US network provider Ericsson Federal Technologies Group has hired Melissa Milstead as chief legal officer, a newly created position.
Milstead joins from the wider Ericsson group, where she was head of compliance for the Americas. She brings two decades of experience in government contracting, compliance, ethics, investigations and risk management. She will lead Ericsson Federal’s legal affairs and compliance unit, while also serving as corporate secretary.
Vienna, Virginia-based Ericsson Federal is a subsidiary of Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson, providing network connectivity to the US government, focused on national security, homeland and defence needs.
Christopher Ling, CEO of Ericsson Federal, said: “Melissa brings an exceptional combination of legal expertise, compliance leadership and strategic business insight to Ericsson Federal. Her role will be absolutely key in establishing Ericsson Federal as a fully compliant partner for our customers.
“Furthermore, Melissa will serve as a critical catalyst in bringing advanced commercial technology solutions directly to the US government, ensuring they have seamless access to the innovation required for long-term success.”
Milstead joins after just over three and a half years at Ericsson. She was previously a principal at Mellifera Consulting and general counsel at Shimadzu Scientific Instruments before that. She also had an earlier in-house spell at McKinsey & Company as associate GC.
Before moving in-house she worked in private practice at Hardinger & Tannenholtz as a discovery attorney and at Williams & Connolly as a special counsel. She also had a brief spell as a legal contractor at the American Red Cross in the office of the general counsel.
Last month, US Department of Defense supplier DCS Corporation hired Rick Castiglia as GC from Cubic Corporation, replacing Curtis Schehr in the role. Virginia-based DCS provides national security-focused engineering and systems-based support to the US government.
In April, US government services company Maximus named interim GC Elizabeth Moellering as its permanent GC, filling the role left vacant by John Martinez who left to join defence and engineering business Parsons back in February. Moellering originally joined the company in 2024 as head of litigation.
Meanwhile, in March US background checking company Asurint hired screening industry veteran Vince Pascarella as GC from InformData. Asurint provides background screening services to the government, as well as employers and landlords.
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