William McCormick
Executive Mosaic, the government contracting industry’s premier media, membership and events organization, is excited to recognize 10 executive recruiters who have distinguished themselves through key hires and placements, and supported the evolution of talent acquisition and recruitment in the GovCon community and federal sectors.
Adjusting the workforce around the COVID-19 pandemic, virtualizing workforce events, extending the veil of secure system access and influencing the federal workforce as talent challenges continue to shift how we find talent and grow GovCon businesses.
This year’s distinguished list of selected GovCon Recruiters features 10 pivotal firms and their leaders who have all best served the mission-critical and essential workforce hires.
Below you will find the list of the top 10 GovCon Executive Recruiters for 2022:
Brian Thomas, Partner, Industrials & Aerospace, Defense and Government Services at NorthWind Partners
As the lead for NorthWind Partners’ Industrial and ADG business, Brian Thomas is responsible for the management of its delivery of retainer-based executive search and leadership consulting solutions to boards, sponsors and C-suite leaders.
With over 20 years of executive search and advisory experience, Thomas has completed over 600 executive searches for clients ranging from rapid-growth PE portfolio companies to Fortune 50 organizations. His passion for driving new enterprise value for executive talent has given Thomas a great reputation to match NorthWind’s unbeaten executive search track record.
He’s well known across these markets for his thought leadership and is frequently leveraged to address a variety of business challenges for his clients, including succession planning, market expansion, increased profitability, and acquisitions and integrations.
Mike Christ, Managing Partner, Korn Ferry’s Military Division
Mike Christ joined Korn Ferry in Oct 2021 as a managing partner to lead a team of industry experts in the company’s mission to connect companies with elite military leaders to drive operational impact and business growth exceeding more than 60 percent revenue and more than 300 percent of the company’s annual growth goals.
Over his impressive career, including a 25-year tenure with the Lucas Group, a Korn Ferry Company that started in 1996, Christ has driven significant impact for his clients in critical industries, including manufacturing, consumer goods, health care and medical, and defense.
As a veteran and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Christ has led outstanding candidates through great knowledge and understanding of the complex skill sets and career opportunities that are available for military leaders, including those roles in business development and sales, production, logistics, distribution, and operations.
Evan Scott, CEO of ESGI
Since founding ESGI in 2000, Evan Scott has acted as its CEO to bring a personalized and very sophisticated executive search experience to the federal contracting community as well as to venture capital and private equity firms.
Scott has nearly three decades of executive search experience working with government agencies and systems integrators to establish a well-cultivated network across the GovCon community to assist these organizations with their challenges in the key areas of cyber, big data, analytics, cloud security/mobility, biometrics, and AI.
During an Executive Spotlight interview with ExecutiveBiz, Scott discussed how important it is in federal talent recruitment to reach out to search professionals who invest the time to really understand the culture and values of your company and will serve as a trusted partner.
“We recognize the power of executive search and the value we bring to the recruitment process,” Scott emphasized. “Impacting lives has always been high on my list. It is why I entered this profession. Careers are such an important part of people’s lives and we play a key role.”
Mercedes LeGrand, Partner, Aerospace & Defense and National Security Practice at Odgers Berndtson US
With a wealth of industry experience and deep technology consulting experience, Mercedes LeGrand continues to help Odgers Berndtson link its clients with diverse, game-changing leaders across the aerospace, defense and national security markets.
“I believe my reputation for finding game-changing, diverse leaders at the board, CEO and C-suite levels will serve me well as Odgers Berndtson continues to grow this already distinguished practice around the world,” LeGrand explained.
She has also demonstrated her passion for the interactions of defense and technology as well as the importance of driving exceptional female and minority talent to the industry. Her work for the years to come will continue to transform Aerospace, Defense & National Security technology companies and help them grow capital and acquisition scenarios.
Alison Marshall, Principal at JDG Associates
Alison Marshall has been essential to her clients across the federal, state and local government agencies for more than 20 years as she continues to perform national and local searches for senior-level executives, scientists and IT professionals.
For the last 12 years, Marshall has been essential to JDG Associates and established herself in the industry as an accomplished executive of consequence in several critical industries, including space, cyber, health care, education, environment, finance, energy and other scientific areas.
