Northrop CEO Kathy Warden Named to 2020 Wash100 for Achieving Strong Company Growth, Expanding Contract Portfolio

Executive Mosaic is honored to present Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden as an inductee into the 2020 edition of the Wash100 Award for driving the company’s growth, securing major contracts with federal agencies and helping to advance technology for the U.S. military.

She took the helm at Northrop as its chief executive and president in January 2019 and assume additional duties as chairman in August of the same year.

Warden has received a Wash100 Award in five out of the last six years. She was honored with her fourth Wash100 Award in 2019 for leading Northrop Grumman to obtain highly valued contracts with U.S. service branches and drive revenue.

She has continued to advance defense systems for the federal government and lead Northrop to maintain the company’s growth as the GovCon industry advances into new territory in technology and other sectors.

Her efforts to drive revenue and improve operations have already begun to pay off. She announced in February that Northrop has generated $3.8 billion in operating income following the company’s acquisition of Orbital ATK in June 2018. Northrop’s information systems segment has also earned $3.2 billion in sales and $343 million in operating income as well.

In addition, Warden has been heavily involved in securing huge contracts for Northrop Grumman that have driven the company’s growth, revenue and work with the military. Most notably, the company won a spot on a potential 10-year, $7.5 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide complex engineering support services and advanced technology solutions to address current and future mission requirements for the Department of Defense (DoD).

The U.S. Air Force also awarded Northrop Grumman a potential 10-year, $4.8 billion contract in Oct. 2019 to extend support services for the branch’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems. Warden will supervise the aerospace systems sector’s development, production and sustainment systems under the IDIQ contract.

In April, the U.S. Navy contracted the company to deliver 24 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye units through the modification under a potential $3.2 billion contract. Warden will also assist Northrop’s modification to manufacture lots 7 to 11 of early warning aircraft. Work is scheduled to occur through Aug. 2026.

Warden secured a potential $1 billion contract modification to cement all three phases of the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 radar modernization program. Northrop Grumman will continue to develop and manufacture as many as 372 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars for the DoD through May 2027.

Elsewhere, the company has expanded its landholdings throughout 2019. In Aug. 2019, Northrop Grumman broke new ground on a facility in Utah to support the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) modernization project. Warden added that Northrop Grumman has supported the service branch’s ICBM programs over the six past decades.

“Modernizing the current ICBM system is a national security priority, and we are proud to be here today to reinforce our commitment to the U.S. Air Force on GBSD and our readiness to deliver on this critical mission,” said Warden.

The company additionally introduced a new operating structure in Sept. 2019. The structure will be composed of aeronautics, defense, mission and space systems sectors. “This new operating structure allows us to take full advantage of our company’s portfolio by aligning businesses that have shared markets, customers and technologies,” said Warden.

Executive Mosaic commends Northrop Grumman and Kathy Warden for receiving her fifth Wash100 Award. Because of Warden’s expertise and strong leadership, she will be a significant executive to watch in the GovCon sector throughout 2020.

About 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.