Maria Hedden

Hedden’s expertise is built on a storied career that includes over 20 years of executive P&L management experience focusing on improving business performance, and she has worked with some of the largest names in defense and mission-critical communications, including BAE Systems and L3Harris. In her most recent position, she served as Senior Vice President of Operational Transformation for Leidos, where she was responsible for establishing manufacturing excellence for a multi-billion product portfolio.

Hedden is responsible for leading and implementing operational excellence across Comtech, such as improving production capabilities and on-time delivery schedules, through retaining and scaling engineering and operations teams to improve margins and to keep pace with expected business growth.

Hedden began her career in manufacturing with FMC, narrowing her focus on defense when FMC sold that division of their business to BAE Systems. It was there that she introduced Lean Manufacturing to BAE’s European business unit and rationalized the Land and Armament business. It was a following move to L3Harris that inspired her interest in general management, where she led an operational turnaround that culminated in her appointment to President in 2015, and ultimately operated as the head of L3Harris’ Security and Detection division when the company was sold, before joining Leidos.