United States Army Corps of Engineers Contracting Career Management Program Breakout Session #: F12 Stuart Hazlett, SES, Director of Contracting, US Army Corps of Engineers Paige Blechinger, District Contracting Chief, Savannah District Colleen O Keefe, Center Chief of Contracting, Huntsville, Engineering and Support Center Susan Yarbrough, District Contracting Chief, Baltimore District Date: Tuesday, July 26 Time: 4:00pm-5:15pm
USACE Mission and Vision Mission: Deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our Nation s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters. Vision: Engineering solutions for our Nation s toughest challenges. 2
USACE Command Video 3
Purpose Create and implement career development initiatives for USACE contracting professionals Identify career management best practices Assist contracting professionals to achieve their personal goals and to contribute to the success of USACE mission 4
Rationale Improves breadth and depth of contracting professionals experience Allows for exchange of information and sharing of best practices among geographically dispersed workforce Formalized USACE guide maps out clear paths of career progression and management 5
Contracting Career Management Program (CCMP) Provides workforce with roadmap to broaden their skills and prepare for challenging work assignments Supports contracting professionals throughout their careers 6
Recruit Develop Contracting Professionals Grow Director Executive Director Strategic GS 14-15 & 51C Operational GS 12-13 & 51C Tactical GS 5-11 & 51C 7
UCCMP Structure Executive Director Three Panel Chairs (GS 15s) Each panel comprised of 8-12 members Strategic: GS 14/15, 05/06 or E9 Operational: GS 12/13, 04/05 or E7/E8 Tactical: GS 05-11, 03 or E6/E7 8
Panel Chair Roles and Responsibilities Develops career management best practices Assists contracting professionals in achieving their goals Helps employees contribute to the success of USACE 9
Strategic Level Initiatives Assess GS 14/15 workforce via survey Provide formal leadership training Offer duty assignments Promote broadening experiences Solicit for assignment and location preferences 1 0
Strategic level Leadership and Broadening Opportunities: Acting Senior Leader at HQ Acting Division or Center Contracting Chief Acting District Contracting Chief Cross-functional opportunities with Project and Program Management Contingency and OCONUS Assignments Facilitators for PROSPECT Courses 11
Operational Level initiatives Develop depth and breadth of workforce s contracting knowledge and technical skills Prepare workforce for greater responsibility Create opportunities to exchange information and share best practices 12
Operational Level Developmental Opportunities Developmental Opportunities Rotational Assignments Broadening Assignments Hire Lag Temporary Assignments Critical Position Fills 13
Tactical Level Initiatives Set up a community of practice and collaboration space Develop an annual workshop to promote networking, share information on career management and to enhance understanding of the USACE mission Update and provide USACE careerist standard operating procedure and resource guide 14
Tactical Level Developmental and Training Opportunities Develop fundamental technical skills Begin formal training (DAU, Grad school) Initiate informal on-the-job training Apply for developmental assignments Map out career options and begin career management 15
CCMP Tools Succession Planning Guide Developmental Assignment Guide On-the-job training provided by Regional Contracting Chiefs Education and Training Pyramid 16
Succession Planning Guide Identifies mission-critical experiences Highlights rotational assignments Discusses professional certifications Highlights academic accomplishments Describes leadership training Identifies critical positions 17
1102/51C Experience Pyramid HQUSACE Divisions Districts Director of Contracting Deputy Director of Contacting Senior Leader SES or GO District/Center Contracting Chief PARC HQ Division Chief Regional Contacting Chief Director of Small Business Strategic GS-14/15 O5/O6 or E9 Branch Chief PCO Team Leader Senior Contract Specialist Senior Procurement Analyst Operational GS-12/13 O4/O5 or E7/E8 Senior Cost/Price Analyst Small Business Specialist Cost/Price Analyst PCO Team Leader Procurement Analyst Contract Specialist Intern Tactical GS-5/GS-11 O3 or E6/E7 NOTE: Job titles can be held at different grades with a wide range of position descriptions.
