DEL MAR, Calif.—Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked information about the agency's surveillance program, targeted Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. for employment because of its access to national security contracts, a company vice chairman said Tuesday.

In an interview at The Wall Street Journal's CIO Network here, Mike McConnell, a Booz Allen vice chairman and former NSA director, recounted in detail how Mr. Snowden washed out at his NSA job but then got a position with Booz Allen, were he was...