DHS’ Young to take CIO post at Foreign Agricultural Service

Richard Young, the director of IT policy and compliance at the Department of Homeland Security, has accepted a chief information officer position at the Agriculture Department, FedScoop has learned.

Young will start his new position as CIO of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Jan. 26. He will report to FAS Associate Administrator and Chief Operating Officer Bryce Quick.

“It was time for growth and time to take on more responsibility,” Young told FedScoop. “I look forward to working and collaborating with all of the other agencies within the enterprise and utilizing my experiences and knowledge as we work to protect our nation’s agriculture.” When asked what some of the first items on his agenda at FAS might be, Young said “meet my staff, meet my customers, engage with executive leadership and listen.”

Richard Young (FedScoop)

At DHS, Young was responsible for IT policy development and oversight of the department’s $5.6 billion IT portfolio. His mission was to oversee IT investments and resources for compliance with Office of Management and Budget policies, federal laws and DHS’s internal policies and goals.

Among Young’s most notable accomplishments at DHS are his policy development efforts around digital government, enterprise architecture, mobility, portfolio management, IT security and information sharing. Young played a critical role in getting DHS’ CIO Policy 142-02 passed at the department’s enterprise level, giving the agency’s CIO the much-needed authority to oversee and manage all DHS IT systems. That policy also gave the CIO enterprisewide hiring authority for key IT positions.

Young’s other DHS assignments included deputy director of enterprise system application delivery and quality assurance, as well as a stint at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where he managed enterprise data warehousing, automated screening and targeting, cross-domain sharing, and business intelligence.

Prior to DHS, Young served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.

“I have yet to experience a job that is more fulfilling and uplifting then the feeling you get when you save a life,” Young said. “Going out to our southwestern borders to understand some of the issues that our border patrol agents face in CBP. Working countless hours trying to implement technologies that will both protect our borders as well as CBP personnel assigned with such a tremendous task and set of responsibilities. It has been a very interesting and exciting career with DHS.”