Deputy Laboratories Director and Executive Vice President for Mission Support

Kimberly (Kim) C. Sawyer is the Deputy Laboratories Director and Executive Vice President for Mission Support at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. She is responsible for ensuring that all Mission Support programs are integrated and that they enable mission delivery. ­ The support programs include Sandia’s business operations, information technology (IT) services, infrastructure operations, human resources, legal, corporate governance, communications, ES&H, security, audit and ethics.

Kim reorganized Sandia’s Mission Support programs to bolster their effectiveness for supporting the evolving responsibilities of a 21st century government-owned, contractor-operated national laboratory. The restructure included elevating the functions of CIO and IT services to a leadership position to oversee the critical areas of computing and network services and cyber security, and creating the positions of corporate risk officer and chief privacy officer to help safeguard the Laboratory and its employees. Other improvements have included strengthening corporate governance and assurance and implementing greater efficiencies in the Laboratories’ business operations to ensure the long-term viability of employee pension and health care programs, to control costs for customers, and to save funds that can go toward mission work.

Kim was previously vice president for Technical Operations at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors. She led the engineering and technology workforce of 6,700 and was accountable for salary, capital, initiatives, and engineering pool budgets. Her team — comprised of chief engineering vice presidents, systems engineering, software, hardware design and development, and integration and test engineering — was responsible for over 300 complex programs for advanced platforms and weapons, C4ISR, global sustainment, and sensors and growth areas such as international, laser applications, rail and port security. Kim restructured the engineering organization (located across 12 major sites) into virtual centers of excellence to leverage the talent, increase collaboration, strengthen synergies, and drive cultural change.

Other positions Kim has held include vice president for Advanced Concepts in Lockheed Martin’s Corporate Engineering & Technology function, where she was responsible for exploring potential investigations for strategic mission threads such as energy generation and distribution; vice president of Net-Centric Integration, with responsibilities for the continued shaping of the overall vision and strategy for the organization; and information technology (IT) program vice president for Lockheed Martin’s Computing and Network Services, where she was responsible for a 1,700-person organization across 50 locations.

Kim has extensive IT experience in roles such as CIO, IT management, information resource management, project management, systems analysis, software engineering, application development, and outsourcing. She has been instrumental in initiating organizational and cultural change, developing relationships with customers, advocating innovation, and cost cutting. Her industry experience includes chemicals, engineering, manufacturing, IT, consumer products, and defense with DuPont, TRW, Xerox, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and BAE Systems (formerly Lockheed Martin Sanders).

Kim earned her MS in Mathematics and Computing from the University of Massachusetts, and a BS in Business Administration from Robert Morris University. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and Women in Defense.

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