ATLANTA –
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 Kelly Fender.
My name is Kelly Fender, and this is “My DCMA.”
I am a quality assurance specialist with DCMA Atlanta based in Greenville, South Carolina.
My job duties include reviewing contracts to have an in-depth understanding of what our customers need. I ensure that suppliers are complying with the specified requirements by creating tailored surveillance plans based on risk management. My surveillance includes process reviews, deliverable product evaluations, Quality Management System element reviews and scheduled audits.
I have been a part of the DCMA Atlanta team for seven months. My team is committed to teaching and mentoring me through on-the-job training, policy review and data analysis. We collaborate frequently on how to streamline processes and create more efficiency and effectiveness within our team. We openly communicate with one another and continually initiate opportunities to make our team stronger and adapt to new policies. My team is professional, diverse, positive, reliable and cohesive.
My background is in military public affairs, and I am relatively new to quality assurance. I have been successful, thus far, by heeding the expertise of senior quality assurance specialists on my team, attending training and leaning heavily on data analysis. I am able to determine the method, frequency and scope of my surveillance plans through collecting and analyzing customer, supplier and government data. By analyzing data, I am able to identify the location of risks and the likelihood of their occurrence. This builds a basis of confidence in a supplier’s ability to deliver conforming products and provides me the ability to allocate resources where they are most needed.
I enjoy working at DCMA because I have a direct impact on the quality of products that end up in the hands of the warfighter. After previously serving in the Marine Corps, I understand the importance of getting products to our troops at the right time and for those items to operate in the way they are intended.
I am the independent eyes and ears for the Department of Defense and other customers because as a QAS, I am able to directly impact DCMA’s mission by mitigating any risk that would inhibit timely delivery of quality products to the warfighter. As a civil servant, excellence is my obligation.
DCMA is important to America’s warfighters because through our acquisition insight, we are able to enhance the lethality of the warfighter. Our work directly benefits our nation by strengthening DoD and providing confidence in the products and services that the government purchases.