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News | Aug. 28, 2020

My DCMA: Jose Ortiz, quality assurance specialist

By Jason Kaneshiro DCMA Eastern Region Public Affairs

My DCMA showcases the Defense Contract Management Agency’s experienced and diverse workforce and highlights what being a part of the national defense team means to them. Today we meet Jose Ortiz.

My Name is Jose Ortiz, and this is My DCMA.”

I am a Quality Assurance Specialist with DCMA Hampton, assigned to the Asheville Team in Asheville, North Carolina, with more than seven years in the agency. I have been on this team for a little over a week now coming via transfer from DCMA Atlanta where I worked for two years.

I am currently a resident QAS working with a contractor to produce land, sea, aviation and space components for the DOD and NASA. I conduct thorough contract receipt and reviews to ensure that the contractual requirements needed by customers are being met by my assigned contractors. The most effective way is by designing, planning and implementing a risk profile plan. From there, I mitigate risk to the government by performing process evaluations on supplier manufacturing and business processes, deliverable product examinations on end items, and quality system audit element reviews to ensure compliance with higher quality level requirements.

At specified intervals, I conduct data collection and analysis to determine where to focus my surveillance. Additionally, I am the team point of contact for Government-Industry Data Exchange Program alerts, and disseminate information on debarments, recalls, and failure point announcements.

My DCMA career began at DCMA Dallas as a Keystone Intern. During that time, I learned the craft through a combination of extensive Defense Acquisition University classroom training, Harvard Business School online modules, and on-the-job training. I was able to train as a geographic inspector and was assigned to a 90-day rotation as a resident inspector to experience the different environments that a QAS works in.

The team I’m on stands out to me because of the collective way we share knowledge, workload, and support one another. The environment put in place by our team leadership encourages each of us to take ownership of our work and develop our individual leadership styles. The communication, shared responsibilities and encouragement to excel on this team fosters growth and a desire to become a leader as well.

I enjoy working at DCMA because of the complex nature of the position. We are the independent eyes and ears of the DOD. We are the last ones to make certain the things our warfighters need are produced to the necessary standards. It’s a great responsibility and one that I’m proud of. I’m constantly engaged and evolving to stay current with new agency policies and requirements.

My future goal within the agency is to move into a leadership position so I can serve my team as the leaders I have encountered in DCMA have done for me.