March 3, 2022

New FAI Management System Advisory Board (MSAB) Kicks Off!

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and FAI are pleased to announce the launch of a new FAI Acquisition Workforce Management System Advisory Board (MSAB)! The appointed MSAB members are: Amira Reiss (DHS), Bea Dukes (GSA), Jennifer Johnson (DOT), Joy Garnett (Treasury), Jonathan Higgins (VA), Lisa Bravo (DOJ), and Robyn Wiley (Small Agency Council).

The MSAB provides government-wide perspectives and advisory support to FAI and OFPP for improving the quality and effectiveness of FAI CSOD, FAI acquisition workforce (AWF) information technology, and more. MSAB members reflect the desired mix of acquisition functional area experience and expertise, and have demonstrated a commitment to government-wide solutions. The MSAB kicked-off in February 2022, and its members are eager to begin identifying opportunities to improve the technology infrastructure that supports the federal acquisition workforce!

FAC-C Certification Courses are NOT Retiring

Some Acquisition Workforce Members may have received an email from DAU stating that CON 100, CON 121, CON 124, CON 127 and/or CON 200 were marked for retirement. While these courses are being retired for the DoD workforce, Federal civilian workforce members will still be able to access these FAC-C certification courses indefinitely. The emails were not intended for the Federal civilian workforce, and they can be disregarded.

Plan Ahead - Changes to Government Identifier on April 4

Starting Monday, April 4, the new Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov will be the official, government-wide identifier used for federal awards. Expect intermittent system downtime across the entire IAE portfolio (SAM.gov, FPDS.gov, eSRS.gov, FSRS.gov, FAPIIS.gov, and CPARS.gov) as GSA deploys the front-end and back-end changes to remove the DUNS Number and changes service providers for entity validation. GSA will publish specific maintenance windows closer to the cutover date. They recommend federal awarding officials avoid planning key award lifecycle activities from March 31 to April 5 to allow time for the system changes and for agency systems to confirm connectivity following the cutover.

Leadership Excellence for Acquisition Professionals Program (LEAP) Spring 2022

The Partnership for Public Service is currently accepting applications for the Leadership Excellence for Acquisition Professionals Program (LEAP) now under the Mission Support Leadership Program for GS12 through GS14. Application deadline is April 22. Find more information about LEAP on their website.

Updated Courses Now Available

Two new updated courses are now available! Check out FAC 069 Price Analysis and FAC 091 Small Business Strategies for Multiple-Award Contracts in FAI CSOD today!

Sign Up for March’s Webinar in the FAST Monthly Conference Series

GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service Training (FAST) 2022 Monthly Conference series continues with “Securing Next-Generation Hybrid Work Environments” on March 16 at 1 p.m. ET. Learn how to easily acquire affordable technology solutions while complying with federal security regulations. Register today and check out the full lineup of the FAST Monthly Conference series.

Professional Services Office Hours

Join GSA on March 10 from 1-2 p.m. ET to learn more about how to find service providers or suppliers for your next requirement. Let GSA’s Market Research As a Service (MRAS) team assist your agency in finding GSA contract holders capable of meeting your procurement needs. This training will provide you with a better understanding of how to leverage GSA’s MRAS program for more effective market research. By leveraging prior research and analytics and the in-depth knowledge of our market research specialists, GSA’s MRAS team will help you identify suppliers, summarize their capabilities and socio-economics, and provide a comprehensive market plan, all at no cost! Register today!

Treasury Department Looking for Procurement Analyst

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has a distinguished history dating back to the founding of our nation. You may have heard of the first Secretary of the Treasury: Alexander Hamilton! As the steward of U.S. economic and financial systems, Treasury is a major and influential leader in today's global economy. Treasury employees strive to maintain integrity and uphold the public trust; explore better ways of conducting business through innovation; seek diversity of thought and expertise to inform decisions; embrace and adapt to change; and work hard to accomplish meaningful results for the American public. If you want a challenging job in a great agency working with a great team, consider applying for the GS-14 Procurement Analyst job within the Office of the Senior Procurement Executive at the Department of Treasury!

Acquisition Today is published the first and third Wednesday of each month. If you have information that you would like to share with the federal acquisition workforce community via Acquisition Today, you may submit your article for consideration by completing this form. If you have feedback that you would like to share with FAI, please email us at contact@fai.gov.

Any reference to, or information discussing, a specific commercial training organization, or its products, processes, or services within this Acquisition Today newsletter does not constitute or imply an endorsement by FAI, GSA, or the United States Government of the commercial training organization, or its products, processes, services, producers, or providers. The views and opinions expressed in any referenced document, website, linked information, or any other information, contained in the newsletter regarding a commercial training organization do not necessarily state or reflect those of FAI, GSA, or the United States Government. All references to commercial training organizations are for information purposes only. Neither the FAI, GSA, or the United States Government, nor any of their employees, assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information from a commercial training organization's referenced information, linked information, services, products, producers, or providers.