Bob Blake

Experience

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  USAF

  Apr 1980 - Mar 1988

  SSGT

  Computer, Communications, and Crypto Maintenance Supervisor. Responsible for Top Secret operation and support of critical communications facilities for the US Air Force at bases in Mississippi, Japan, and North Carolina.In my final position with the USAF I was responsible for the supervision of the base IT Quality Control program. Awarded the Air Force Professional Performer award for turning around a lackluster QC program into a model program with a procedure book that was copied and provided to other Air Force organizations for implementation. Show less

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  GE Aerospace

  Jan 1989 - Jan 1993

  Computer Systems Engineer

  Responsible for the organization and daily operation of the Design and Engineering Support section, including system integration and software and hardware compatibility. Systems used included IBM 30xx mainframes, PCs including standalone, mainframe attached, Novell LAN attached, and Sun SPARCstations. Implemented a project management system that tracked all tasks from conception through design and installation. Coordinated the reorganization and integration of three separate work groups into one team that was better organized produced a 300% increase in workload production. Show less

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  Base Technologies

  Mar 1994 - Aug 1997

  Director of Networking

  As division director, was responsible for all corporate IT and Systems Engineering projects including: - Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Flight Standards - Responsible for the operation, engineering, and maintenance of the Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Standards Headquarters office information system. The project included the engineering, configuration management, integration and maintenance of a multiple server NetWare and NT LAN/WAN environment and Office Automation support, to meet the current and projected requirements of the FAA. Senior member of the Flight Standards Configuration Management Team which was responsible for the testing, upgrade and integration of over 5000 users at over 120 sites- Defense Nuclear Agency - Belarus Project. Responsible for the design, procurement, and integration of 23 NetWare Servers and 150 PCs and peripherals in a routed LAN/WAN environment for the Customs Department of the Republic of Belarus. Responsible for the engineering, integration and manufacture of the PCs and Servers and Oracle. Traveled to Belarus for the installation at the Belarus government sites and provided user training and orientation. Received a letter of appreciation from the Director of Customs - Republic of Belarus. Show less

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  BTG

  Jan 1997 - Jan 1999

  Project Manager

  Responsible for management and direction of all Federal Aviation Administration IT projects in the Washington, DC area. Managed multiple task order projects, supervising in excess of 25 employees. Responsible for account P&L. The projects included customized application and database development, user training, Web application development, LAN/WAN engineering, help desk support, and Mainframe support and ensured all applications fit within enterprise architecture.

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  IMSI

  Mar 1999 - Mar 2002

  Director - Systems Engineering

  Managed and personally led all projects relating to information technology development, support, and engineering. Managed the systems engineering division, including IDIQ contracts with the Department of Transportation and multiple task order driven contracts with the Department of Labor, the Small Business Administration, and the Executive Office of the President. Actively managed the Executive Office of the President contract with several projects including the President's Event Planning System (PEPS), Vice President's Event Planning System, Visitor's Office Tour Management System, and Parcel Tracking System. Interfaced directly with the customer on a daily basis gathering and updating functional requirements and ensuring that all customer requirements were met. Additionally, served as the CTO controlling all corporate telecommunications and computer resources, planning, and operations. Responsible for controlling corporate facility construction and allocation. Show less

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  Executive Office of the President (White House)

  Aug 1999 - May 2006

  Senior IT Project Manager

  As IT Project Manager and COTS Integration group lead, I managed the day to day activities of federal and contractor employees in supporting and implementing and supporting various projects and developments in support of the White House and the Executive Office of the President. Designed and implemented a centralized project management system to control task assignments and control providing positive results in successful project implementation. Completed a bottom-up review and modification of the PC baseline image configuration management system, which is used to control all PCs on the EOP network.Advised Executive Office of the President staff, Senior Office of Administration management, program managers, and team leaders on the formulation and interpretation of system requirements, system design and capabilities, and system development. Identify applicable government guidance, methodologies and standards and describe their impact on the EOP. Manage multiple IT projects and develop project plans from conception through completion. Coordinate system engineering activities with other EOP agencies. Established systems engineering techniques for effective creation and monitoring of the various technical activities within the EOP environment, documented using Systems Development Life Cycle methodology. Worked with the Information Assurance Directorate staff to ensure that all systems and applications complete Certification and Accreditation requirements. Made contributions to the smooth operation of the EOP in a manner that emphasizes customer focus and continuous improvement. Maintain positive relationships with customers and provide service which meets or exceeds customer expectations. Identify and demonstrate knowledge of internal and external customer needs, requirements and expectations. Continually look for opportunities to improve customer service. Create and maintain system development lifecycle documentation for each project. Show less

