MODERATOR

Justin Buckwalter

Director, Middle East Region, Parsons

Justin has been working in the Middle East region since 2010. This includes various roles at United States Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT) Force Protection Staff for 6 years with support of supply and operations of base defense efforts within the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) Area of Responsibility.

In 2016, Justin joined Xator Corporation and has managed Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contracts for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) and the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF). These contracts include design, procurement and installation of electronic security systems throughout Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Justin continues to build relationships with host nations throughout the region which has resulted in numerous awards and fosters collaboration to build even stronger ties within the region.

James Golsen

Senior US Commercial Officer for Saudi Arabia, US Embassy Riyadh

Prior to arriving in Riyadh, James was the Commercial Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia. He previously served as the Department of Commerce’s Executive Director for Asia from 2016-2019. In this role, he managed the Foreign Commercial Service’s 15 posts in the Indo-Pacific region, from Pakistan and India to Southeast Asia along with Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

Previous additional diplomatic postings include opening the Foreign Commercial Service office at the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma). In addition, Jim served as Principal Commercial Officer for South India based in Chennai and as a Commercial Officer in Bangkok and Shanghai. James has worked at the Memphis U.S. Export Assistance Center and was simultaneously the Commercial Service partnership manager with FedEx.

Prior to joining the Foreign Commercial Service, James worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on China WTO issues.

Nomaan Syed

Head of International Business at Leidos for the Middle East, North Africa and India region

Mr. Nomaan Syed assumed duties as the Head of International Business at Leidos in June 2020. His area of responsibility includes the Middle East, North Africa and India region. Based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he is responsible for the development and execution of Leidos’ MENAI regional growth strategy, supporting organic/inorganic growth options and business development operations. In his previous role as the Director of International Business Development and Strategy for Leidos, he was responsible for directing business growth and capture strategies to provide integrated mission support and systems engineering solutions for civil, intelligence and defense customers worldwide on both direct commercial and foreign military sales engagements. He is a distinguished graduate of Leidos’ business development leadership program and has also served on numerous internal tiger teams for development, planning and implementation of corporate strategic initiatives.

Prior to joining Leidos, Mr. Syed was a Senior Vice President at CLR Integrated Solutions Inc., a U.S. based defense and aerospace technology startup, where he provided executive and technical direction to grow the company into a multi-national operation. As a former management consultant, he brings keen insight and a breadth of experience in improving business processes and strategies to accelerate organizational performance and also has a deep understanding of defense offset ventures in international markets.

Mr. Syed is a professional engineer specializing in Information Communication Technology (ICT) program management and a Harvard alumnus. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors at the American Chamber of Commerce and Chairs the Defense and Security committee in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is a corporate constituent member of the Overseas Security Advisory Council at the U.S. Department of State, and serves as an independent director on numerous advisory boards.