Brubaker leaving DOD

Paul Brubaker, the Defense Department's director of planning and performance management in the Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer, is returning to the private sector. Brubaker shared the news with his staff the morning of April 25.

"This was not a decision that was made easily," Brubaker told his team in an email obtained by FCW. "As some of you know, almost 30 years ago I decided to dedicate my career to making government work better. ... Please know that my decision to change positions at this time remains consistent with my continued desire to play a role in positively transforming government."

Brubaker's last day at DOD will be May 2.  

Brubaker has held a number of leadership positions in both government and the private sector. A former GAO evaluator, he has served as an investigator, deputy staff director and minority staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, where he worked with then-Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Maine) in the effort to enact the Clinger-Cohen Act.

Brubaker is a two-time presidential appointee, serving first as deputy CIO of the Defense Department under President Bill Clinton, then as the Transportation Department's Research and Innovative Technology Administrator under President George W. Bush. He has been in his current Pentagon post since January 2013.

Brubaker's email to staff did not specify his future plans, and he declined to answer FCW's questions on that topic while still in the government's employ. 

No stranger to industry, Brubaker has served as CEO, CMO and in other executive roles at several successful technology-services companies, including Commerce One and Cisco, where he led the North American Public Sector's Internet Business Solutions Group.

He has also served as chairman of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, and is a two-time winner of FCW's Federal 100 award.

Brubaker’s move is the latest in a series of high-level departures from the DCMO office, which is tasked with synchronizing, integrating and coordinating all DOD business operations. Deputy Chief Management Officer Elizabeth McGrath left at the end of 2013 for a position at Deloitte Consulting LLP, while Assistant Deputy Chief Management Officer David Wennergren retired in July 2013 and is now with CACI International. 

Brubaker, however, praised the leadership of acting DCMO Kevin Scheid, and told his colleagues that the decision to leave "is made somewhat easier knowing that there are incredibly talented, capable and dedicated teammates who serve within the DCMO that will continue to drive new levels of efficiency and effectiveness."

"It is certainly an exciting time to be working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and DCMO," Brubaker wrote. "I would not be leaving if there wasn't an exceptionally suitable and exciting position to drive a level of transformation from the outside."