Developmental Assignments Opportunity to learn new skills and develop abilities Gain experience working on diverse projects and contract types Learn different acquisition approaches and strategies Typical assignment length: 3-12 months 19
Developmental Assignments Process Workforce Development team coordinates developmental assignment opportunities with District & Center Contracting Chiefs Announcement of opportunity- open to all GS13-15 employees Memorandum of understanding and performance plan executed prior to start date 20
On-the-Job Training Deliver targeted training on specific areas of need unique to each office Communicate best practices and lessons learned through bi-annual training workshops Share training across districts and centers 21
On-the-Job Training Process Leverage DAWDF Submit OJT small group training plans at the beginning of each fiscal year Identify OJT topic areas through: peer reviews, compliance reviews, self inspections and procurement management reviews 22
Education and Training Pyramid Federal Executive Institute Senior Service College SES Candidate Development Programs Harvard Business School Leadership Development Secondary career field DAWIA Certification Acquisition Leadership Challenge Program Professional Certification (CFCM, CCCM, CPCM) DAWIA Level III Contracting Certification PROSPECT Training Civilian Education System Training (Civilian Leadership Core Curriculum) DAWIA Level I & Level II Contracting Certifications Baccalaureate Degree & 24 semester hours in business field
Takeaways USACE DOC created a structured program for development of its contracting workforce Funded primarily by the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF) Focuses on growth and talent management of professional workforce; every employee deserves the opportunity to achieve goals 24
Questions? 25
Contact Information Strategic: Colleen O Keefe Colleen.J.O Keefe@usace.army.mil Phone: 256-895-1111 Operational: Paige Brosch Paige.H.Brosch@usace.army.mil Phone: 912-652-6177 Tactical: Susan Yarbrough Susan.L.Yarbrough@usace.army.mil Phone: 410-962-0874 26
Backup Slides 27
Best Places to Work In the last three years, USACE moved up 68 spots in government rankings; ranking #111 of 320 agency subcomponents. http://bestplacestowork.org/bptw/rankings/detail/ ARCE Ranked #128 out of 500 employers on Forbes' "America's Best Employers" of 2015 list. USACE ranked #10 in the government services industry, #6 in the federal government, and #8 in the engineering field. 28
Careers in USACE http://www.usace.army.mil/careers.aspx 29
USACE Director of Contracting Mission Provide comprehensive contracting and acquisition solutions in times of peace, war and disaster for USACE and its national and global partners. 30
GS15 Panel Chair: Rationale Managers at district or center overwhelmed by execution workload Not sufficient time to assist employees with in-depth career-related questions Access to members working exclusively with them on continual professional development 34
Tactical Level Roadmap Entry Level Positions: (0-5 years) Civilian Grades: GS 05-11 Military Grades: O3 and E6/E7 Tactical Level Positions: Contract Specialist Intern Contract Specialist Procurement Analyst Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) Team Leader Cost/Price Analyst 35
Tactical Development Phases Focus on fundamentals Formal Training (DAU, Grad School, Leadership) On the Job Training/Rotations Develop Technical Skills Begin to Manage Your Career 36
UCCMP Tactical Panel Purpose: Create and implement career development initiatives for USACE contracting professionals, grades GS-5 through GS-11 Established Summer 2014 Researched and collected information on demographics, career management programs and other baseline documents in order to develop our plan Established a SharePoint site for collaboration Looked at current DAWDF Programs and funding Created and implemented a survey of the tactical workforce 37
UCCMP Tactical Panel Results of Survey: Respondents wanted a way to communicate and share information with each other Panel developed the current initiatives: Develop a resource guide Set up a collaboration space for tactical workforce Set up a Community of Practice for TW Develop an annual TW workshop to allow networking, share information on career management, and learn more about the USACE mission. 38
UCCMP Tactical Panel Next steps: TW Community of Practice Developmental Assignments Update Careerist SOP Mentoring/Shadowing Program 39