Robert Spector

Session: Leveraging Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Federal Program and Project Management

Abstract: Best practices and lessons learned from projects and programs offer very valuable insights – but how are they captured and shared for the benefit of all? This session will highlight factors that motivate consumption and institutionalization of this often hard-won information. We will highlight some key efforts at NASA, the Energy Information Administration, and the Federal Program and Project Management Community of Practice.

Facilitated by Christie Rewey

PMI Talent Triangle Skill: Strategic and Business Management

Biography: Robert (Bob) Spector is a Senior Program Manager with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he is currently serving as a a Project Integrator with NASA’s Mission Support Future Architecture Program (MAP), a multi-year initiative aimed at reengineering the administrative functions that support the Agency’s Science, Exploration, Technology and Aeronautics missions at NASA. The subjects of the Program include IT, financial management, and human resources, among others, to improve the level of service, quality, and efficiency to its customers.

Bob had previously served as Chief, IT Programs Office at Goddard whose mission is to improve service delivery through the standardization of IT practices. The primary IT Programs’ responsibilities include: project management services, IT governance and policy, Enterprise Architecture (EA), IT risk management, quality assurance, and information management for Goddard.

Prior to joining NASA Bob was the Director of Business Process Improvement at the Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, a shared-services provider with $1 billion budget. Bob’s team directed 18 improvement projects between 2008 and 2013 through his Process Improvement PMO engaging over 100 civil servants in designing and implementing a broad range of services and capabilities such as implementing customer e-commerce portal and a cloud-based customer relationship management solution, and deploying a new budget formulation and execution process which resulted in 8.2% in budget reductions. His team also established a Balanced Scorecard process; and implemented a quarterly service performance reporting and review process for the 20 service directors, encompassing over 50 services.

Bob has over 25 years of experience in the private sector managing large-scale projects to integrate processes, people and technology solutions while at Accenture, Ernst & Young, Oracle and James Martin & Company. He also served on the Board of Examiners of the Baldrige National Quality Award for three years. Bob earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Relations from Carnegie-Mellon University and attended the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh.