OAO’s leadership roster currently shows four of the top eight positions are vacant.Recent departures of senior executives from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Acquisition Operations have left four of the top positions at the organization vacant.
FedScoop has confirmed reports from sources familiar with VA’s OAO that Executive Director Iris B. Cooper and associate executive director for OAO’s Technology Acquisition Center, Wendy McCutcheon, recently left the agency.Cooper has taken the post of senior procurement executive at the Treasury Department. McCutcheon, sources said, retired abruptly.
Phyllis Bower, the associate executive director of the Strategic Acquisition Center, was appointed acting executive director of OAO in January. Michele R. Foster, the former deputy director of OAO’s Technology Acquisition Center, has taken over for McCutcheon.
FedScoop also confirmed Valerie Veatch, the former senior acquisition technical adviser at OAO, has been removed from the leadership roster within the last six months and her official bio is no longer available on the VA website.
A review of OAO’s leadership roster now shows four of the top eight positions at OAO are vacant. In addition to the executive director slot, the senior acquisition technical adviser, the deputy director of the Technology Acquisition Center, and the director of Acquisition Business Service positions remain vacant.
VA did not respond to FedScoop’s request for comment by press time.
OAO is responsible for management and oversight of VA’s most complex acquisition requirements, including strategic information technology and medical systems. The office is staffed by 500 acquisition professionals in Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; Eatontown, N.J.; Fredericksburg, Va., and Frederick, Md.
