- Ahmed held federal health roles at Leidos
- He spent his early career in telecom engineering in Australia and Pakistan
- The hire follows a run of senior Peraton appointments in 2026
Peraton has hired Masood Ahmed, a former Leidos executive, as vice president for its defense health, veterans services, and health and human services operating unit.
The company announced the appointment in a LinkedIn post Wednesday. Peraton said Ahmed brings more than two decades of experience in “driving business growth, operational execution and strategic customer engagement across the globe.”
Peraton’s health portfolio sits alongside a federal health market now driving large-scale modernization and AI work. The Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Healthcare Summit on Dec. 3 will examine the technology, AI and modernization priorities of the Defense Health Agency, HHS, the Veterans Health Administration and other agencies. Register now to secure your seat.
What Federal Health Roles Did Ahmed Hold at Leidos?
Ahmed spent about a decade at Leidos, most recently serving as vice president of government solutions, a post in which he oversaw a portfolio spanning federal health and civilian agencies, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His health sector work there began in 2019 as chief architect for health and human services, followed by a two-year run as vice president and chief technology officer for civilian health starting in 2022. From 2024 until January 2026, he led the company’s federal health portfolio as vice president of public health and human services.
What Is Ahmed’s Engineering Background?
Ahmed began his career in telecommunications, supervising technical implementation at Alan Dick Pakistan from 2004 to 2006 on mobile network deployments across the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
He spent nearly six years at Alcatel-Lucent Australia, first as a systems engineering team lead and later as Asia-Pacific bids and proposal manager, before moving to Telstra in 2013 as general manager of systems engineering and project services. His profile tied his Telstra leadership role to Joint Project 2047, an Australian Defence Force program aimed at upgrading and modernizing fixed communication systems across hundreds of sites. He joined Leidos in Melbourne, Australia, in 2016 as chief system engineer for defense and intelligence.
Ahmed holds a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Technology Sydney and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wollongong.
What Other Leadership Changes Has Peraton Made This Year?
Ahmed’s arrival follows a run of senior appointments at Peraton in 2026. Vishal Tulsian joined in May as president of the health, state and local sector, the same month former Army Under Secretary Gabe Camarillo became defense sector president. Salim Omar moved from acting to permanent chief financial officer in July, and Scott Fear, the National Security Agency’s former chief information officer and director of capabilities, was named senior strategic adviser for enterprise IT in September.
Peraton is one of 12 firms the DHA selected in July for a $300 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract supporting deployment activities for the Program Executive Office Defense Healthcare Management Systems. The underlying solicitation covered health IT systems, including the MHS GENESIS electronic health record system.
