies merged to form CSRA, I was uniquely positioned to understand both growth organizations and their strengths. I ran the DHS/DoJ/DoS growth team for two years until the acquisition by GDIT.
After a stint learning DoD at Attain (now Maximus), I moved to Fusion Technology where I could drive the growth strategy company-wide.
Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?
I believe if I had a more positive experience at FEMA, I would never have left the federal government. I decided I could have more impact on the contractor side. As my career progressed, I followed opportunity and made career decisions based on feedback from my mentors.
Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support?
I was fresh out of college and living about a mile from the Pentagon on 9/11. I had interviewed with FEMA the week before and was waiting for an offer. The whole environment changed after that and there was a huge focus on disaster recovery. Since that time my work has been focused primarily on National Security agencies including DHS, DoJ, DoS, and DoD.
What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission/growth strategy?
Fusion Technology’s priorities are to position for graduation from small business. That means building a growth infrastructure that can scale to unrestricted opportunities. Our customer focus will continue to be around National security agencies and our opportunities will be built around Agile Development, Cloud and Cyber.
Where do you and your team see growth opportunities in your current field or portfolio you support, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?
All agencies are under pressure to reduce waste and lower head count (both gov and contractor). We see the growth areas as closer to the mission. More mission focused app development and cyber operations; less back office and compliance related requirements.
How are you and your team planning to address/prepare for these opportunities?
As a small business, we still need to be flexible when approaching new opportunities. There are so many external factors that can change the course of an opportunity: shifting politics, budget, protests, legal delays, other companies shaping, etc. That said, Fusion takes a ‘light capture’ approach that allows us to pursue more opportunities than a team our size typically would track.
How important is mentorship & networking in GovCon?
Over my 25 year career, there have been mentors and certain lessons that have stuck with me, both in how to work with the government and how to manage people. Without going into too much detail, the lessons focus around enablement of your team and ensure they feel like they have autonomy (no micro management), and ‘lose early’.
What is something most people don’t know about you personally?
I am husband, dad to two teenagers, and an avid car collector and restorer. Currently working on a 1968 Cadillac