CSG Poaches Top Executives From Rheinmetall, Raytheon, BAE

CSG (Czechoslovak Group), the Prague-headquartered defense and ammunition group that listed on Euronext Amsterdam in January 2026, has spent the first half of 2026 rebuilding its senior leadership around executives poached from six of the world's largest defense contractors: Rheinmetall, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, BAE Systems, General Dynamics and Kongsberg. The hiring wave, confirmed by CSG in a statement issued June 30, marks a shift for a company that five years ago struggled to convince Western managers to take a "Czechoslovak" defense brand seriously.

From Regional Player to Global Recruiter

CSG N.V., legally a Dutch company with its top management based in Prague, now employs more than 14,000 people across manufacturing sites in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Serbia, India and the United States. The group's international footprint expanded through a string of acquisitions, including Spain's FMG, Italy's ammunition maker Fiocchi, and the US-based Kinetic Group. Its January 2026 stock market listing became, in CSG's own account, the turning point in how the company is perceived abroad, giving prospective hires from listed global primes a familiar governance and scale benchmark.

A New Executive Bench

Since the start of the year, CSG has filled a series of newly created or vacant senior roles with outside talent:

• Thomas Berge Nielsen became Group Chief Strategy Officer in April, arriving after more than 10 years at Rheinmetall leading international business and strategy, and earlier at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
• Ben Hudson, an Australian former army officer, took over in June as CEO of CSG Land Systems and as the group's Chief Technology Officer. He joined from Hanwha after senior roles at Rheinmetall, BAE Systems and General Dynamics European Land Systems.
• David Jacobs was appointed in June as President of CSG Defense North America, leading a newly opened Washington, D.C. office. He spent 15 years at Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, most recently running corporate strategy and M&A at Northrop Grumman, after a decade in investment banking at Merrill Lynch.
• Matthew Harvey joined Excalibur Army as Chief Commercial Officer in May, bringing 20 years from BAE Systems, Leonardo and Marshall Aerospace & Defence Group.
• Tom Winney became CEO of Tatra Export in January, following stints at KNDS, Rheinmetall/BAE Systems Land and BAE Systems.
• Alexander Rüstig, formerly head of German ammunition maker RWS, joined the Fiocchi Group at the start of the year.
• Peter Russell took on a newly created investor relations role at the end of 2025, having previously worked in capital markets at Avast, Rentokil Initial and J.P. Morgan.

"I am honored to join CSG Group at this moment in its growth," Jacobs said following his appointment.

Washington Becomes a Priority

Jacobs' Washington posting is tied directly to CSG's expanding US footprint. His appointment followed a 2025 US Army contract awarded to CSG subsidiary MSM Group North America to design, build and commission a 155mm Artillery Load, Assembly and Pack facility at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant. Days after confirming the leadership overhaul, CSG announced a further US expansion: CSG Land Systems North America, a new Michigan-headquartered subsidiary representing three long-standing suppliers to the group.

A company built on Czechoslovak industrial heritage is now competing for talent on the same terms as Rheinmetall or Raytheon, and building out the North American, capital-markets and strategy functions that go with it. CSG's current openings are listed on its dedicated career portal, csg.jobs.cz.