McCormick Group Taps Technology Leader for Juniper Federal

March 15, 2017 – Executive search firm The McCormick Group has recruited David Mihelcic as chief technology and strategy officer at Juniper Federal. Principal Tim Ward led the assignment. In his new role, Mr. Mihelcic will drive technological innovation and new product development for the company’s federal customers and across the entire organization. He will also provide counsel on infrastructure modernization programs that focus on network security.

Mr. Mihelcic is the former chief technology officer at the Defense Information Systems Agency. While at DISA, he was responsible for all technology matters within the agency, including oversight of developments and acquisitions supporting its $3 billion annual telecommunications and computing enterprise. He directed the organization’s innovation program, which piloted leading edge IT capabilities for the military. In addition, he drove development and implementation of milCloud, the Department of Defense’s only private cloud for sensitive, unclassified, and classified requirements.

Immediate Value

“Dave has been instrumental in shaping multiple leading edge technology initiatives for the Defense Department and will be able to leverage that experience to bring immediate value to Juniper,” said Mr. Ward. “His strong reputation for introducing positive, disruptive technology fits ideally with Juniper’s goal for expanding their infrastructure modernization solutions with a primary focus on network security.”

Juniper Federal designs and deploys innovative infrastructure to support federal agency demands, and it brings its technology expertise to the business of government. The organization is a division of Juniper Networks, a $5 billion network solutions provider that designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide.

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Founded in 1974 by Bill McCormick, The McCormick Group provides executive search services to associations, corporate government affairs offices, and law firms, among others. The firm offers clients a full range of human capital services, including recruitment; human resources strategic planning & consulting; compensation studies and surveys; management succession consulting & restructuring; and outplacement consulting.

Mr. Ward specializes in placing operations, technology, and business development executives across the government services industry with a focus on aerospace, defense, national security & intelligence community, federal civilian, and research & development. He has helped build The McCormick Group’s national government services practice over the past 17 years by forging deep connections with industry experts and leading companies.

High Demand for Technology Leaders

Demand for top technology executives continues to gain momentum. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, CTO hiring is predicted to grow by 18 percent by 2022.

“As technology becomes increasingly more intertwined with business strategy and instrumental to a company’s success, the demand for talented CTOs is on the rise,” said Mr. Ward. “The rapid escalation of mobile device and cloud usage and the obvious need for improved security measures along with it has greatly increased the need for innovative CTOs. Smart leaders recognize the potential disruptive impact emerging technologies can have on a company and its customers and are turning to CTOs to help them stay competitive.”

As companies look for ways to differentiate themselves in the rapidly changing technology landscape, talented chief technology officers with deep expertise in cybersecurity, data analytics, and infrastructure modernization are in even greater demand, said Mr. Ward.

“CTOs wear both a business and a technical hat within organizations,” said Deborah Page, technology practice lead at McCormick Group. “They work technical challenges while also partnering with the business on strategic roadmap planning,” she said, adding that they are considered ‘big-picture thinkers’ by constantly evaluating how technology can be used to create new services and solutions.

“CTOs own the technology strategy and are huge advocates of transformation and innovation,” she noted. “With the focus on digital transformation, dashboards-analytics and integration of firm-wide applications, the CTO role will continue to trend within both giant and small corporations.”

Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media