Steampunk is pleased to announce four new strategic appointments as a critical building block for its Federal Civilian business sector and Salesforce practice – focused on expanding into new markets and capabilities and changing the way government services are delivered. Max Licht has been appointed Senior Vice President to lead our Federal Civilian Sector, Joe Nizhnikov has been named Vice President, Federal Civilian Sales, Brandon Feather has joined Steampunk as our new Director of Salesforce Engineering, and Mike Fischer has been named Business Development Lead for the Federal Civilian Sector.
“We’ve structured our organization for faster growth to ensure a nimble response to the changing needs of our industry,” said John Harllee, Chief Operating Officer, Established Accounts and Corporate Operations for Steampunk. “Max, Joe, Brandon, and Mike each bring a unique skillset, deep industry knowledge, and professional experience to identify opportunities, drive growth, and achieve results for their employees and clients,” added Harllee.
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Max Licht brings 15+ years of experience leading the most successful Sales teams in the Federal industry. As Senior Vice President of the Steampunk Civilian Sector, Max will lead all new business opportunities and our team of delivery professionals whose mission is to drive value and delight for our clients. Most recently, Max was responsible for the fastest growing market segment within the Salesforce Public Sector Business Unit, with his team representing the largest and most complex SaaS Cloud Migrations for both the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Agriculture (USDA). Prior to Salesforce, Max held top contributing roles within Oracle Federal and DLT Solutions, where he managed a $100M+ Federal portfolio.
Joe Nizhnikov will work closely with Max and bring his customer-first, consultative sales approach to deliver successful outcomes and customer delight to our Federal Civilian clients. Joe Nizhnikov is a proven sales and delivery leader in the Federal technology consulting industry. Prior to joining Steampunk, Joe was Regional Vice President within Salesforce’s global public sector business leading Federal Civilian agencies within USDA and DHS. During his time at Salesforce, Joe more than tripled the size of the USDA business growing it to be their largest public sector account in the world. Prior to Salesforce, Joe spent almost 10 years at Accenture delivering analytics, digital, and ERP projects for Federal and Commercial clients. Joe graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Business Information Technology.
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Brandon Feather brings 10+ years of elite Salesforce expertise conducting deep discovery of customers’ needs, capturing their vision and executing their customized Salesforce solution from inception to completion. As our Director of Salesforce Engineering, Brandon will lead teams through the complete lifecycle of solution design, development and deployment, from hands-on proposal technical support to prototyping client implementations and complete production activation. Brandon most recently served as Senior Program Architect for Salesforce supporting the US Customs and Border Patrol in their technical, strategic, and product decisions around the Salesforce Platform. Prior to Salesforce, he was a Salesforce Principal Architect and Business Owner with CloudLogicAP where he helped grow the company as a select provider of customized Salesforce solutions and implementations for small to medium-sized businesses. Other prior roles include Senior Solution Architect at Synaptic AP, Senior Salesforce Consultant at both Aptaria and Acumen, and Senior Salesforce Lead at USA Today. Brandon received both a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Business to Business Marketing, and a Master of Business Administration degree from James Madison University.
Mike Fischer’s experience spans 11+ years – helping federal government customers solve complex challenges by deeply understanding the business and delivering tailored solutions that drive engagement and ROI. As a Business Development Lead for Steampunk, Mike will be working across capability areas and accounts to ensure we are bringing the best capabilities and skills to make our customers successful. Mike most recently served as a Strategic Account Executive for Salesforce where he was responsible for increasing account revenue at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Salesforce’s largest public sector account. Prior to Salesforce, he was a Sales Manager for Accenture Federal Services (AFS) where he was also responsible for driving new business to the USDA account. Other prior roles include being a Customer Solutions Manager at BRMi covering the Federal Civilian market and management consulting careers at BRMi and Booz Allen Hamilton towards the beginning of his professional career. Mike received his Bachelor’s degree in History from Duke University where he also received an undergraduate certificate in Markets and Management.
“With the speed of our industry moving faster than ever, our outlook is filled with energy and conviction,” said John Harllee. “I look forward to thriving together as industry leaders alongside our clients in the years to come.”
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