News for the Acquisition Workforce

Acquisition workforce members from across the federal government are making amazing contributions to the acquisition community every day, and FAI wants you to know about them! Check out this quarter’s spotlight featuring William Milline, a contracting officer from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Go to FAI.gov to learn more about William and his work!

The Leadership Excellence for Acquisition Professionals (LEAP) program prepares GS-12 to GS-14 federal employees in acquisitions to become better leaders by focusing on the four core tenets of the Public Service Leadership Model: self-awareness, engaging others, leading change, and achieving results. By the end of the course, participants will be able to make value-based decisions, use their roles to build strong partnerships, identify how to drive positive impact within their organizations, and demonstrate enhanced leadership attributes. Participants will form teams of four to seven to provide and receive peer coaching and feedback on workplace issues throughout the program. Through the program, participants should spend three to five hours per week with this group in addition to session time. If you're interested, apply by Feb. 23, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. E.T.

The Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovations (PTAI) will transition from FAI.gov to the Acquisition Gateway effective January 2024. The PTAI is the knowledge management portal for information about innovative techniques and automations that have resulted in streamlined acquisitions and savings. Good news: users will continue to find innovative practices and sample documents in the PTAI that support the full acquisition lifecycle.

Writing good requirements is difficult. Working to write good requirements for a performance-based acquisition can be even more challenging. Join GSA's Office of Professional Services and Human Capital Categories Civilian Services Acquisition (CSAW) program for their next CSAW Webinar Series: The ARC Method on Dec. 13, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. E.T. This webinar will help participants understand some of the key changes they can make to result in better requirements and, thus, better outcomes. Learn how to write better requirements in a precise, concise, and plain language method called Action, Result, Context (ARC). In this webinar, you will work through several real requirements and how to transform them into stronger performance requirement statements. Register today and earn one CLP!

SMS authentication is a great option. You can easily access your FAI CSOD account if your email address changes, or quickly reset your password if you forget it. It gives you convenient access to your verification code via phone. Follow the steps below to configure SMS authentication:

1. Visit and login to https://id.dau.edu/.
2. Open the drop-down menu below your name in the upper right-hand corner and click Settings.
3. Scroll down and view the box that says, Extra Verification.
4. Click Set Up next to SMS Authentication and follow the instructions provided.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provides the regulatory foundation for buying products and services on behalf of the federal government. FAR 8.4 provides ordering procedures for GSA schedules, and FAR 15 addresses contracting by negotiation. Which method should you use? What are the advantages of each method? What are the restrictions? Join GSA this month for an insightful overview comparing GSA schedules and FAR 15. Register and earn one CLP!

FLD 246 - Managing Contracting Organization (Jan. 8–Jan. 12)

FQN 475 - Advanced Simplified Acquisition Procedures (five-day) (Jan. 8–Jan. 12)

FQN 200 - Administration of Cost-Reimbursement Contracts (Jan. 8–Jan. 12)

FQN 070 - Cost and Price Analysis (Jan. 8–Jan. 12)

FQN 432 - Information Technology Acquisition (three-day) (Jan. 16–Jan. 18)