Northrop Grumman on Wednesday said its board has elected David Keffer as its new chief financial officer effective Feb. 17. He succeeds Kenneth Bedingfield, who will remain with the company until Feb. 21 to help with the transition.
Keffer comes to Northrop Grumman from the private equity firm Blue Delta Capital Partners, which he joined in 2018 as a general partner. Before then, Keffer was CFO of the former CSRA, which General Dynamics [GD] acquired in 2018.
Keffer will report to Kathy Warden, Northrop Grumman’s chairman, president, and CEO.
“I am confident that Dave will strengthen our leadership team with his strategic, financial and business acumen, and will help our company continue to grow and perform,” Warden said in a statement. “Dave has broad experience and a proven track record of effectively leading finance organizations and driving business results.”
Before having the top finance job at CSRA, Keffer was CFO of SRA International, which was combined with the former CSC Corp.’s Government Services business to create CSRA. Blue Delta, on its website, says that as CFO, “Dave was highly involved in operational matters, including the integration and increased efficiency” of SRA and CSC’s federal unit, and that he helped take CSRA public in 2015.
Keffer joined SRA in 2003 and became CFO after it was acquired by Providence Equity in 2011.
Bedingfield, 47, has been with Northrop Grumman for eight years and has served as CFO since 2015, first under then Chairman and CEO Wes Bush and later under Warden.
Warden thanked Bedingfield for his “many contributions” to the company, adding that his “leadership helped position us for the future.”
Northrop is expected to prime to build the $25-billion program to build the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), the Air Force’s next-generation nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. It is scheduled beginning in 2030 to replace the 400-missile Minuteman III fleet.
The company is also building the B-21 bomber that eventually will carry all of the air-launched nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal.
This story first appeared in Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.
