Governance

OMB Policies on the Acquisition Workforce

OFPP has issued several policy letters and OMB has issued memos that define and give direction to members of the acquisition workforce:

• The  June 10, 2015 Memo on Management and Oversight of Federal Information Technology from OMB (7.5 MB) provides implementation guidance for the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and related information technology (IT) management practices. 

• The  June 1, 2015 Memo on Effective Use of Reverse Auctions from OMB reviews the benefits of reverse auctions, offers a set of reminders to help contracting offices maximize the value of this tool, and asks agencies to work with OFPP in identifying and collecting data that can be used to evaluate and improve results.

• The  December 23, 2014 Memo on Strengthening Employee Engagement and Organizational Performance from OMB provides guidance to support agencies' efforts to strengthen an organizational culture of employee engagement and mission performance in accordance with priorities established in the President's Management Agenda (PMA) Cross Agency Priority (CAP) goal on People and Culture.

• The  December 4, 2014 Memo on Transforming the Marketplace: Simplifying Federal Procurement to Improve Performance, Drive Innovation, and Increase Savings from OFPP describes ongoing actions to strengthen Federal acquisition practices and directs a series of specific agency actions that build further on the Administration's ongoing effort to create a more innovative, efficient, and effective acquisition system to support the needs of a 21st century government. FAI and DAU submit this response in support of the goal to develop and deploy talent and tools across agencies and growing talent within agencies to drive innovation.

• The  July 10, 2014 Memo on Making Better Use of Contractor Performance Information from OFPP asks agencies to take additional steps toward evaluating timely and relevant information about contractor past performance. To address the increased risk of problems on high risk programs, major acquisitions, and other complex contact actions that are critical to an agency's mission, agencies are directed to undertake additional outreach and research to make more informed decisions.

• The  May 7, 2014 Memo on Revisions to the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) from OFPP refreshes OFPP’s requirements for the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C).

• The  December 16, 2013 Memo on Revisions to the Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers (FAC-P/PM) from OFPP is designed to strengthen civilian agency P/PMs to improve program outcomes, and reflects the need to improve the management of high-risk, high-impact programs.

• The  September 3, 2013 Memo on Increasing Efficiencies in the Training, Development, and Management of the Acquisition Workforce from OFPP details policy changes aimed at reducing duplicative training and development efforts and saving taxpayer dollars.

• The September 6, 2011 Memo on Revisions to the Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives (FAC-COR) from OFPP refreshes the requirements to better align the FAC-C with the Department of Defense's (DoD's) Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) contracting certification curriculum and to strengthen the development of civilian agency contracting professionals.

• The October 27, 2009 Memo on Acquisition Workforce Development Strategic Plan for Civilian Agencies provides a structured approach to improve both the capacity and capability of the civilian acquisition workforce.

• The  July 29, 2009 Memo on Improving the Use of Contractor Performance Information from OFPP describes new requirements in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to strengthen the use of contractor performance information, outlines associated management responsibilities that agency Chief Acquisition Officers (CAOs) and Senior Procurement Executives (SPEs) must take to support robust implementation of these practices, and establishes the review process that the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) will use to further improve contractor performance information.

• The  October 3, 2007 Memo on Ethics and Procurement Integrity from OFPP

• The  September 4, 2007 Memo on Plans for hiring reemployed annuitants to fill acquisition-related positions from OFPP

• The  April 25, 2007 Memo on The Federal Acquisition Certification Program for Program and Project Managers (FAC-P/PM) from OFPP contains requirements for achieving certification and guidance for administering the program.

• The  April 15, 2005 Policy Letter 05-01 on Developing and Managing the Acquisition Workforce from OFPP establishes a government-wide framework for creating a federal acquisition workforce. OFPP Policy Letter 05-01 supersedes and rescinds two earlier policy letters, OFPP Policy Letter 92-03 and OFPP Policy Letter 97-01.

• OFPP has also issued  Qualification Standards for the 1102 Series (Contracting).

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

The Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) jointly issue the  Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) for use by executive agencies in acquiring goods and services.

FAR Alert Notice (FAN)

The FAR Alert Notice was established by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in 2012, to help improve agency awareness of the regulatory changes. OFPP collaborates with FAR Council member agencies (GSA, DoD, and NASA) to prepare and review the FAN for dissemination to the acquisition workforce. You may browse through the most recent FANs here.