It’s been several months since science and technology organization Noblis announced that Mile Corrigan would take the reins as CEO in October as part of a disciplined succession plan. While Corrigan has been busy preparing for the transition and developing the next phase of the company’s strategic plan, she’s now stepped fully into the role. We caught up with her to discuss the transition and top priorities, and here’s what she had to say.
Over the past 21 years, you’ve progressed through multiple leadership roles at Noblis. What does it mean to you to lead in this capacity?
First, I’m honored that Noblis’ Board of Trustees selected me for this role and thrilled to lead the organization and our incredible team into the future. Throughout my tenure at Noblis, I’ve held various leadership positions with a focus on growing our people, our business and our technical acumen across multiple client missions and disciplines. I’m excited to build on that and our strong legacy of innovation and growth to lead the next phase of our overall strategy ⏤ especially during such a dynamic time within the federal ecosystem.
Going forward, I believe we must continually adapt and innovate to meet the rapidly evolving needs of both our customers and employees, and I’m delighted and energized to lead our team in doing so. We’re fortunate at Noblis to have some of the brightest leaders and employees in the industry, and I’m looking forward to working together to further advance national priorities through our science, technology and engineering services, transformational solutions and innovation ⏤ and most importantly, to continue to invest in our Noblis colleagues who drive and support them.
Noblis announced the succession plan in February. How have you been preparing for the transition over the past few months?
Yes, we announced the transition in February of this year as part of a disciplined succession process. We work hard to prepare our employees for current and future roles and to promote leaders from within the organization when possible. We believe it’s the best approach for our employees, customers and the organization as a whole.
In further preparing for the CEO role, I worked closely with our Board of Trustees, former CEO, executive team and employees across the company on a broad scope of initiatives that complemented my working corporate knowledge. I enjoyed the opportunity to take a deeper dive into our organization to further connect with our customers and employees across our corporate office locations and to learn more about our internal business operations and functions within our shared corporate services team during the transition period.
Most importantly, I am proud that Noblis is a firm that promotes leaders from within the corporation because it shows how disciplined and strategic we are about preparing leaders for not only their current role, but for their next role, and ultimately ⏤ any role in the corporation as our leaders increase their span of control, develop their skills and exercise their leadership potential through those experiences.
As a science and technology organization that deeply values learning and development and invests in its employees, we emphasize leadership scaling throughout the corporation.
What are your top priorities as CEO, or the first few things you hope to tackle, and why?
As a leader, I believe in a people-first approach. My top priority is to continue building a diverse and inclusive environment because it’s our people who drive and support the science, technology and engineering solutions that help advance our customers’ missions. Another priority for me is experience ⏤ more specifically, the Noblis Experience.
Although I’m generally recognized for my leadership in technology and the strategic growth of our civil business, the Noblis Experience is what drives our business forward and will remain a key focus for us as we commit to continuously improve touchpoints and deliver increased value across the board.
From an innovation and growth perspective, I’m focused on expanding our S&T mission impact by pushing boundaries and working with our leaders to consistently introduce breakthrough solutions and technologies that solve highly complex problems of national significance.
Our S&T heritage and strong brand in the marketplace have enabled Noblis to deliver technological advancements in anticipation of our customers’ needs. As we grow and scale, we will continue to invest in ways that will translate scientific discovery, research and innovative solutions to rapidly meet those needs in new ways.
In addition, our customers are looking for innovative delivery mechanisms and new business models. Noblis is well positioned to respond ⏤ whether it’s through our engineering and advisory services, digital platforms, automation, advanced capabilities or technology convergence and integration. We’ll continue to keep this front and center moving forward as well.
In a previous chat with WashingtonExec, we talked a lot about mentorship, supporting the workforce and bringing up the next generation of IT leaders. How do you plan to continue doing this as CEO?
Mentoring is critical to our collective success. I mentioned Noblis’ disciplined progression and succession plans and people-first approach in earlier responses. Both of these are part of the Noblis Experience for our current and potential employees because we know that our people drive the strategies, technological solutions, innovations and relationships that advance the missions we serve.
To that end, we have implemented a holistic approach to continuously invest in and develop our people through feedback, experiences, training and mentoring ⏤ both formally and informally. Throughout my career, I have been mentored and personally mentored many leaders.
Moving forward, I will continue with formal and informal mentorships and challenge our leadership team to emphasize the importance of developing leaders to their full potential.
What do you hope the Noblis team gains from your leadership?
Beyond the fundamentals of vision and strategy, I will bring drive, passion and creativity towards solving for the future. I plan to apply my leadership agility to advancing our people, driving change, innovating and delivering results and outcomes. I also want to extend this energy to further engaging and building the strong community within Noblis while enhancing the Noblis experience.
I hope to inspire and arm our employees to be their best selves while providing opportunities for each to learn, grow and lead. We all bring different strengths to the table, and I want our employees to reach their full potential with a curiosity and desire to continuously push boundaries to develop the most innovative and efficient solutions for solving our customers’ and company’s toughest challenges.
As Noblis’ president and CEO, Corrigan is responsible for the general management and strategic direction of its overall scientific, technical, financial and administrative activities. During her transition to this role, she served as executive vice president with a broad scope of responsibility across the company. Before her tenure as EVP, she held several leadership roles, including senior vice president of Noblis Federal Civilian Solutions.