Redondo Beach, California, United States
I'm now serving as the lead for SSC/FM's "Strategic Cell". In this role, I am the primary advisor to the Comptroller and the Front Office Group on all matters under his/her purview, including the pursuit of organizational hierarchies, roles and responsibilities, strategies, analyses, process reforms, tool development and other efforts that enable SSC/FM to be a key driver in identifying and pursuing financial transformation that supports DoW, DAF, USSF and SSC acquisition transformation objectives.
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT AND CHANGE AGENT for space systems acquisition financial management and program control. Widely recognized expert in fiscal policy reform and a leading proponent to streamline bureaucracy, pursue fiscal agility, improve financial risk management to drive more effective use of DAF/USSF resources. One of nine DoD-wide to be awarded the 69th Annual DoD Distinguished Civilian Service award in 2024. Hand-picked by DoD PPBE Commission as the sole SSC rep to brief them on needed reforms. Co-author of the Alternate Acquisition System Report directed by Congress and lead for 5 of 9 initiatives. SSC lead contributor for Congressional Commission on Acq reform (Sec 809) Volume 3 report. IPT lead to reorganize all Space and Missile Systems Center functional offices into an integrated business team (Atlas). SMC planner for RS2011 “Reinventing Space” Conference that rolled out the push for proliferated, disaggregated space architectures. Author of “Revitalizing Program Control” in SAF/AQ’s PM Gazette. Cross-functional lead for DAF effort to improve FM and contracting techniques to better utilize $3B/year that typically cancels unused.
Conduit and amplifier of solutions to remove business barriers, transform internal processes, pursue fiscal policy reform, increase corporate agility, enhance data-driven decision making, and deliver critical business solutions for the $15.6 billion annual SSC Portfolio. Primary SSC interface to SAF/FM, OSD Comptroller and OMB Analysts responsible for fiscal reforms, and FM lead to Space SAE’s portfolio management team in pursuit of portfolio solutions to manage risk, improve outcomes and protect USSF budgets from reduction.
Lead & managed 4 branches with 51 civilian, military and contractor personnel; directly supervised 4 branch chiefs, including 2 NH-04s, and 2 NH03s; $10B+ annual funding in multiple appropriations; provided direction, oversight and guidance for the Command's O&M corporate process, investment portfolio management, funds control activities, accounting and audit remediation, and other miscellaneous budget functions · Eliminated “tax and spend” culture at Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) for both O&M and PEO taxes for investment funds – First time in SMC history that an FM leader convinced the Commander to give up the historical process. Identified the drawbacks of tax & spend, including the downsides of budgetary churn, including poor PM incentives for financial discipline, and how tax & spend distracts from program control in favor of competition for resources. The change for O&M led to a massive culture change where “induced austerity” drove more creative problem solving and better alignment of resources to priorities. Enabled funding for emergent requirements through targeted reductions to poor execution vs. arbitrary taxation. Wrote Congressional report in response to HAC-D request. Increased transparency through more baselined funding and clarity in Congressional budget justification books. · Lead the conversion of SMC’s Center FM Directorate into a FLDCOM (MAJCOM) FM Directorate – Collaborated with near-peer Commands to identify new roles, necessary organizational realignments and key process changes. Ensured on-going acquisition “Center” roles continued, while absorbing new Command roles without additional personnel. Process reengineering and triage of key processes and outputs ensured manpower and resources applied to top priorities, including an increased emphasis on audit readiness and modernization of financial systems. Lead FM integration of new mission partners into SSC and/or those needing SSC/FM support (e.g. SpRCO, SDA, Space Launch Deltas)
Hand-picked by SSC Commander and Executive Director to create and lead a brand new organization at SMC focused on strengthening SMC’s business intelligence capability across all functional areas, pursued agile program management tools and techniques and revitalized business process reengineering efforts in pursuit of more streamlined, automated, and agile capabilities to enable shift of resources from transaction support to enhanced analytics and decision support. The organization continues to this day. · Stood up brand new Directorate at SMC in a “dual hat” role while concurrently serving as the SMC/FMA Chief · Led an “ultra-motivated” team of 16 military/civilian/contractor to serve as a conduit for innovative business practices, remove impediments to agility, modernize, streamline and automate processes across SMC · Stood up “Agile Readiness Center” and developed tools to encourage and facilitate innovation, measure transformation, connect stakeholders; leveraged best practices/lessons learned to foster transformational change · Rapidly advanced data analytics efforts in the “Business Intelligence Group” to identify root causes behind program problems, develop institutional knowledge and guidance to help program managers avoid missteps, and to enhance decision making through more predictive and prescriptive analysis