Departed GSA Executive Returns to Run Technology Service on Temporary Detail

Just weeks after leaving the General Services Administration, the former director of the Centers of Excellence program is returning to the agency to serve as the temporary director of the Technology Transformation Service.

Bob DeLuca, who served as the CoE executive director for two and a half years, announced his departure from GSA last month, taking on a new role as deputy chief information officer at FDIC. His last day at GSA was June 19.

But one week into the job at FDIC, DeLuca was called back to GSA and TTS to fill the vacancy left by former TTS Director Anil Cheriyan, who announced his retirement from public service last month, as well.

“The good news we’ve got is that Bob DeLuca … has agreed to come back on detail until they fill the job permanently,” GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said Sunday during an interview on Government Matters. “He’s going to come back as the acting TTS director and the deputy [Federal Acquisition Service] commissioner.”

Per Murphy, through an agreement between the two agencies, DeLuca will remain an employee of FDIC but will be on detail with GSA until a permanent TTS director is named. She was not able to provide a timeline for that process.

DeLuca will be back at GSA starting July 19, according to an email to staff from FAS Commissioner Julie Dunne obtained by Nextgov.

“FAS is grateful for Bob’s leadership and strategic approach to IT modernization,” Dunne said in the email. “I look forward to the achievements the TTS team will accomplish under his direction, and with the excellent contributions and expertise of Harry Lee [the acting CoE executive director] and Dominic Sale [assistant commissioner for solutions]."

Murphy said that while DeLuca was willing to return to GSA, the temporary detail was not his idea. Murphy said she called DeLuca and the leadership at FDIC and asked for some assistance from her former GSA colleague.

“They recognized the importance having a strong leader at TTS has for helping IT modernization, AI and, frankly, grapple with the COVID response across government,” she said. “We wanted to make sure there wasn’t a leadership vacuum at TTS in the interim.”