Veterans Affairs names No. 2 in IT office

Ron Thompson, executive director of IT infrastructure and operations for the Department of Health and Human Services, will become the leading adviser to Chief Information Officer LaVerne Council at the Department of Veterans Affairs in January.

Thompson will join VA’s Office of Information and Technology as its new principal deputy assistant secretary, Council announced Thursday in an email to staff obtained by FedScoop.

Thompson’s PDAS position sits directly under Council’s role as CIO and assistant secretary for OI&T, serving as her adviser “for all Department-wide information technology, security and privacy matters including policy/budget formulation, planning, assessment of Department business requirements, acquisition, execution and oversight; internal and external coordination; and development and analysis of department level program data,” according to a VA description of the position.

“The role of PDAS is critical to the IT leadership team,” Council wrote in her email. “As the senior career executive in OI&T, the PDAS provides the day-to-day operational leadership our team needs to accomplish our IT strategic initiatives. Ron’s breadth of hands-on experience in organizational design and transformation will bring new perspectives in partnership and creative problem solving, and his years of service in the United States Army will help him ensure that the Veteran remains the focal point of everything we do.”

A career civil servant, Thompson also spent time in IT roles at the U.S. Census Bureau, the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Financial Management Service, according to his LinkedIn.

Thompson, one of several new high-profile hires since Council took over as CIO in July, will start Jan. 10, 2016.

Reach the reporter on this story at billy.mitchell@fedscoop.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillyMitchell89.