GSA has appointed the Labor Department’s former deputy management secretary, Molly Wilkinson, as the agency’s new chief acquisition officer.
Prior her position in Labor, Wilkinson held several positions in DoD, including the special projects coordinator for the Iraqi National Conference and special advisor to the Iraqi Supreme Commission in 2004 where she managed American security, logistics, and administrative support for the 1,500 delegates who chose the Interim Iraqi National Council, according to GSA.
However, the level of Wilkinson’s acquisition-oriented experience has reportedly been called into question, and it is unclear whether she has any specifically.
The CAO is responsible for developing and reviewing acquisition policies, procedures and related training for both GSA and federal acquisition professionals.
Wilkinson stated that she is “looking forward to working alongside members of the Administrator’s team and becoming a part of the energy and professionalism that characterizes GSA."
She is replacing Emily Murphy, who left for a Washington D.C. law firm and was the agency’s first CAO.
In recent weeks the deputy commissioner for the Federal Acquisition Service, Martin Wagner, retired, and Kevin Messner was tapped in November as acting associate administrator in charge of GSA’s congressional and governmental affairs office, recently merged with the government-wide policy office.
Messner, the first political appointee to hold that post took over from John Sindelar who served in that role since December 2005 and was program manager for lines-of-business consolidation initiatives.
