Three men in suits participate in a panel discussion on stage at the Hudson Institute, with an audience seated in front and an American flag in the background.
Blue Water Autonomy cofounder and chief strategy officer Austin Gray (left). (Courtesy)
Power Moves is a recurring series where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us at dc@technical.ly.

Other than the White House’s takeover of DC, despite crime being at historic lows, the region has seen many leadership appointments, promotions and office openings in the past month. 

Blue Water Autonomy, a Boston startup building autonomous ships for the US Navy, is opening an office in Navy Yard. Also, DC startup Prefect promoted its CTO to be the firm’s president, and biopharmaceutical company MacroGenics in Maryland hired a new CEO. 

Keep reading to get the details on those and more regional power moves. Before then, check out some recent data on the most desirable skills for DMV tech positions, including how many job postings request each skill and how much those hired make.

Boston autonomous ship startup opens DC office 

This expansion to DC’s Navy Yard neighborhood follows the startup’s emergence from stealth in April. 

“The establishment of Blue Water Autonomy’s Washington, DC office is a natural next step for us,” said CEO Rylan Hamilton in a press release. “This third location supports our growing company and increases our workforce options while improving Blue Water’s accessibility for our Navy customer[s].”

The startup also hired Ryan Maatta to serve as the vice president of marine engineering. He is based in DC, according to his LinkedIn profile, and has decades of prior experience at government contracting tech companies Serco and Crowley. 

Prefect promotes CTO to president 

The data infrastructure and analytics startup announced Chris White will now be president of the company. 

White has been with the company since its founding in 2018, CEO Jeremiah Lowin wrote in a post on Prefect’s website. 

“As Prefect has grown, it has become constructive to formalize the leadership roles that have emerged organically,” Lowen wrote. “Making Chris our President recognizes the position he has long held and provides him the platform to expand its impact.”

Prefect underwent a round of layoffs in March. Twenty people were let go, Lowen previously announced in the spring. 

Publicly traded biopharma firm appoints new CEO 

MacroGenics promoted its former COO, Eric Risser, to president and CEO. The Rockville company is developing therapeutics for cancer treatment. 

Risser has been with the company in several business development and operations roles since 2009. Before joining MacroGenics, he worked at Johnson & Johnson as a senior director in corporate development. 

“My goal is to create an even more focused and capital-efficient biotechnology company that delivers novel, high-value therapies to patients battling cancer,” Risser said in a statement. “I will be working closely with the entire executive team and Board to ensure MacroGenics is investing resources where we believe we can generate significant value for both patients and shareholders alike.”

More leadership moves: 

  • Virginia Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Cathie Vick resigned, per an announcement in mid-August. The chamber is searching for a replacement, and board leadership will step in during the transition to make sure work gets done. 
  • CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the mid-Atlantic health insurance giant dual-headquartered in DC and Baltimore, is also looking for a new CEO following Brian D. Pieninck stepping down after about seven years in the role.  
  • X-energy and Last Energy, two nuclear firms in the DMV, landed spots in pilot programs to test nuclear reactor technology for the country’s energy needs, the Washington Business Journal (WBJ) reported. 
  • Restaurant management and bill payment platform MarginEdge in Arlington, Virginia, appointed Tara Clever as its first chief revenue officer. The company is also partnering with the restaurant bookkeeping firm Fixe to expand its customer base.  
  • Communications technology company DTC in Ashburn, Virginia, appointed retired US Army Colonel Brady Crosier as vice president of business development for the Asia-Pacific region. Crosier will be based in Taiwan. 
  • Roadside assistance tech firm Urgent.ly’s CFO left after two months on the job, the WBJ also reported. The company is facing financial issues, including a stock split and not following Nasdaq compliance rules due to low-value stocks. 
  • Government contractor General Dynamics Information Technology hired Michael Grochol to work as the vice president of technology.