Office of Policy and Strategic Planning (2020 Presidential transition)

Book 3 - Organization Overview
Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020

NNSA’s Office of Policy and Strategic Planning (NA- 1.1) supports NNSA leadership on policy, strategic planning, and governance and management activities and initiatives, helping NNSA to be proactive, flexible, and resilient, as the Agency meets its mission objectives in an evolving, and often uncertain, strategic climate. NA 1.1 is organized around three sets of inter-related, activities:

Management of NNSA directives that guide policy implementation throughout the enterprise, ensuring that policy priorities for the enterprise are understood and adhered to universally.
Development of enterprise-wide strategic planning documents, which help to define strategic objectives and mission priorities, as well as activities looking at evolving strategic and crosscutting risks and opportunities that may impact NNSA in the long term.
Leadership of governance and management initiatives that provide a common blueprint for how NNSA effectively achieves its mission, with an emphasis on risk management, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and the recruitment and retention of a world-class workforce.

Through these efforts, the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning plays an essential role in ensuring that best practices are shared widely and communicated consistently throughout the enterprise.

Mission Statement

The Office of Policy and Strategic Planning (NA-1.1) serves as a central resource to the Under Secretary of Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator, as well as NNSA senior leadership, on strategic planning, governance and management, and crosscutting policy issues. NA-1.1 oversees NNSA’s enterprise- wide strategic planning processes and supports the development and integration of long-term strategic priorities for the enterprise. It leads the annual laboratory, plant, and site strategic planning process; the planning stage of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Evaluation (PPBE) process; and other integrated NNSA strategic planning efforts. NA-1.1 also spearheads NNSA’s governance and, working in collaboration with NNSA program, functional, and field offices as well as NNSA’s management and operating (M&O) partners. The Office acts as the lead integrator on crosscutting policy issues to facilitate the development of enterprise-wide solutions and strategies to advance NNSA positions and priorities. NA-1.1 also provides strategic oversight and management of the NNSA process for developing and codifying internal directives and establishing NNSA’s official position on DOE directives

Budget

NA-1.1 has no program funding.

Human Resources

FY 2021 Allocated Staffing Level: 11 FTEs

History

NA-1.1 was reconstituted in 2015 to serve as an internal “Think Tank” unencumbered by the crisis of the day or requirements to produce detailed reports or implementation plans. As envisioned, the Director for the Office would have direct access to the Administrator and the Principal Deputy Administrator and act in an advisory capacity for developing policies and strategies for solving difficult NNSA challenges and the plans for communicating these policies and strategies across the NSE.

Functions

NA-1.1 brings its expertise to bear on several areas that directly support the NNSA Administrator. For example, the Office generates high-level policies, strategies, technical advice, information products, and creative solutions to complex problems on behalf of the Administrator. It facilitates decision- making by providing timely expert advice and analysis of policy and program options to NNSA leadership on the full breadth of issues that may arise across the dynamic nuclear security enterprise. NA-1.1 is well positioned to lead cross- organizational teams in the integrated analysis and resolution of complex, crosscutting, enterprise- wide, or department-wide issues.

Effective July 6, 2020, the NNSA directives team has moved under NA-1.1. This realignment enables a more strategic approach to the development of NNSA internal policy and directives, helping to guide consensus on NNSA and DOE policies with crosscutting impacts.

The Office has three focus areas: Policy, Strategic Planning, and Governance and Management.

Policy

Internal

Manage the process for developing and codifying internal NNSA directives. Manage the process for establishing NNSA’s official position on DOE directives

External

Facilitate the development of “one NNSA” position, strategies, and next steps, as appropriate, on crosscutting policy issues.

Strategic Planning

Oversee enterprise-wide strategic planning processes and support the development and integration of long-term strategic priorities for enterprise.

Lead the annual laboratory, plant, and site strategic planning process, the planning stage of the PPBE process, and other enterprise-wide strategic planning efforts.

Governance and Management

Work with NNSA program, functional, and field offices and M&O partners to identify challenges to NNSA’s governance and management, develop solutions, track and measure progress, and communicate results.

Recent Organization Accomplishments

Through an enterprise-wide collaborative effort led by NA-1.1, in May 2019, the Administrator issued three strategic documents that set expectations across the NSE for what NNSA does and how it is done:

The NNSA Strategic Vision identifies our values, principles, mission priorities, and goals.

The Governance & Management (G&M) Framework focuses on the NNSA team approach to mission integration and strategic planning and establishes roles and responsibilities across the enterprise. The G&M Framework describes four key governance expectations that sustain constant focus and alignment on NNSA’s vital mission.

The Strategic Integrated Roadmap projects NNSA’s key programs of record out 25 years and informs the process of prioritizing programs and priorities. This strategic document is updated annually.

Policy

Internal

Updated Supplemental Directive 251.1, Directives Management, to reflect the realignment of the NNSA Directives Team under NA-1.1.

Launched the NNSA Directives Website, enabling all NNSA organizations, no matter their location, to access every current and archived NNSA directive for the first time.

Replaced NNSA’s email-based directives coordination process with an automated, web- based review and comment tool, reducing work across the Enterprise.

Collected NNSA’s delegation and designation memoranda and made them available to the entire enterprise on the Directives Website.

Replaced NNSA’s unstructured directives numbering system with the DOE numbering system, enabling NNSA organizations to quickly and easily find DOE and NNSA directives on the same or related topics.

External

Established a cross-cutting Policy Touchpoint with NNSA program offices to provide better transparency on National Security Council (NSC) and interagency-led topics and international activities with crosscutting equities.

Served as the NNSA coordinator for a recent Administration review of all NNSA laboratories, plants, and sites that may hold chemicals or precursor materials that would be reportable under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Provided a comprehensive review of the Administration’s Nuclear Fuels Working Group study.

Strategic Planning

Stood up the Strategic Outlook Initiative to develop annual over-the-horizon studies that support NNSA’s efforts to become a more agile, responsive, and proactive enterprise.

Designated as the lead for the planning phase under the PPBE process and drafted the FYNSP Planning Guidance for the FY 2022-2026 fiscal year nuclear security program.

Improved the way NNSA conducts the annual site-level strategic planning cycle to maximize participation, support transparency, and improve mission integration

Governance and Management

Served as lead organization for engagement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAS/NAPA) on their four-year implementation assessment panel on NNSA G&M reform. The final report was issued in September 2020

Hosted a virtual G&M Town Hall for the NSE workforce to launch the NNSA strategic documents and engage in a continuing, open, and collaborative dialogue across the NSE on the topic of governance and management

Conducted a series of focus groups with both federal and M&O partners at locations across the enterprise. These focus groups gathered information and generated ideas supporting
NNSA’s strategic effort to improve governance and management across the NSE.

Launched a series of G&M newsletters to provide enterprise-wide communication on governance topics.

Developed an enterprise-wide action plan that addresses the steps necessary to drive, track, and sustain culture change across the NSE, including metrics to measure success.

Built a comprehensive Online Resource Library that will include reports that have impacted NNSA and predecessor organizations over the past 40 years and will be easily accessible to both the DOE and NNSA workforce through SharePoint.