Office of Management (2020 Presidential transition)
| Book 3 - Organization Overview
|
|---|
| Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020 |
The Office of Management (MA) supports the DOE mission by establishing policy and providing oversight for approximately $25 billion in annual procurement obligations, $85 billion in real property inventory, and $74 million for DOE’s aviation fleet. MA also provides procurement services to DOE Headquarters organizations and serves as the Department’s corporate lead for sustainability. Administrative functions include the management of headquarters facilities, executive correspondence control, Secretarial scheduling and advance, management of Departmental directives, and the delivery of other administrative services critical to the Department. MA also fulfills the statutory responsibilities of the Chief Freedom of Information Officer and the Department’s Senior Procurement Executive.
Mission Statement
Assure the effective management and integrity of Department of Energy programs, activities, and resources by developing and implementing Department-wide policies and systems in the areas of aviation management, acquisition management, asset management, sustainability, Freedom of Information, conference management, and administrative services Provide a safe and environmentally secure environment for all HQ employees through the deployment of a disciplined Occupant Emergency Plan.
Budget
| Fiscal Year | Budget |
| FY 2019 enacted | $55,385,000 |
| FY 2020 enacted | $54,358,000 |
| FY 2021 requested | $57,258,000 |
Human Resources
FY 2020 authorized full-time equivalents (FTEs): 244
Functions
- Policy, Procedure and Standards Management - Develops, coordinates, and facilitates implementation of Department-wide policies, procedures, standards, and systems for all procurement; financial assistance; property; facilities and asset management; contractor human resource management; and sponsored strategic programs.
- Acquisition and Financial Assistance Services - Provides acquisition and financial assistance services to Headquarters program and staff offices.
- Emergency Response - Designated Official. Serves as the Secretary’s Designated Official for Headquarters Emergency Response.
- Emergency Planning - Prepares and maintains Occupant Emergency Plans for all Headquarters facilities.
- Real Property Officer - Serves as the Department’s Real Property Officer.
- Senior Procurement Executive - Serves as the Department’s Senior Procurement Executive.
- Aircraft Management - Provides recommendations to the Secretary of Energy for the safe, efficient, and reliable management of aircraft use by DOE. Approves the acquisition and disposal of DOE aviation assets.
- Sustainability Leadership - Provides overall leadership for sustainability in Departmental operations.
- Budget and Administrative Support Services - Provides budget and administrative support services for the Office of the Secretary and other Departmental Elements.
- Document Management - Provides the central repository for all official documents of the Office of the Secretary; provides institutional memory for key Departmental actions and decisions; provides advisory committee management support; manages Freedom of Information Act activities; and manages correspondence addressed to or sent from the Office of the Secretary.
- Directives System - Manages the Departmental directives system, which is DOE’s mechanism for issuing policy requirements to DOE organizations and, in some cases, DOE contractors
- Delegations of Authority - Manages the delegations of authority system.
- Conference Management - Manages the Departmental conference management activities
- Travel Management - Manages official travel and establishes policies and procedures with respect to employees travel and relocation allowances under 5 U.S.C., Chapter 57, and the Federal Travel Regulation.
- Exchange Visitor Program Management - Manages DOE participation in the Department of State’s Exchange Visitor (J-1) Program.
Recent Organization Accomplishments
Research and Technology Investment Committee (RTIC) Working Group
Provided proactive, hands-on leadership to support the RTIC, which is chaired by S2, and manage the RTIC Working Group. Recent accomplishments include launching a multi-program subcommittee to analyze DOE’s approach to Artificial Intelligence resulting in the development of DOE’s AI strategy; establishing a multi-program subcommittee on Critical Materials resulting in a proposed strategy for research, development and deployment of critical materials; conducting a STEM workshop and establishing a multi-program STEM working group to promote collaboration; launching cross- program subcommittees on Integrated Energy Systems, Biotechnology and the Plastics Innovation Challenge to develop strategies for promoting U.S. leadership for these technologies; and initiating the development of definitions for crosscutting technologies to facilitate decision-making on the appropriate level of investment.
Financial Assistance
Strengthened the process for approving financial assistance by developing and deploying the new INVESTOR (Investing in Vital and Emerging Technologies and Objective Research) system to collect and share proposed financial assistance and laboratory calls, including 204 proposals covering 14 crosscutting technologies from 13 programs totaling about $4 billion. The information is reported to DOE senior leaders to encourage transparency and opportunities for collaboration. The information is also being used to promote public awareness of financial assistance opportunities.
COVID Response
Played a central leadership role in developing and implementing DOE’s framework and HQ plan for returning employees to the workplace. Provided leadership in developing and implementing strategies regarding contractors, including policies on weather and safety leave, resulting in the retention of thousands of highly skilled contractor employees. Established a Response Center to monitor the number of COVID infections and to serve as the central point of contact for managers and employees to seek information on any COVID- related matter. Established travel policies and monitored travel for the entire complex, including laboratories, to ensure adherence to those policies. Developed and implemented strategies for ensuring the safe operation of HQ facilities, including development and implementation of safety protocols, provision of hygiene products, and reconfiguration of space to promote social distancing. Launched initiative to determine how lessons learned regarding telework could be applied post-COVID.
