GSA gets new head of services office

The General Services Administration has tapped a former executive from the Office of Personnel Management’s human resources services shared services center to head up GSA's new Service Management Office, according to an internal agency email obtained by FCW.

An Aug. 6 email from GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said David Vargas, former director of OPM’s Human Resources Line of Business, became director of GSA’s Service Management Office on July 23.

GSA confirmed reports that is has also made Beth Angerman the new permanent principal deputy associate administrator of the agency’s Office of Government-wide Policy. Angerman had been acting principal deputy associate administrator at OGP since February. She also leads GSA’s Office of Shared Solutions and Performance Improvement.

Under a White House plan rolled out in June, GSA and OPM will be merging some of OPM’s core functions into GSA, including retirement services, federal employees' healthcare and insurance and human resources solutions.

In late July, Murphy told the Senate Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs that GSA and OPM were taking steps to move forward with the restructuring.

Vargas, said Murphy, held a variety of positions in OPM’s IT operations, including associate CIO, acting deputy CIO, acting CIO and director of HR information technology transformation.

At GSA, Vargas will oversee the launch of the Service Management Office, which will back the agency’s vision of expanding shared service offerings to federal agency customers.

Before joining OPM, Vargas was a 22-year employee at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Real Estate Assessment Center, managing 400 employees and contractors across the U.S.