Gregory Rothwell

Homeland Security
Gregory Rothwell
Chief Procurement Officer

Gregory Rothwell can't name his top work-related challenge. The Homeland Security Department's chief acquisition officer can list plenty, but there's no one "wart that really drives you nuts," he says. He oversees eight purchasing shops, which in fiscal 2004 awarded $9.2 billion in contracts. Short-handed, the offices relied heavily on deals negotiated by officials at outside agencies. Interagency contracts often come with a service fee attached and can be susceptible to mismanagement.

Rothwell also works under the eye of lawmakers interested in preventing the type of cost increases that plagued the Transportation Security Administration's 2002 contract to hire baggage screeners. He seeks to ensure the quality and operation of devices the department buys to detect nuclear materials as well as other essential pieces of technology.

To Rothwell this is just the "tapestry of the job," and he finds it exhilarating. The 33-year veteran of government service has worked at nine agencies besides Homeland Security. He spent more than a decade in executive posts at the Internal Revenue Service, and also served as an executive at the former Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the 1980s savings and loan crisis. He was the first procurement chief for what is now GovWorks, an acquisition center at the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service.

At DHS, Rothwell already has made his mark in strategic sourcing, an initiative to leverage the government's buying power. He established commodities councils to identify opportunities to more effectively make common purchases. In fiscal 2004, four of the councils-devoted to office supplies, boats, energy and weapons-found opportunities to save roughly $14.1 million. Rothwell also topped the department's small business goals by 12 percent, with 35 percent of fiscal 2004 prime contract dollars going to small companies.