Laboratory Operational Improvements
Provided leadership on Laboratory Operations Board initiatives to create efficiencies and promote lab productivity. Highlights include launching a pilot program to use third-party independent auditors to evaluate compensation and benefits at NREL, the results of which will be used to potentially expand the program to all laboratories; developing a policy to enable laboratories to expand dependent care benefits to strengthen employee recruitment and retention; collaborating with CF to issue S1 direction on prioritizing infrastructure projects; and coordinating with programs to improve consistent implementation of corporate work authorizations procedures.
Managing the Departmental Directives
Provided strong leadership in managing the Directives Review Board to ensure proposed requirements are fully vetted. Actions include increasing senior leadership involvement in providing strategic direction; prioritizing directives to focus on necessary requirements changes; improving collaboration in developing complex directives; and consistently applying established directives principles to promote line authority and reduce transactional oversight. In the past year, led the revision of 33 directives and 2 cancellations, including 6 directives implementing S1 reforms to prevent the unauthorized transfer of sensitive science and technologies to hostile nations.
Improving Contract Management
Provided executive leadership to manage DOE- wide contracts with a total award value exceeding $530B, including HQ procurements valued at $23.6B. Provided leadership to strengthen contract management by establishing a new S2-led Energy Acquisition Review Board to assess acquisitions exceeding $750M and an SPE-led review process for acquisitions valued between $500M and $750M with a focus on improving acquisition planning and incentive structures. Other actions include reviewing 300 major contract actions to promote the use of IDIQ and fixed price contracts, which are now being especially championed by EM; completion of five procurement peer reviews to strengthen operations, contract administration, and staffing, including 2 virtual reviews during maximum telework. Provided executive leadership on a comprehensive revision of DOE’s Acquisition Regulation.
Improved Efficiency and Effectiveness through Acquisition Strategies
Championed the use of category management by awarding innovative flexible enterprise-wide contracts to save money and streamline operations, resulting with DOE being on track to exceed its $433M (4% increase) strategic savings goal. Led the Department’s efforts to increase spend-under- management (SUM) and the use of GSA best-in- class (BIC) contracts, resulting in DOE achieving 123.2% of OMB’s SUM goal and close to 60% of OMB’s BIC goal. In addition, far exceeded HQ’s small business goal (57% vs. 40%) for FY 2020.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
In FY 2020, processed 1,170 FOIA requests, most of which were highly complex and involved multiple reviews. Closed the two oldest FOIA cases at the Department. Responded to an unprecedented 17 FOIA cases in litigation, all of which consisted of multiple submissions of thousands of responsive documents and completed 6 in full.
Facilities Improvements
Led the continued improvement of the Forrestal building, including the on-cost completion of more than 600 renovation projects valued at $15.9M (e.g., new state-of-the-art SCIF, new suites for AITO and Boards and Councils). Collaborated with NNSA, IN and IA to develop a comprehensive HQ SCIF construction plan. Completed projects to provide improved services to HQ employees, including kitchenettes and an on-site dry cleaner (Forrestal). Collaborated with S3’s office to lease the real estate needed to open the Arctic Energy Office in Fairbanks, AK.
Technology Improvements
Collaborated with CF to deploy a major upgrade of the STRIPES procurement system, enabling DOE to use bots to streamline processes. Deployed the first acquisition bot that scans databases for information on potential contractors, saving contracting officers at least 2 hours on each award. Automated the Forrestal parking payment system and conference room scheduling system.
Leadership Challenges
Achieving Sustainability Goals
Achievement of sustainability goals competes with funding for mission and other requirements including deferred maintenance.
Aging Infrastructure
Given that much of DOE’s property portfolio reflects an aging infrastructure originating in the 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project, the challenge is to sustain, modernize, and effectively align real property assets with current and future mission requirements. Approximately 25% of the Department’s facilities are either excess or under/ unutilized with over 1,100 of those assets being contaminated. This puts a drain on operations and maintenance funding and has resulted in deferred maintenance increasing to over $8 billion.
Oversight of Contractor Pension and Medical Benefit Plans.
Departmental oversight of facility management contractor pension and medical benefit plans’ increasing costs and liabilities; volatility and unpredictability of defined benefit pension plan assets; and associated complex legal and tax issues create programmatic, acquisition, and financial management challenges for the Department.
FOIA
Revalidate the process to review and approve FOIA releases.
COVID-19 protocols for Headquarters Facilities
Aligning policies with best practice recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, including PPE, social distancing, telework, shiftwork and facility adjustments
Critical Events and Action Items
Develop and publish the statutorily required annual Conference Activities Report (January 2021).
Complete end of year sustainability reporting to Office of Management and Budget/Council on Environmental Quality.
OMB Memo M-20-03, “Implementation of Agency- wide Real Property Capital Planning,” which was issued last November, implements the Federal Property Management Reform Act through the Capital Planning process by connecting capital planning to budget, execution & metrics. The M-20-03 specifies agency-wide reporting to the Federal Real Property Council that addresses each agency’s: mission requirements for real property; CFO and SRPO responsibilities; the annual budget process; major lines of business; needs assessment; alternatives analysis; prioritization process; life cycle cost estimate; performance goals and metrics; and a list of prioritized capital projects. The purpose of the report is to inform agencies’ decision making and assist in prioritizing agency actions, relative to real property. The report is due to OMB by January 8, 2021. [1]
Organizational Chart
Links
Internal
- Department of Energy
- Department of Energy: Transitions 2020-organization overviews table of contents
- Office of Management
External
References
- ↑ DOE. (2021). Transitions 2020: Organizational Overviews. US Department of Energy.