Serve as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Directorate for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Responsible for managing all FPAC financial operations, managing four divisions, with a 288 person staff of financial professionals, from GS-7 to SES grade levels, and an $80+ billion budget. CFO for 5 major USDA entities, the Risk Management Agency, the Farm Services Agency, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, the Commodity Credit Corporation, and the Natural Resource Conservation Agency, and one minor entity, the FPAC Business Center. Collectively FPAC has more than 22,000 employees that provide a variety of commodity, conservation, credit, crop insurance, and disaster programs and support services to Farmers in all 50 States, American Samoa, Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

The Associate Chief Financial Officer is a position within the Senior Executive Service. As the Associate Chief Financial Officer for Financial Policy and Planning (ACFO-FPP), I direct the development and implementation of financial policy for the Department. My functions include developing a consolidated strategic plan; streamlining and enhancing reporting and monitoring processes to ensure accountability; and establishing travel, cash management, and other applicable fiscal and financial management policies. As the AFCO-FPP, I direct the management of the Department's Working Capital Fund. I am responsible for formulating, presenting, analyzing, and executing the administrative budget for the Office of the Secretary, the offices of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and other General Officers of the Department. The ACFO-FPP, oversees the Administrative Management Division, the Working Capital Fund Division, the Internal Controls Division, the Fiscal Policy Division, the Budget Division, and the Financial Management Division, all within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Selected to lead the Office of Business and Administrative Services; provide executive leadership to FOIA, Records Management, GAO and IG audit response coordination, acquisition and procurement, HR, asset management, purchase and travel card programs, internal controls and administrative and business operations at the Department level. Envision, develop, lead, and deploy strategic, operational, and tactical goals and plans that are aligned with the Department’s overarching mission. Plan, develop, and execute integrated strategic direction for the development of complex, difficult, and sensitive programs as well as individual program evaluations and assessments. Direct organizational management and planning, budgeting, human capital management, financial management, administrative procedures, directives, and other administrative services. Use technical and project planning expertise, outstanding writing skills, and thorough understanding of government mission support functions and priorities to direct more than 20 concurrent programs. Coordinate and manage staff and associated resources efficiently and effectively.Establish metrics to evaluate success and establish accountability; monitor progress and share with internal and external stakeholders. Plan, execute, and monitor $64M budget, ensuring budget and implementing plans align with strategic goals; provide sound business insight when recommending apportionment of resources. Recognized for creating an oversight program that improved operational, administrative, budget, and logistical efficiencies; reduced expenses by 25%. Continually monitor and refine planning, resource use, and management to ensure maximum efficiency using business process improvement techniques, theories, and concepts. Led teams to identify and resolve operational weaknesses and to provide on-site mentoring and training.

Provided skillful leadership, direction, and oversight to the full range of national mission support programs for the $1T in outstanding student loans to 40M borrowers. Specific program leadership included human resources, travel, budget and cost control, contracting, facilities, invoice payment, inventories, IT asset management, interagency agreements and reimbursements, travel, and administration. Developed and implemented strategic, operational, and tactical plans with an eye toward improving efficiency and effectiveness in alignment with Departmental goals.Continually assessed programs’ efficiency and effectiveness. Oversaw inspection teams, identified potential areas of risk, and formally briefed executive leadership. For example, led the FY17 A-123 audit for all contract invoices; the audit was completed with no findings in the prevention, detection, and recovery of improper payments. Recognized as technical expert and consultant to Department executives in the areas of internal controls, asset inventory, and property lifecycle management. Displayed strong written and oral communication skills in preparing sensitive assessment and comprehensive reports with recommendations for agency executives. Consistently demonstrated the ability to present potentially controversial analyses, conclusions, and recommendations in a tactful manner. Prepared and delivered both oral and written briefings to agency executives.Used business and financial savvy; planned, directed, executed, and monitored Federal Student Loan budget. Instituted new controls by documenting and testing standard operating procedure documents (SOP) to ensure that the Branch could measure the effectiveness and identify discrepancies within the processes. Conducted strong financial analysis, ensured prompt invoice payments, reviewed purchase card orders, and rejected requests that did not comply with agency policies; these efforts saved more than $1M.

Used entrepreneurial spirit to lead, direct, and contribute to mission support programmatic areas including policy, property management, procurement, IT purchases/disposal, mobile devices, website management, regional facilities and lease management, logistics, logistics system integration and analyses, occupational health and safety, security, emergency preparedness, Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) support, and training. Drove quantifiable improvements in cost effectiveness; saved $5M through design and deployment of automated processes, reduction in duplicative efforts, and new internal controls. Also instituted new accountabilities for mobile devices, locating hundreds of missing units and ensuring controls that reduced discrepancies to 0.

Directed efficient operations at the nation’s 29 Regional Passport Agencies, Production Centers, and offices across the United States. Developed and implemented strategic and operational plans in alignment with the Department of State goals and citizen expectations. Continually assessed, analyzed, and evaluated programs’ effectiveness, guidelines, and services to promote and achieve maximum utilization of financial and other resources. Introduced groundbreaking technologies that improved processing times.Exercised leadership and direction to a team of 15 federal and 300+ contractors. Set expectations and performance measures that aligned with the overarching mission of the Department. Exercised full personnel authority. Strategically devised short- and long-term goals to improve achievement of organizational objectives, continually adapting to accommodate changing economic, political, social, and technological factors. Proactively sought opportunities to improve technical capabilities by providing professional development internally, as well as funding external programs. Continually analyzed human resources (HR) needs, realigning and increasing staffing levels dynamically; developed a compelling business case that resulted in the hiring of 10 new personnel. Worked to make diversity and inclusion a part of daily decision-making rather than a special program. Addressed performance and conduct issues and successes; justified and submitted several award nominations, and recommended promotions. Improved programmatic results; leveraged technical acumen in contracting and acquisitions and provided subject matter expertise to Department executives. Improved accountability by insisting on testing new passport protocols prior to rollout. Enhanced security for the issuance and tracking of over 16M of the nation’s passports requested each year. Introduced innovative new passport processing technology that saved $10M, cut processing time by 2/3, and improved customer service.

Planned, directed, and led complex acquisitions; personally oversaw $300M portfolio while simultaneous serving as key member of Acquisition Planning Team and Contractor Administrator on $1B+ in awarded contracts. Provided leadership and technical expertise on Department-wide contracting initiatives throughout the contract lifecycle. Entrusted to negotiate terms, conditions, and pricing with major vendors; ensured all contractors adhered to expectations; resolved variances in favor of the government.Drove quantifiable results; continually sought best value for the American public and veterans; monitored contractor compliance, developed and implemented Department-wide acquisition policies and procedures, and identified opportunities to improve efficiency. Recognized the opportunity to achieve $15M in savings through an innovative prioritization effort; subsequent audit was very complimentary of this successful effort.

Used business savvy in the collection of $1.4B in funds from the more than 50 agencies with an overseas presence in Department of State facilities around the globe. Ensured funds were appropriately monitored, tracked, and accounted for; established strong accountability measures for funds management with an eye toward minimizing risk. Demonstrated expert understanding of multiple fund types, budget, and interagency agreements, as well as overseas real property management and construction and attendant regulations.

Led a diverse team of 8 federal and contractor staff; planned, directed, and evaluated work. Made assignments based on mission requirements and individual developmental needs and interests. Leveraged technical understanding of procurement and acquisitions; oversaw $150M in Information Technology (IT); instituted accountability procedures for equipment and other assets worldwide, ensured compliance with Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR), directed oversight of contracts to prevent scope creep while driving deliverables consistent with Key Performance Indicators (KPI).