BOSTON –
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, Greg Stein shares his story.
My name is Greg Stein, and this is “My DCMA.”I am a contract price and cost analyst based in Boston. I work for the agency’s headquarters, however, within the Contract and Pricing, Policy, and Processes Division of the Contracts Directorate.
I am currently working for Defense, Pricing and Contracting, under the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, on a rotational assignment in the Acquisition Exchange Program. The assignment ends Sept. 30.
My job duties include having the action officer responsibilities for proposal pricing, serving as the co-lead for the negotiation intelligence business capability, and participating in several working groups to improve policies for a variety of functional areas. I have served on teams for DCMA’s workload acceptance process, records management, Emerging Leaders Program, and the pricing management capability development team. I feel lucky that I have had the pleasure of working with outstanding people from across the agency on these important issues.
I have been a part of the DCMA team for 12 years, serving in different positions while still being able to stay in my hometown Boston. One of my favorite things about working for the Contracts Directorate is the ability to directly impact improvements within the agency. We are always focused on the path to improvement. I enjoy being able to share my opinions and to be part of solutions. I also enjoy interacting and working with my DCMA coworkers. In every office or team that I have worked on, I have met great people and made new friendships. I truly enjoy spending time with my coworkers.
I like working at DCMA because it gives me a sense of accomplishment that I have only felt while working for the Department of Defense. My values of duty, honor and selfless service are important to me. I take pride in being a part of an organization that contributes so much to our warfighters.
My job allows me to use my strengths in finance and my love of spreadsheets to contribute to the mission. When I was a new contract administrator, I would often ask, “Why do we do it that way?” It was usually about our use of paper or inefficient processes. A lot has changed since then, and DCMA is adapting by leveraging technology to more efficiently accomplish our mission. I love being able to contribute to that transition.
DCMA is important to America’s warfighters because they rely on us to get the job done so that they can defend our country. When I served as an Army paratrooper, I remember that feeling of trusting in my equipment before I took that leap out of the aircraft. There is no way that you can make that jump unless you have confidence in the people out there that are inspecting every piece of equipment. Being a part of the DCMA team is amazing. I am proud of our role in supporting our warfighters.
As I think about the agency’s future, I am excited about the opportunities for expanding DCMA’s pricing capabilities and for the recent consolidation of the contract price and cost analysts into the Cost and Pricing Regional Command and the benefits this change will bring to our pricing mission. There is tremendous potential in leveraging the data that DCMA gathers as part of contract administration to improve prices in future acquisitions.
As contractors expand their use of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technology to price proposals, DOD must keep pace by expanding our data analytics capabilities. This will help us enable the contracting officers throughout DOD to save money on their acquisitions. This additional savings would be a win for DCMA by showcasing our value, and more importantly, a win for the American taxpayer.
My goal in 2022 is to complete the Acquisition Exchange Program rotational assignment and the projects that I have been assigned, and then return to DCMA for my next adventure. My future career goals include finding new opportunities to contribute and sharing my knowledge and experiences with others. I have learned so much from my time at DCMA, and I want to make sure that I am doing my part by passing that knowledge along to others.
My hobbies include traveling, doing puzzles and watching movies. I started playing golf last year. I think I am hooked on golf because of the combination of being outside with my friends and challenging myself to constantly improve.