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  FBI

  May 2006 - Nov 2017

  As Chief of Staff - IT Engineering Division at the FBI, I am part of the executive management team with responsibilities for division budget management, staffing management, and recruiting. I also perform liaison with our foreign partners.To improve personnel tracking, I developed a tool that tracks all vacancies, the candidate status, and their hiring manager. This has allowed the division to reduce the unfilled vacancies by 50% in less than 6 months.For a period of 20 months, I was assigned additional duties as the Sentinel Transition Manager. When the Sentinel case management program was taken in house from the former contractor managed environment, I was responsible to transition federal employees as well as contractor employees for the 56 positions in one week. I was also responsible for working with the FBI Facilities Division to secure office space, a conference room, and work space for the staff. I also created the development and deployment strategy for the application, which was named as the most important software application for the FBI by the Director.In development of the Sentinel case management program at the FBI, we implemented an Agile development methodology, with customer reviews of the development progress taking place every two weeks. This methodology accomplished several purposes, it allowed the customer and stakeholders to review the system and it also allowed them to make minor changes to the requirements, with minimal impact to cost and schedule. The ultimate result was a successful launch of the application supporting all 40,000+ FBI employees in 3 years and $350M less than an independent auditor said that it would take to complete, and fulfilling all systems requirements specifications. For the work performed in support of the Sentinel project, I was recognized with the FBI Director's Award for Outstanding Information Management in 2012 and the Attorney General's Award for Outstanding Information Technology in 2013. Show less Selected by the FBI Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) to act as his Deputy Chief Knowledge Officer (DCKO) to manage the execution of the program and supervise the staff comprised of 15 government and contractor personnel.Working under the guidance of the CKO, I supervised the efforts of five team leads that are responsible for leading various mission related activities. On a daily basis, I provide supervision and direction to the five teams in the implementation and execution of the OCKO approved performance plan.In a short period of time, I implemented a number of performance related improvements to ensure the success in the implementation of the OCKO 2010 program, including: A) Development of an on-line tasking system to track all assignments. B) Top to bottom personnel records review, determining that several staff members were missing performance plans, reviews, and scheduled salary reviews. Managed the completion of all outstanding documents bringing the office up to date. C) Implemented a team lead stand up meeting to ensure that all of the teams were working towards the same goal and had insight into what the other teams were working on. D) Implemented a training plan system so each staff member identifies desired training for the fiscal year, which once approved by the CKO, is tracked for budget and supervisory oversight. E) Implemented a Program Management Review to monthly review progress made on the approved team work breakdown structure (WBS) as well as training and budget actions. To advance the skills and validity of the Enterprise Knowledge Management program for the FBI, I allocated funds to allow for Knowledge Management certification for the majority of the OCKO staff this fiscal year. Show less Responsible for the day-to-day operations of the division that manages the FBI Enterprise Architecture, IT Investment Management, Portfolio Management, IT Policies and Procedures, and Strategic Planning. I am responsible to the AD for ensuring the annual division plan deliverables are complete, delivered on schedule and within budget constraints. Responsible for the supervision and tasking for four Unit Chiefs, the Chief of Staff, and Front Office staff. As the ADAD, I am responsible for planning and tracking of the division annual budget; Staffing management and forecasting; procurement approval authority for all IT resources for the FBI; Develop annual performance plan goals and objectives for the division; Review and approve all documents and deliverables prior to review by the Assistant Director; and coordinate office space requirements with the FBI Facilities Division. Responsible for liaison with external organizations, including NGA, CIA, and the IC. Show less

  • Chief of Staff / Special Assistant to the Assistant Director

    Jul 2010 - Nov 2017

  • Deputy Chief Knowledge Officer (Acting)

    Jan 2010 - Jul 2010

  • Deputy Assistant Director (Acting)

    May 2006 - Jan 2010
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  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

  Nov 2017 - Jan 2022

  Provide information technology advice and best practices information to the Deputy Director and Director's staff to improve operations and data use. Develop IT tools including data bases and SharePoints sites supporting the operation of the various offices.

  • Program Manager

    Sept 2018 - Jan 2022

  • Special Assistant to the Deputy Director of the FBI

    Nov 2017 - Sept 2018
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  Retired

  Jan 2022 - now

  Full-Time RV Pilot