Marshall also opened her own firm, Government Sales Force (GSF) in 2004. Her team has averaged over 16 years of positive sales experience while also increasing its market share and introducing major technology products and services for federal agencies.
Paul Heldenbrand, Senior Legal Recruiter, Consulting Principal at The McCormick Group
Paul Heldenbrand, a senior legal recruiter and consulting principal for the McCormick Group, specializes in law firm merger consulting across the metro Washington D.C. region as well as the Mid-Atlantic legal market, which includes key areas such as taxation and corporate litigation, national security, energy, environmental, technology, and intellectual property.
With decades of experience and a fantastic eye for talent, Heldenbrand has cemented himself as a trusted partner to federal entities who provide their confidential information to reach greater financial success and competitiveness in their markets as a result of working with him and The McCormick Group.
In addition, Heldenbrand has represented members of Congress and Cabinet officials, including top partners at national and international law firms, and even a Prime Minister of a Latin American country. He’s also received a number of honors such as the National Account Executive of the Year Award, Hall of Fame and Living Legend.
Jim Donnelly, Managing Director, Centerstone Executive Search & Consulting
With an illustrious career in talent acquisition across many functional areas, including corporate leadership, operations, business development, cybersecurity intelligence and the federal health care space, Jim Donnelly brings over 25 years of knowledge to Centerstone Executive Search & Consulting.
As Managing Director of the Centerstone Executive Search and Consulting Washington D.C. practice, Donnelly has represented a wide portfolio of senior-level executives who have helped grow the company’s footprint across the defense, intelligence, federal civilian markets and the government contracting sector.
Previously, Donnelly has also acted in a wide range of leadership roles with various organizations driving talent recruitment efforts for Dinte Executive Search, ManTech International as well as MCR Federal and Dynamics Research, which now operates under Engility to assist workforce planning, staff management and the development of a college recruiting program.
Jake Frazer, President and Co-Founder of Precision Talent Solutions
Jake Frazer co-founded Precision Talent Solutions in 2016 and acts as president to revolutionize talent recruitment and opportunities in the U.S. government and overseas contracting sectors through over 20 years of expertise and deep knowledge of the industry along with cutting-edge recruitment technology.
His leadership and drive to deliver win-win solutions for his clients and GovCon talent were heavily influenced by more than 27 years in the industry and his military career, which taught him to motivate people to take action under the most stressful conditions and lead by example.
“We seek to help our clients in any environment and with whatever deadlines they face,” Frazer explained. “Our success draws on members of the team spread across ten different countries. This award is a testament to their skills, hard work, and dedication.”
Phoebe Henderson, Managing Director, ZRG Partners
After being recognized by ExecutiveBiz as a top GovCon recruiter back in 2020, Phoebe Henderson commented on the inflection point that small and mid-size GovCons are facing in their growth curve as talent acquisition continues to become more important as these leaders work to keep up with the speed of innovation.
As the managing director of ZRG Partners, Henderson has earned a reputation of excellence over 20 years in the GovCon industry to help her clients through relentless dedication and collaboration to fill specific talent needs and business objectives in such a competitive market.
Henderson continues to be an avid supporter of the GovCon community and utilizes her program management, corporate strategy and culture-building expertise to pair executive talent with innovative companies to drive services and solutions for the federal government.
Patrick Gray, Managing Director, Raines International
Patrick Gray demonstrates almost 20 years of executive search experience with deep expertise regarding many different sectors, including aviation, aerospace and defense, national security, government services and others as the managing director and industrial practice leader at Raines International.
“His unparalleled experience recruiting leaders in times of crisis will help guide, inform and influence our practice at Raines and our growth as a firm,” praised Dan Smith, CEO of Raines International. “We are enormously fortunate to have him on our team.”
After joining the company back in 2020, Gray leads its Washington, DC office to focus on critical challenges for its clients and drive the team’s focus on mission-critical functions and market sectors to reinforce Raines International’s unique ability to identify outstanding leaders.
Executive Mosaic is thrilled to recognize these elite GovCon recruitment executives and their organizations for the significant work being done to drive the federal workforce into the future and address the latest challenges facing the GovCon community in talent acquisition.
