By Elizabeth Newell enewell@govexec.com
December 22, 2008
While it will be up to President-elect Barack Obama to fill a congressionally mandated deputy chief management officer position at the Defense Department, the Pentagon already is making preparations for the new official's arrival.
The nomination and Senate confirmation of a management chief is statutorily required in both the 2008 and 2009 Defense authorization bills. But creating a new office to consolidate business leadership across the massive agency does not happen overnight, so the Office of the Secretary of Defense is getting a jump-start on the process.
Beth McGrath, principal deputy undersecretary at Defense's Business Transformation Agency, was appointed assistant deputy chief management officer in October and has begun coordinating business management across offices and military departments. Defense Deputy Secretary Gordon England, who also holds the chief management officer title, has developed a charter, timelines, and scope and responsibility papers for the incoming nominee.
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