McLean's SAIC Names New CEO

SAIC, a huge and far-reaching government contracting firm headquartered in McLean, has announced it's next CEO: John P. Jumper,  former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force and a membr of SAIC's board of directors.

Jumper will succeed Walter P. Havenstein as chief executive officer March 1, according to a company statement. SAIC announced in October, 2011 that Havenstein would retire as CEO after leading the government-contracting company for a little more than two years. Havenstein said he was leaving for personal reasons, according to a press release from the company.

"Given SAIC's focus on providing the most advanced technical solutions to war fighters and government and commercial customers, after an exhaustive search of candidates the Board viewed Jumper as uniquely qualified to lead SAIC at this time," said A. Thomas Young, chairman of the board, according to the SAIC statement.

The Washington Post reported: "Jumper inherits a company with a storied history but a number of problems. Like many other contractors facing declining government spending, SAIC has recently seen reduced sales and profit. The company also is dealing with a scandal surrounding a New York City contract to manage an employment timekeeping system called CityTime. Last year, SAIC said three executives had been removed in connection to that program—though the company stressed there is no evidence any of them were personally involved with the fraud."

Jumper, who  joined the SAIC board in 2007 and will remain a member of the board, retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2005 after nearly 40 years of service.

SAIC has approximately 41,000 employees  that serve customers in the U.S. Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, other U.S. Government civil agencies and selected commercial markets.  Headquartered in McLean, Va., SAIC had annual revenues of approximately $11 billion for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2011, the company said.