The Department of Energy’s competitive sourcing program
exemplifies what the Office of Management and Budget would
like to see happen at other agencies, according to the
guidance from the Federal Acquisition Council and OMB.
The updated Federal Managers Guide to Competitive
Sourcing, which incorporates up-to-date first hand
knowledge from agencies about competitive sourcing
implementation into the guidance, uses DoE as an example
of a successful model for competitive sourcing.
The guide says an executive steering group at DoE,
comprising, for example, the deputy secretary of Energy,
general council, employee union representatives and the
director of public affairs, decides areas of study,
approves changes and pullouts from competitions, and
ensures consistent decision making throughout the agency.
DoE uses functional area study teams that take a
department-wide approach to grouping business units. The
teams report to the steering group, preventing
inconsistencies that would result from leaving it up to
bureaus and agencies to do it on their own, according
to the guide.
It said DoE’s central competitive sourcing office reports
directly to the acting director of OMB and the deputy
secretary. While that staff of four GS-14 and GS-15
employees does not make operational decisions, it does
create policies and procedures, validate FAIR Act
inventory coding, oversee feasibility studies, manage the
execution of study funding and serve as support staff to
the steering group.
FEDweek
Publisher, Don Mace
VP of Marketing, Kevin Couch
Website: www.fedweek.com
Published weekly by FEDweek LLC
11551 Nuckols Rd. Suite L
Glen Allen, VA 23059
(804) 288-5321
Putting Federal Employees and Retirees First
A 100% Veteran-Owned Business