Crist|Kolder Associates Recruits CFO for Booz Allen

June 4, 2026 – Crist|Kolder Associates has assisted in the recruitment of Troy Lahr as executive vice president and CFO of Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, VA. “Troy’s deep and differentiated experience helps position Booz Allen for accelerated growth and bold transformation,” said Horacio Rozanski, chairman and CEO. “His success driving performance across large portfolios and leading through change will be a powerful asset as we work together to advance our next chapter.”

Mr. Lahr was most recently CFO at Sierra Space, where he led the company’s financial strategy and performance including accounting and reporting, controllership, financial planning and analysis, tax, and treasury. Prior to that, he was CFO of Boeing’s $27 billion Defense, Space & Security business, following roles of increasing responsibility across the company including head of corporate investor relations, controller, and senior manager of mergers and acquisitions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lahr spent 12 years at Stifel Financial Corporation as an equity analyst researching the aerospace and defense industry.

Booz Allen is at the tail end of a large-scale transformation from strategy consultants serving the Department of Defense to a provider of cutting edge AI, Cyber, robotics and quantum solutions. The firm has a number of ‘stealth tech’ investments and new partnerships with companies like Silicon Valley’s Andreesen Horowitz (now called a16z) and Amazon Web Services, among others, and has a burgeoning venture group to continue to fuel their expansion into innovative technologies.

Booz Allen is the advanced technology company delivering outcomes with speed for America’s most critical defense, civil, and national security priorities. They build technology solutions using AI, cyber, and other cutting-edge technologies to advance and protect the nation and its citizens.

Crist|Kolder Associates focuses on CEO, CFO, COO, board of directors and succession search for a broad range of industries. The firm has filled line management and board positions for more than 100 clients relying on what it calls “the intellectual capital” of its senior partners and professional team. Given the strength of the firm’s CFO practice, Crist|Kolder has also established a strong position in finance #2 searches, including treasurers, controllers, group CFOs, IROs, CAEs and others.

The Expanding CFO Mandate

As business complexity increases across industries, the office of the CFO is experiencing a significant transformation. Traditionally focused on financial stewardship, today’s CFO organizations are evolving into enterprise-wide strategic drivers—supporting growth, overseeing risk, enabling transformation, and acting as key partners to the CEO and board. With the CFO role increasingly viewed as a pathway to the CEO position, the structure, capabilities, and leadership within the finance function are being reshaped. This shift has important implications for how organizations design their finance teams, cultivate future leaders, and attract the next generation of CFO talent.

Related: Crist|Kolder Associates Recruits CFO for Howmet Aerospace

Mr. Johnson recently sat down with Hunt Scanlon Media to discuss how the CFO role has evolved from a traditional finance function into a central driver of strategy, transformation, and value creation across today’s organizations.

“I think the best CFOs share three traits that allow them to be successful regardless of ownership structure,” Mr. Johnson said. “The first is contextual adaptability. They understand what matters when. PE rewards speed, focus, and cash discipline. Public markets reward consistency, narrative, and credibility that comes through executing reliably on the longer-term vision. As we said earlier, great CFOs are incredibly well-rounded and are the central nervous system of most organizations. As such, they can adapt as challenges arise without losing authenticity, which engenders trust in the investment thesis, whether it’s with private equity sponsors or institutional investors.”

“The second is the ability to separate signal from noise,” Mr. Johnson. “CFOs are inundated with data. The ability to cut through all of the static to find the most reliable source of truth is essential. A necessary corollary to this is the discernment to execute with imperfect or incomplete information.”

“The third is narrative fluency,” Mr. Johnson continued. “They can tell a coherent story about where they are on the value creation path, strategic trade-offs, and long-term direction, even when things go sideways in a given quarter or the data is imperfect.  This combination is surprisingly rare and incredibly valuable. CFOs who possess these traits also maximize career optionality – great talent flows from PE to public and back again.”

To read the full interview, click here!

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media