Nasa Headquarters Work Values

Daily Duties at Nasa Headquarters:

The Space Network Program Executive reports to the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Division. SCaN is a lean program management office with three Program Executives delegated with the responsibility for management and oversight of projects assigned to NASA field centers. I managed two project teams at GSFC in matrix-fashion. One is the Space Network Project managing the existing fleet of the nine Tracking and Data Relay Satellites as well as ground stations at White Sands and Guam. This included an annual $90M budget, including $80M of reimbursable revenue from other government agencies. A series of periodic meetings and management reviews were held on a regular basis. These included Monthly Status Review with GSFC management, and Space Network Quarterly Review at White Sands, NM. Informal weekly and ad-hoc coordination telecons between SCaN & GSFC were also scheduled to coordinate status, activities, and issues. I prepared a monthly status report which was presented at the Monthly Program Status Review to the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The interface with the Space Network Project was initially complex and confrontational. This was due to the changing role of the new SCaN Office at Headquarters. I immediately went about a team-forming exercise where-by I established a close working relationship with project personnel and GSFC directorate-level management. I scheduled overview presentations of TDRS Space and Ground segments, and continued to maintain a close working relationship with project personnel through periodic contact. The initial strained relationship has subsequently replaced by trust and confidentiality. The second project team at GSFC was the TDRS-K & L procurement and project team. This start-up activity was initially confrontational and the accelerated schedule met with skepticism. I again worked directly with this team, meeting on a weekly basis at GSFC, to identify personnel concerns and establish priorities. This has been particularly difficult since there have been three Project Managers in the span of six months. In addition to weekly meetings, clear expectations for the ‘Project’ were established in correspondence and emails. This has all resulted in a close yet professional relationship between GSFC and the SCaN Office at Headquarters. In addition to coordinating with GSFC, I also conducted ongoing negotiations with external government agencies to foster a cost-sharing arrangement and realize economies-of-scale for both operations and acquisition.

What they like about Nasa Headquarters:

You give high priority to hiring firms with prestige. Market reputation and prestige of a firm may be determined through on-line research, and conversations with individuals working in your target industry. Note that firms "in the public eye" receive a great deal more critical publicity and attention than those operating with more anonymity. So as you assess your employment opportunities, be sure to seek out the positive aspects of the firm's reputation in addition to noting negative publicity the company may have received.

Tags

Project Management, Microsoft Office, Project Planning and Development, Budget and Schedule Development, Project Management Professional, PMP, Program Management, Program Management Office, Project Management Office, Contract Technical Management, Earned Value Management, EVM, Project Engineering, Risk Management, Concurrent Engineering, Verification, Test, Consultant, PMO

Skills

Project Planning and Development, Budget and Schedule Development, Resource Acquisition and Management, Contract Technical Management, Risk Management, Verification & Test, Written and Oral Presentations, Earned Value Management (EVM), Microsoft Office, Audits, Cost Accounting, Cost / Benefit Analysis, Internal Controls, Reporting, Change Management, Consulting, Project Management, Team Leadership / Motivation, Problem Solving, Process Improvement, Training / Development, Policy Development, Program Management, Technical Writing, Business Development, Negotiations, Needs Assessment, Logistics, Gap Analysis, Procurement / Purchasing, Vendor Relations

These are some of the questions we asked our climbers about their experiences with Nasa Headquarters: