Frederick “Jay” Stefany has joined The Cohen Group as a Senior Counselor following a distinguished 43-year career leading Navy acquisition and technology programs.
“Over the course of an impressive career, Mr. Stefany has developed an unparalleled expertise in the maritime and technologies sectors,” said Defense Secretary Bill Cohen, Chairman of The Cohen Group. “We are confident the additions of Mr. Stefany and Vice Admiral Matthew Kohler will significantly enhance our firm’s capabilities.”
From 2024–2025, Mr. Stefany stood up and led the Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base Program, a role for which he was personally selected by the Secretary of the Navy. Before that, he served as acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition with responsibility for an annual $130 billion portfolio including all US Navy and Marine Corps shipbuilding, aviation, space, weapons, communications, and electronics programs. He was also responsible for executive management of an additional $15 billion annually of Foreign Military Sales to partner nations. In this role, Mr. Stefany’s duties included developing policy and providing oversight of all contracting by the Navy and Marine Corps worldwide.
From 2019 to 2021 and again in 2024, he served as Principal Civilian Deputy to the Assistant Secretary for RDA, representing Navy acquisition within the Pentagon, White House, and defense committees in Congress, as well as leading the Department of the Navy’s 55,000-person acquisition workforce.
From 2018 to 2019, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Ship Programs, responsible for executive oversight of all naval shipbuilding programs, major ship conversions, and the modernization and disposal of in-service ships. Previously, Mr. Stefany served as Executive Director, Amphibious, Auxiliary and Sealift Office, Program Executive Office for Ships where he oversaw one of the broadest acquisition portfolios in the Navy. Leading up to that, he held multiple leadership roles in shipbuilding program management and naval engineering with Naval Sea Systems Command.
Mr. Stefany received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, and a master’s degree in management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is the recipient of multiple awards from the US Department of the Navy, including the Superior Civilian Service Award, Distinguished Civilian Service Award, Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and the Rear Admiral Wayne E. Meyer Award for Sustained Acquisition Excellence.
Mr. Stefany joins a distinguished group of senior leaders at the firm who provide strategic advice and practical assistance to the firm’s clients. In addition to Secretary Cohen, those leaders include:
- General Joseph Ralston, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
- Ambassador Marc Grossman, former US Ambassador to Turkey, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and former US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and a Career Ambassador;
- Ambassador Nicholas Burns, former US Ambassador to China, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and former US Ambassador to NATO;
- General Jim Mattis, former US Secretary of Defense, former Commander of US Central Command and US Joint Forces Command, and former Supreme Allied Commander Transformation;
- General Paul Kern, former Commander of the Army Materiel Command and former Senior Advisor for Army Research, Development, and Acquisition;
- Ambassador Arun Singh, former Indian Ambassador to the United States, France, and Israel;
- Air Chief Marshall Sir Angus Houston, former Chief of the Australian Defense Forces and former Chief of the Australian Air Force;
- Ambassador Jeff Davidow, former US Ambassador to Mexico, Venezuela, and Zambia and a Career Ambassador;
- Ambassador Mike McKinley, former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State, former US Ambassador to Brazil, Afghanistan, Colombia, and Peru and a Career Ambassador;
- General Mike Scaparrotti, former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and Commander of US European Command, and former Commander of US Forces Korea UNC, CFC;
- General Tim Radford, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and UK Ministry of Defence Head of Overseas Operations;
- Lieutenant General Harry Raduege, former Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and former Manager of the National Communications System;
- Lieutenant General David Bassett, former Director of the Defense Contract Management Agency and former Army Program Executive Officer for Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical and Ground Combat Systems;
- Lieutenant General Edward Cardon, former director of the U.S. Army of Business Transformation and former Head of the Army Cyber Command;
- Lieutenant General Charles Hooper, former Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, former US Defense Attaché to China, and former Director of Strategy, Plans, and Programs at US Africa Command;
- Major General Kim Crider, former Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for the United States Space Force and former Chief Data Officer for the United States Air Force;
- Ambassador Paul Myler, former Deputy Chief of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Washington and former Australian Ambassador to Russia and the Countries of Central Asia;
- Ambassador Craig Allen, former President of the US-China Business Council and former US Ambassador to Brunei;
- Ellen Embrey, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Health Protection and Readiness;
- Dave Rank, former Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the US Embassy in Beijing;
- Jennifer Gavito, former Ambassador-Nominee to Libya and former Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs; and
- Pete Verga, former Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
Formed in 2001, The Cohen Group is comprised of more than 80 professionals with many decades of combined experience working in top-level positions in Congress, the White House, the State Department, the Defense Department, the intelligence community, and other federal agencies and in European and Asian governments, international organizations, and the private sector.
With a presence in Washington, London, Beijing, New Delhi, and Brisbane, The Cohen Group provides its business clients the insights needed to better understand and shape the business, political, legal, regulatory, and media environments in which they operate. This includes both developing strategic business plans to help clients achieve their objectives and actively participating with clients in the execution of those plans.
The Cohen Group also has a strong strategic partnership with DLA Piper, a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.