Across the government, agencies face a pronounced loss of historical knowledge as retirements and federal workforce reductions levy widespread impact. The shift marks a pivotal moment for countless departments and teams, including those at NASA.

While the changes create hurdles and pressures, also emerging are opportunities to reassess and reimagine how work gets done – particularly in the federal acquisition workforce. This is especially significant as the work of acquisition itself faces increasing complexity, said NASA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Procurement Marvin Horne.

“With high retirements, it’s removing people who know how to execute complex source evaluation boards, historical knowledge of certain contract structures – why they were successful or why they failed – historical knowledge of contractor negotiation strategies, even the informal stakeholder engagement that ensures strong procurement and program collaboration,” Horne said. “The true concern is not about replacement of staff; it’s about replacing judgment cultivated over a 25- to 30-year career. This experience cannot be replaced just by hiring…it needs to be deliberately built and cultivated.”

To that end, NASA leaders are pursuing multipronged efforts to strengthen workforce capabilities, with emphasis on comprehensive training. Understanding emerging issues, evolving regulations and dynamic application of procurement principles better equips contracting officers – and the broader acquisition community – to take on growing complexities over the entire procurement lifecycle. The goal: to advance savvy, strategic acquisition structure and contract integration in an evolving landscape.

“This is super important to enable mission execution, protect the government’s interests and ultimately support mission execution and safety,” Horne said. “Subject matter expertise – especially right now as the agency is accelerating our exploration, boots on the moon by 2028 – that’s an area where we want to make sure we have the proper focus and training to ensure we have contract vehicles that enable the agency to meet its mission.”

Ten locations, one workforce – all rising to the occasion

NASA’s distinctly no-fail mission area adds unique layers of stress and risk to the agency’s contracting cadre, but Horne is quick to laud their grit and dedication. It’s part of the culture NASA leaders work to develop, starting with involving acquisition teams early on in projects and programs.

The tactic gives contracting professionals a clearer understanding of what they’re buying and why they’re buying it. That understanding can pay dividends over the lifetime of a contract, project or program.

“Get involved early, help shape the strategy and move away from a risk-compliance mindset to a risk-managed mindset,” Horne said.

Another line of effort at NASA evaluates how to meet the demand for accelerated delivery and execution; it’s pressure likely felt across other agencies, too. One approach is streamlining functions in ways that empower acquisition personnel to work smarter, not harder – regardless of which location, or perhaps even agency, they may work.

“Everyone wants things to deliver faster; they want the contract or procurement done faster. So how do we redesign the work we’re doing? How do we reduce decision volume and workload?” Horne said. “That’s everything from eliminate or standardize decisions; pre-approve acquisition strategies; use more standard templates and more enterprise contract vehicles. Contracting officers should spend time on complex acquisitions, not on repeatedly solving low-value challenges.”

Horne said NASA’s also pursuing enterprise procurement strategies, preventing disparate procurement offices from duplicating problem-solving efforts. Shared contracts, enterprise pricing support and shared source selection materials are all tools for maximizing resources and simplifying low-risk, standard processes agencywide.

A range of engagement types – from events highlighting best practices and lessons learned to Zoom calls attended by 1,000 contracting officers to local and community-led meetings sharing experiences – along with the development of supplemental guides are some ways NASA gets the word out across its 10 sites.

Transformational acquisition through cultural revolution

Sharing information, materials and tools is an essential part of shifting the acquisition paradigm. But innovation can’t take hold without some refashioning of the mindset – as Horne said, moving away from risk compliance to risk management. It means adjusting organizational tolerance for pushing boundaries, leveraging flexibility, exercising expert judgment and leaning into leadership skills.

Pockets of groundbreaking new approaches to established operations aren’t new to NASA, or to the federal government writ large. But Horne believes that innovation shouldn’t be limited to a handful of teams, departments or missions.

“If you think about the exploration vehicles and some of the science and breakthrough technology that NASA has accomplished, we’ve been able to do that because from an acquisition perspective, we’ve always leaned on the leading edge of that sphere to set up an acquisition strategy that enables NASA to execute missions,” he said. “We want that to become more of the norm.”

Horne’s strategy for achieving that goal likely sounds familiar: He believes the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul can help drive the culture shift that cements innovation. By reducing non-statutory processes and procedures, the RFO grants more speed, flexibility and discretion to contracting professionals, he said.

Those elements are especially important in fluid scenarios inherent to the NASA mission. Moreover, they dovetail with today’s training priorities that integrate traditional FAR expertise and mission-focused flexibility to evaluate options, apply judgment and manage risk. That juncture marks a pivot point for cultural change.

“The fundamental knowledge remains essential. In today’s environment though, we also require that strengthening of critical thinking and decision-making skills,” Horne said. “This is our once-in-a-career opportunity to really help redefine [how] we ensure that we get the products and services that enable America – regardless of whatever agency you’re at – to execute its mission. It’s huge. And being a part of that is exciting.”

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