GSA Looks for New Schedule 70 Manager to Oversee $15B in Tech Contracts

The General Services Administration is looking for someone to lead the largest IT acquisition vehicle in government.

Kay Ely, who served as director of IT Schedule programs for more than four years, has been promoted to deputy assistant commissioner of Integrated Technology Services in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.

Ely will serve as acting director of Schedule 70 until a replacement is found, according to a blog posting by Mary Davie, assistant commissioner at ITS. GSA on March 3 posted the position and will take applications through March 31.

With this job, the numbers are telling.

In fiscal 2016, IT Schedule 70 will be a conduit for an estimated $15.2 billion in business volume for IT services and products among 4,700 qualified industry partners and myriad federal agencies. Everything from cloud services to desktop computers are purchased by agencies across the federal spectrum. Even so, the Schedule 70 program, Ely said, is undergoing significant transformation that parallels the evolution of emerging technologies.

“At times, leading Schedule 70 has been the most challenging job I have ever had, but it has also been the most rewarding,” said Ely, guest-writing a portion of Davie’s blog. “I’ve heard government described as an oil tanker compared to a speed boat. A speed boat can zip around the water quickly, and an oil tanker has to adjust course methodically, but when it does, the wake and ripples it creates are much greater. In the world of IT, Schedule 70 is that oil tanker, but with how quickly IT changes and shifts, we have to become a speedboat.”

A full list of duties can be found within the job posting, but an ability to lead, forge partnerships – interagency and with industry – and serious policy chops will be essential in GSA’s choice candidate.

(Image via Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com)