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July 23, 2019 By AMK

GSA wants contractor to fill tech transformation roles

The General Services Administration is looking for contractors to help fill positions in the agency’s Technology Transformation Service, the group that works across the government to upgrade aging government technology.

GSA issued a request for information last week seeking a contractor to fill positions it’s having trouble filling. Hiring security engineers, applications engineers and customer experience specialists, among others, has eluded the agency, according to the RFI.

The solicitation also seeks industry comments on GSA’s own recruitment process.

GSA said it would provide all information on the positions it needs to fill after a contract is awarded, it just needs a contractor to help fill the positions. The agency noted in the request that the Talent Team is in “immediate need” for six fulltime technology positions. The needed positions would provide technical support for clients, site reliability and DevOps practices.

The contractor would only be required to search and present candidates to GSA, not on-board or manage security requirements, the request says.

Keep reading article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/gsa-wants-contractor-fill-tech-transformation-roles/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: GSA, recruitment, tech talent, Technology Transformation Service

July 10, 2019 By AMK

Defense Digital Service awards ‘Civilian Hiring as a Service’ contract

The Defense Digital Service Tuesday awarded a contract worth up to $7 million to five companies to participate in a pilot program designed to revamp the way the Pentagon recruits top technical talent.

The Civilian Hiring as a Service Pilot, or CHaaS, was borne out of a necessity for the Pentagon to attract cutting-edge talent in cybersecurity, user experience design, product management and computer science to compete with foreign adversaries.

Today’s federal hiring system—anchored by the USAJobs.gov portal—is too passive and “isn’t meeting the growing need for talented technical people,” according to a statement from DDS. Tech recruiting problems are exacerbated by lengthy hiring times—the Office of Personnel Management lists the average hiring time at 105 days—lower public sector pay rates for techies and an aging federal tech workforce.

“The government doesn’t utilize common private sector practices, and government hiring often creates hurdles, poor candidate experience, and lengthy timelines which can deter talented technical people,” DDS officials said in a statement. “Now we are working to help the DOD rethink how it approaches cyber hiring and pilot a new way to recruit tech talent and fill critical positions. If we are going to bring in the best talent, it must become far easier for these people to join.”

Keep reading article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/05/defense-digital-service-awards-civilian-hiring-service-contract/157206/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: CHaaS, Civilian hiring as a Service Pilot, cybersecurity, Defense Digital Service, Pentagon, recruitment, recruitment firms, tech talent

October 15, 2010 By AMK

Defense must ramp up recruitment of IT acquisition workforce, consultant says

The Defense Department should create an incentive program to lure information technology acquisition professionals from industry and establish a defined career path for them, according to an internal briefing on necessary improvements to the Defense IT acquisition workforce.

The briefing by Thomas Hickok, a consultant to the Defense Chief Information Officer, said the Pentagon also should establish critical positions in all IT disciplines throughout the military departments and agencies and target superior program and project managers for recruitment. He also suggested Defense creates an exchange program with industry for IT professionals.

The department budgeted $68.9 billion for IT spending in 2010, but the Defense Science Board noted in a March 2009 report that “IT expertise is scarce and the competition for talent is increasing.” That report also stated the Pentagon and the military services need IT acquisition staff with extensive experience in large-scale, embedded and commercial IT.

In addition, the House Armed Services Committee called for a beefed up and more skilled IT workforce in its March report on Defense acquisition reform and said the Pentagon should “develop a plan for how to strengthen the IT acquisition workforce as it increases the size of the overall acquisition workforce in the coming years.”

The 2010 Defense Authorization Act in a section on IT acquisition called on the Pentagon to develop an acquisition process for IT systems based on the Defense Science Board report and directed the process be outlined in a report due this past July. That report has not been submitted yet, but the Hickok briefing is a draft of the language Defense plans to present in its report to Congress. The Pentagon did not respond to queries on the status of the report and plans for the IT acquisition workforce.

Trey Hodgkins, vice president for national security and procurement policy for the IT industry association TechAmerica, said Defense definitely needs to boost the skills of its IT acquisition workforce, which lacks comprehensive understanding of commercial IT trends and technology.

To recruit highly skilled IT acquisition professionals, Defense should provide incentives such as bonuses and entry into the workforce at a high grade, he said. Beyond that, Hodgkins said Defense should design a clear career path for these professionals — something the Pentagon currently lacks, which diminishes its ability to recruit the people needed to manage the IT systems key to the operation of networked forces.

Hodgkins endorsed the idea of an exchange program between industry and the Pentagon, suggesting that it start at the National Defense University and the Defense Acquisition University.

The Pentagon and Congress also need to dust off and ramp up the formal Information Technology Exchange Program, Hodgkins said. Only one person, John Moore, director of global strategic development, global security solutions at Lockheed Martin Corp., went through that program before authorizing legislation expired in 2008.

— by Bob Brewin – 10/15/2010 – NextGov.com

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition workforce, DoD, recruitment

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