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News | July 19, 2021

My DCMA: Victoria Cordova, administrative contracting officer

By Tonya Johnson DCMA 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, Victoria Cordova shares her story.

My name is Victoria Cordova, and this is “My DCMA.”

I am an administrative contracting officer at DCMA Denver. My job duties include administering a complex variety of contracts valued at $6.8 billion, with fixed-price, cost-type and hybrid-type line items containing a variation of provisions, including supporting an Acquisition Category I program. In addition, I am an administrative grants officer and administrative agreements officer.

I get to change hats throughout the day depending on which area of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations I need to be the subject matter expert on as I provide support to my external and internal customers. I lead a team of five contract administrators. Additionally, I collaborate with functional specialists from all areas within DCMA, buying commands across the country, and contractors within the local area.

I have been a part of the DCMA team for 11 years. I started with DCMA when I was a sophomore in college as part of the Student Career Experience Program. Once I graduated from college, I joined the DCMA Keystone program. In 2014, I graduated from the Keystone program with my Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act, also known as DAWIA, Level II contracting certification and became a contract administrator. In 2016, I became an administrative contracting officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I earned my Level III contracting certification in 2020. I recently moved to the Denver office in February of this year.

Some of the great things about working at my location include the variety of experienced professionals I get to collaborate with and the knowledge I have gained from them. Another major bonus is having the beautiful Rocky Mountains in my view every day.

I like working at DCMA because we are challenged in every aspect of the post-award administration of a contract. Not only do acquisition professionals in DCMA need to be well versed in Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 42, but we need to be well versed in everything that touches post-award administration. There is always something new to learn. I also love the incredible work-life balance that we have. It is often very stressful and difficult to manage a successful career, lead a happy life outside of work, and have children. The great balance that I have been able to develop and maintain is a direct attribution to the agency’s values on work-life balance.

DCMA is important to America’s warfighters because all of the functional areas within the agency have a critical part in ensuring that warfighters receive what they need, when they need it. Our specialties within each functional area provide a deeper level of surveillance and oversight to allow us to collaborate with one another and ensure the mission is met. DCMA’s surveillance from quality management system audits to business system audits and determinations to financial capability reviews, provide a level of confidence that is needed to protect the taxpayers’ money as well as ensure the mission is not compromised by negative activities.

As DCMA continues to evolve, I am excited to see how the agency is able to strengthen its presence across DoD and industry to show others how much value we add to the acquisition lifecycle. Since I have been with the agency, I have seen the technology and system platforms change, which have allowed us to excel in our jobs and become even more productive.

My goal for 2021 is to continue to build stronger relationships with my new office teammates, contractors and customers. My future career goal includes being involved with DoD policy. I want to advocate on behalf of the workforce to influence and implement changes that empower professionals to work smarter and not harder, and to use good business judgement. I want our nation to be number one in technology and innovation, but we cannot have that until we start thinking smarter and removing barriers to innovation.