Federal Acquisition Service gets a new leader

Tom Sharpe is the General Services Administration’s new Federal Acquisition Service commissioner, the agency announced Jan. 22.

Sharpe will oversee the acquisition and provision of more than $55 billion in products, services, and solutions to federal agencies.

Sharpe has 30 years of experience in both the private sector and government. He has served most recently as the Treasury Department’s senior procurement executive. He was responsible for Treasury-wide procurement policy, procurement career management, and oversight and continuous improvement of bureau procurement operations.

Before Treasury, Sharpe was as a consulting principal with IBM Business Consulting Services. He was responsible for the marketing, sales and delivery of procurement transformation engagements with IBM’s commercial and government customers.

GSA Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini said his agency has worked to refocus itself in the last year after a blowup in April 2012 over lavish conference spending. He said Sharpe as the new FAS commissioner is one more example of change.

“Over the past year, GSA has made significant progress toward refocusing on our mission and giving the American people the kind of efficient and effective service they deserve,” Tangherlini said.

Tangherlini complimented Sharpe’s experience as an acquisition leader and his work representing for many years Treasury, a key GSA customer.

That experience makes him “uniquely qualified to help GSA better serve all of our partners,” he said.