Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic, presented Michael Conlin, chief business analytics officer for the US Department of Defense (DoD), with his first Wash100 Award on Tuesday.

Executive Mosaic has given the most prestigious award in all of government contracting (GovCon) to Conlin for his pushing data science in the defense department and working to improve talent recruitment to shift DoD’s culture.

After working for two years as the first chief data officer (DCO) for the Department of Defense, Conlin became DoD’s chief business analytics officer in June 2020. Dave Spirk, former CDO of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), also succeeded Conlin in the role in June.

During his tenure as DoD CDO, Conlin advocated heavily for information technology systems and technology, clean and reliable data use and the increasingly important role CDOs are playing in today’s federal sector.

During Potomac Officers Club’s (POC) 2019 Data Management Forum in April 2019, Conlin delivered a keynote address focusing on enhancing oversight and management while trying to improve affordability and performance for DoD.

You can still register here to watch POC’s most recent events in Potomac Officers Club’s Event Archive.

He expressed a strong desire to change the culture within the department and stressed the importance of data science. He noted that building a data science team and hiring talent are important to the Pentagon’s future. “I need talent to change the culture,” Conlin said.

In a recent interview, Conlin spoke about navigating the cultural challenges within the department, gaining data visibility and the evolving role of CDOs.

“This is ultimately about improving affordability and performance of the Department,” he said. “What’s the data, who can access it under what policy for what purpose, roles and responsibilities, identity management, all of this is a combined set of solutions that we have to put in place. That’s the essence of the role.”

Conlin previously served as chief technology officer for the U.S. public sector at DXC Technology. He also held several IT-related leadership roles at Hewlett-Packard and its former subsidiary EDS.

Executive Mosaic congratulates Michael Conlin on his 2020 Wash100 Award selection. His drive to improve DoD’s workforce, its culture and its use of data science have demonstrated an incredible devotion, leadership and vision for the GovCon sector.

About The Wash100

The Wash100 Award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.

Amentum has been designated a Military Friendly Employer, after evaluation that leveraged both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey, the company reported on Thursday.

“Amentum is proud to be ranked second among companies our size and recognized for our commitment to our employees with military experience,” said John Vollmer, Amentum CEO and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. “We appreciate how the skills learned in the military make outstanding employees. We share many of the same values, including the importance of leadership and teamwork, discipline and dedication to mission success.”

VIQTORY has ranked the methodology, criteria and weightings with guidance from the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. 

Final ratings were determined by combining an organization’s survey score with an assessment of the organization’s ability to meet thresholds for Applicant, New Hire Retention, Employee Turnover and Promotion and Advancement of veterans and military employees.  

“Companies that have earned this designation have invested in substantive programs to recruit, retain and advance veterans within their organizations,” said Josh Rosen, director of Military Friendly. “To them, hiring veterans isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s good for business.”  

Amentum recently announced that retired U.S. Army MG Camille Nichols, who most recently served as vice president of business operations at Fluor's government business, assumed the role of executive VP for project services at Amentum in July 2020. Nichols brings to the company more than two decades of acquisition experience in the Army and the Department of Defense.

“Camille has developed extensive expertise in business operations and understands the complex environment in which our clients must balance current and future readiness with pressures on the budget,” said Vollmer.

About Amentum

Amentum is a premier global technical and engineering services partner supporting critical programs of national significance across defense, security, intelligence, energy, and environment. We draw from a century-old heritage of operational excellence, mission focus, and successful execution underpinned by a strong culture of safety and ethics. 

Headquartered in Germantown, Md., we employ more than 20,000 people in 48 states and 28 foreign countries and territories. Visit us at amentum.com to explore how we deliver excellence for our customers’ most vital missions.

CACI International has received the 2020 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award for the company’s support of National Guard and Reserve employees, CACI announced on Thursday. Since 1996, only 295 employers have received the Freedom Award.

“We are very honored to receive the Employer Support Freedom Award from the Department of Defense. We know the importance of supporting our National Guard and Reservist employees to ensure they can have a successful civilian career while also upholding their duties to our Armed Forces and country,” said John Mengucci, CACI president and CEO, as well as a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. 

CACI has been recognized  as one of this year’s 15 recipients from 2,623 nominations submitted by Guards and Reserve members by the Department of Defense (DoD) Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for the company’s dedication to support the agency. The company’s support of veterans and the military is an integral part of the company’s culture. 

In 1971, CACI’s executive chairman and chairman of the Board, Dr. J.P. London, was the first CACI employee to serve as a commander in the Naval Reserves and was soon promoted to captain upon the conclusion of his service in 1983. 

37 percent of CACI employees are veterans, military spouses, transitioning service members, or serving National Guards and Reserve members. Veterans have brought talent, integrity, sense of purpose, self-discipline, initiative, and commitment that has strengthened CACI’s business. 

“At CACI, we greatly value veterans and members of the military community and pride ourselves on supporting those who have served our country. These dedicated men and women have the skills and experience needed to help our DoD customers complete their missions and make positive contributions to our workforce,” London said. 

About CACI

CACI’s approximately 23,000 talented employees are vigilant in providing the unique expertise and distinctive technology that address our customers’ greatest enterprise and mission challenges. Our culture of good character, innovation, and excellence drives our success and earns us recognition as a Fortune World's Most Admired Company. As a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies, the Russell 1000 Index, and the S&P MidCap 400 Index, we consistently deliver strong shareholder value.