WASHINGTON — Former Senate Armed Services Committee staffer John “J.R.” Riordan has joined Parsons Corp. as senior vice president of business development for the company’s space and geospatial business.

A spokesman told SpaceNews that Riordan will be responsible for business development, account management and customer engagement for Parsons’ growing space business in the national security market, with the Department of Defense and the intelligence community as the primary customers.

Riordan, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, until recently was on the professional staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee where he led the strategic forces staff overseeing nuclear, missile defense and space issues. He was also one of the congressional architects of the legislation to establish the U.S. Space Force.

Before joining the Senate Armed Services Committee, Riordan worked in the private sector. He was vice president of strategy and Air Force business development at SAIC.

He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2011 after a 23-year career. Before retiring, Riordan ran the Air Force space superiority and global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) division.

Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...