Jim Blades

Experience

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  Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)

  Jan 1982 - Oct 1992

  Contract Specialist

  Sr. Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer 02/1988 to 10/1992 Acquisition support for the ACAT 1 Navy T-45 Aircraft & Training System Program. Negotiated significant savings while establishing a fair and reasonable per/unit baseline for the first production run of this new aircraft, i.e., the $735M proposed was settled at $630M. Negotiated key Special Provisions.Contract Specialist 01/1982 to 02/1988 Acquisition support for Navy warfighter programs EA-6B Prowler Aircraft, P-3 Orion Aircraft, VH-3D Executive Helicopter, AQM-37C Missile Targets, TDU-34 Tow Targets, RMK-31 Tow Reels, Tactical Aircraft Combat Training Systems. Show less

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  Federal Aviation Administration

  Oct 1992 - Nov 2007

  Division Manager, Contract Services Division 04/2006 to 11/2007Led four branches (Executive/Managerial Support Branch, Facilities/Technology Support,Engineering/Technical Support, and Enterprise Solutions Support). • Managed successfully high volume of contract actions (2700 with $900M annual spend) from over 100 customer organizations with expectations for quick turnaround times.• Provided executive level management to 4 GS-15 branch managers and roughly 40 contract specialists/officers. • Ensured consistent practices, procedures and communications followed across all divisions; accomplished planning, solicitation, evaluation, negotiation, award, and administration of all contracts, including performance-based solicitation for Air Traffic Controller Optimum Training Solution with base contract value of $440M.• Delivered award-winning presentation on performance-based services to 350 senior FAA managers at a Leadership Summit and 150 contracting professionals at Annual Procurement Conference.• Initiated formal 1102 development program for agency’s contracting workforce.• Successfully managed a workload crisis caused by an FAA Center without impact to customer needs and timelines. Show less Branch Manager, Executive and Managerial Support Services 08/2003 to 04/2006Addressed deficiencies and poor customer satisfaction; managed annual spend of $350M; analyzed lead and turnaround times; met with customers to gain perspective; developed an awareness briefing on the contracting processes; and conducted a communication and awareness tour of all 45 customer organizations. Turn-around times improved despite continued high volume; staff met small business goals and protests were minimal; engineered and conducted the first ever notable no cost, share-in-savings strategic sourcing initiative in five product lines with savings exceeding $10M in the first year.Branch Manager, Contract Support Systems 08/2000 to 08/2003Oversaw procurement(s) supporting agency's multi-million dollar information technology portfolio. Managed 9-member staff handling $64M annual spend. Managed several enterprise-wide initiatives. Specifically, eliminated 5-year contract close-out backlog; reduced agency's $1.2M annual interest penalty expense to $225K within the first 2 months with policy changes and a tracking tool; created database to track agency's contract actions during transitioned from manual to automated procurement system which eliminated need for double entry; stood up Quality Review Board with charter; managed 3-person team negotiating hundreds of transactions for airport security screening effort with airlines post 9/11 on behalf of FAA, before the TSA was stood up. Special Assistant to the Director of Contracts 01/2000 to 08/2000Managed enterprise-wide initiative to address Inspector General (IG) finding concerning lapses in control around background investigations and suitability of 28,000 thousand employees performing under hundreds of contract with FAA. Devised and executed a plan of corrective action achieving 80% compliance within 4 months and 100% compliance within 6 months. Provisions, clauses, forms, and reports in use today. Show less

  • Division Director, Contracts

    Jun 2006 - Nov 2007

  • Special Assistant to Director/Branch Manager, Contracts

    Jan 2000 - Jun 2006

  • Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer

    Oct 1992 - Dec 1999
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  Millennium Challenge Corporation

