NIH breaks down its tech executive role

For the first time ever, the National Institutes of Health restructured its vacant chief information officer position.

The NIH decided to separate its CIO from the director of its Center for Information Technology, creating two distinct positions after combining the two roles for nearly 25 years. The decision follows the retirement in December of longtime CIT chief information officer and director Andrea Norris. He is 31 years old after leading both roles for more than 11 years.

“With the departure of Ms. Norris, we have an opportunity to reevaluate NIH’s technical leadership needs. We believe that the roles of the CIT director and the OCIO director are distinct,” an NIH spokesperson wrote in an email to FedererNews. road. “The CIT director needs to focus on the unique needs of the NIH research and clinical enterprise. We wanted to find someone who could help NIH institutes and centers advance their scientific goals.”

To that end, the NIH posted a job opening for the Director of CIT on January 8. 6. The deadline for applications for this position is 7 March.

Meanwhile, Ivor D’Souza, director of information systems at the National Library of Medicine, is the new acting CIT director. NIH Deputy CIO Dennis Papula is Acting CIO.

D’Souza has been with NLM since 2011. Papula came to NIH in 2020 from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Program Support, where he served as chief technology officer.

NIH has not posted openings for the CIO position.

But the spokesperson said the CIO will “focus more on compliance and security standards, and we want to identify an executive with extensive experience in overseeing the IT function. The two positions will work closely together to ensure that both Cohesion between offices.”

NIH formally established CIT in March 1998 to combine the functions and missions of its Computing Research and Technology Division, Information Resources Management Office, and Telecommunications Division. The agency named Alan Graeff as NIH’s first CIO and CIT director.

Since 1998, the positions of CIT director and CIO have been one, with a small number of acting directors holding only one of the positions.

FTC seeks new chief information officer

NIH joins several agencies looking to fill now-vacant senior technologist positions.

The Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Government Accountability Office and Department of Agriculture have new job openings for tech executives.

At the FTC, Raghav Vajjhalla left after more than seven years as chief information officer, most recently as chief data officer. He joined the SEC in January as Associate Director, Corporate IT Operations.

During his tenure as CIO, Vajjhalla focused on several IT modernization priorities, including moving more applications to the cloud and improving business processes.

Mark Gray is the FTC’s acting CIO and CDO. Deputy CIO since April 2020.

Ph.D. Tim Persons, former Chief Scientist and Managing Director of GAO’s Science, Technology Assessment and Analysis team, joins PwC as a partner in its Digital Assurance and Transparency practice.

In his new role, Persons will help PwC clients across industries with digital transformation projects; including artificial intelligence, blockchain and data algorithms.

Personnel has been with GAO since 2008 and the government since 2001, having worked for the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

CMS’s Saxon goes industrial

At CMS, Bobby Saxon retired from federal service for the second time. He has served as CMS’s deputy chief information officer since April 2020 and joined the agency in 2017 after retiring from the Army as a colonel in 2016.

Writing on LinkedIn, Saxon joined Leidos as vice president to focus on client advocacy.

“I am truly grateful for the many friends, colleagues, and vendor partners who have made my time at CMS better. Your input in mentoring, coaching, and guiding me over the past six years has been invaluable, and Will be with me for the rest of my life. My love and kindness towards you is even better and I am forever grateful for the journey we have traveled. I wish you all the best. God bless…” he wrote back in December. “Today marks the beginning of a new journey for me. My passion for communication, collaboration, transparency and customer service has a new home.”

During his tenure, Saxon focused on improving the way CMSs manage their data and serve citizens through technology by applying human-centered design principles.

The third federal executive to leave the government is Bajinder Paul, deputy chief information officer at the Agriculture Department.

Paul joined Arch Systems in December as President and Chief Innovation Officer.

“My passion to serve the country I love and the American public will continue at Arch Systems. Arch Systems, LLC is a small, award-winning, woman-owned company that epitomizes the best in service to the Federal Government, committed to innovation , customer experience, and cost-effective solution delivery,” Paul writes on LinkedIn. “This is a critical and exciting time for the entire federal government to modernize IT, working on solutions that innovate, enhance customer experience, and ensure cybersecurity and cost-effective delivery. Part of the team!”

Paul has worked for the government with NOAA since 1992. His career includes the General Services Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Trade Commission.

At the USDA, Paul led efforts to improve the agency’s infrastructure around data center operations and enterprise network services, addressing cybersecurity challenges, and implementing robotic process automation for more than 100,000 users.

Another noteworthy change is Mary Davie, a longtime GSA and NASA executive who described her career after a 35-year career in government. David’s last position was Deputy Deputy Administrator for the Space Agency’s Mission Support Directorate.

She founded her own consulting firm, Mary Davie Consulting, LLC.

“I have enjoyed my time at GSA and NASA and I have been fortunate to work on so many different programs and projects with so many great people in government and industry, countries and even continents. My next step is to start Mary Davie Consulting LLC, my Will continue my journey, gain new perspective, and continue to work with you. Hope you all have a great 2023!” David wrote on LinkedIn.

NITAAC gets permanent director

While those executives left government positions, several started new ones.

Brian Goodger is no longer acting director of the NIH Acquisition and Evaluation Center after serving in acting roles for the past two years.

He succeeds Bridget Gaur, who has been Director of NITAAC since 2015. Gaur retired in May 2020.

As Acting Director, Goodger oversaw the largest two-year NITAAC ever, helping to award task orders of more than $5 billion for FY 2021 and more than $5.2 billion for 2022.

In addition, Goodger implemented the NITAAC University, which trains and educates contractors.

From 2012 to 2022, he served as Deputy Director of the Office of Logistics and Procurement Operations, responsible for the Operations Contracting Division of the NIH Director’s Office.

Another acquisition-related personnel change occurred at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Jimmy Fleming-Scott is HUD’s new Chief Procurement Officer.

Fleming-Scott has served as Deputy CPO since 2016 and Assistant CPO since 2010.

Finally, Luis Coronado Jr. is the new chief information officer for the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. He comes to the state after spending the past five years with the Department of Homeland Security, including the last two-plus years as Executive Director of IT Operations.

Coronado also worked for the Defense Security Agency and spent eight years as a systems engineer in the Air Force.