Comtech appoints Maria Hedden as COO

Comtech Telecommunications has appointed defence and communications industry veteran Maria Hedden as its new Chief Operating Officer.

Hedden’s expertise is built on a 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 biggest names in defence 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.

Speaking about the new appointment, Michael Porcelain, President and CEO of Comtech, said: “At Comtech, we are focused on becoming the most trusted provider of Failsafe Communications, so that communication and data transmission is possible anytime, anywhere – and critical to achieving that goal is having someone at the top of our organization driving operational excellence, customer satisfaction, and structuring our business to scale successfully. Maria’s track record speaks for itself, and she has the skills needed to take Comtech into the future as Failsafe Communications become even more ingrained into our daily lives, no matter what the application.”

In her new role, Hedden will be 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. As COO, Hedden will drive continued customer satisfaction to efficiently deliver the solutions all of Comtech’s customers have come to rely on.

Maria Hedden added: “My career has largely been in pursuit of making great companies better, and putting them on the path to meet their potential. Particularly for organisations in the most crucial of disciplines – such as providing critical satellite, space and public safety communication solutions – improved operations can have a significant trickle-down effect on their customers. Comtech provides an invaluable service to its clients, and in becoming the most streamlined, strongest version of itself, will become a leading, end-to-end provider of Failsafe Communications.”