  Nov 2007 - Dec 2017

  Vice President (Acting), Administration and Finance April 2016 – October 2016Deputy Vice President, Contracts and Administration June 2015 to April 2016Responsible for leading contracts and grants management (CGM), domestic and international security, and various administrative services. Serve as Agency Chief Acquisition Official.• Serve as executive sponsor of the CEO and VP/CFO’s #1 priority – relocating staff to a new workplace in December 2015. Project delivered on schedule and under budget (<2%), with successful change management delivering more collaborative space. Saved the Agency $38M over 10 years. Reduced the footprint by 25%. No valid protests during competition.• Success on the lease project elevated MCC’s A&F Department as a strategic partner within the agency. Success on Lease/Move project earned the team the Annual 2014 Cost Saving Award and 2015 CEO's Excellence Award. • Obtained 80% employee viewpoint move-related satisfaction rating in 2015 federal EVS.• Overcame challenge of GSA relocation of tenants out of MCC’s newly leased space, avoiding extensive GSA related delays and related cost impacts to MCC to the tune of $2.5M dollars. • Project involved developing requirements, design/construction, sustainability, property disposal, change management/ communication strategies,turnover of old space to landlords, moving, and relocation of 420 staff members. • Created policies around flexible work schedules and space management to help manage the 25% reduced “footprint” of leased space more efficiently and effectively.• Bench-marked with other small agencies on how best to organize and stand up two new divisions, Domestic and International Security and Administrative Services; this was completed.• With proper position descriptions; recruited and hired talented managers to lead 2 divisions • Managed the security division for 5 months Show less A strategic partner and member of the senior staff for the Administration and Finance Department,• Responsible for awarding contracts, assistance agreements, inter- agency agreements, and real-estate transactions; managing the charge card program, and managing MCC acquisition workforce development, including contracting, contracting officer technical representative, and program management training and certification. • Led CGM to achieving the highest employee viewpoint survey - global satisfaction rating for the agency 3 years out of 5, with 2015 being 78% (agency at 52% and government at 59%); increased customer satisfaction 2 years in a row, by roughly 16% in all elements measured.• Planned, solicited, evaluated, negotiated, and awarded the single real property lease for MCC, achieving 38% savings from the earlier lease(s), by both reducing the footprint (25%) and negotiating lower rates over a 10 year term. • Matured the agency's corporate procurement/contracting operation, focusing on organizational alignment and leadership, policies and processes, human capital, and knowledge and information management, e.g., automation, metrics, talent acquisition and management.• Met or exceeded the CGM division goals in support of corporate goals each of the 5 years.• Successfully managed the timely and quality award of roughly 700-1100 contract action(s) per year, worth an estimated $95 M to $145 M annually; demonstrated negotiated cost savings of roughly $9 M to $15 M annually over five years and did so while exceeding socioeconomic goals for eligible dollars by 10-30 %. • Performed as a key member of the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Intake Team for 3 years, • From April 2013 –March 2014, served in a dual role as Acting DVP for one year and reported directly to the VP/CFO, managing human resources (HR), security and office services, finance, and information technology, while successfully managing contracts and grants management. Show less

  • Senior Advisor, Personal Services Contractor

    Oct 2016 - Dec 2017

  • Acting Vice President/Deputy Vice President, Contracts and Administration

    Jun 2015 - Oct 2016

  • Managing Director, Senior Procurement Executive

    Oct 2010 - Jun 2015

  • Deputy Managing Director, Contracts & Grants Management

    Nov 2007 - Sept 2010
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  Small Agency Council (SAC)

  Jun 2012 - Oct 2016

  SAC Executive Committee Member/Procurement Committee Chairperson

  Sep 2015 - present - member of the Small Agency Council Executive Committee which is comprised of principal management officials from all functional areas in small agencies with diversified missions.June 2012-Sep 2015 - represented 90+ small agencies on the small agency council as Procurement Committee Chair, in support of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP).

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  Jefferson Consulting Group

  Jan 2018 - now

  Vice President

  Will use 40+ years of experience in federal contracting and government administrative and financial functions to help Jefferson clients meet their goals and objectives. Will assist with strategy on efficiencies and effective change, research, and recommendations for implementing and monitoring enterprise-wide best practices in client organizations towards achieving positive outcomes and measurable results.