After the update to the mask guidelines inside federal buildings this week, President Biden also added COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees and on site contractors. With this move, the private sector will be encouraged to follow the lead – a move that companies like Facebook and Google have already made. While vaccination numbers for the federal workforce are not currently or publicly available, the DoD has shared that over 1.3 million civilian and servicemembers have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
As many agencies planned for this September to be the beginning plans for their re-entry to the office, increased focus on vaccines and masks will continue. The mayor of Washington, D.C. has brought back a mask mandate for all indoor locations, and earlier this week, President Biden updated mask requirements for federal buildings. Federal employees and onsite contractors who choose to not get vaccinated will need to go through regular COVID-19 testing and follow mask and social distancing policies. Work travel can also be impacted by the decision. Despite pushback from law organizations, the Justice Department weighed in this week, stating that private or public organizations are not prohibited from mandating vaccines.
Contract Opportunities to Watch
| REI Systems | REI Systems received an award from the FDA the Criminal Investigations, Imports and Systems Inspection Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement (SIRCE) contract valued at $400 million over five years. The single-award contract will support the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) in the development, modernization, and operations of its mission-critical systems that help protect consumers from risks such as dangerous, unacceptable quality, or mislabeled products, including foods, veterinary medicines, drugs, other medical products, and tobacco.The FDA engaged REI Systems to address new legislative mandates, emerging health concerns, and leverage opportunities presented by evolving technologies through more efficient, reliable, and secure systems. These systems support over 150 posts and border stations domestically and 13 international offices and labs and on-site inspections at numerous manufacturer sites. REI Systems will implement innovative and Agile technology approaches that leverage DevSecOps and containerization, FEDRAMP cloud, strengthened security measures, and new analytic capabilities to support FDA’s essential mission of protecting public health and safety.
The FDA selected REI Systems based on the company’s success with complex application modernization throughout the federal government, unique Agile and DevSecOps capabilities, and a successful track record with previous technology transformations at FDA, including the Foreign Inspection Planning and Scheduling System. REI Systems’ CEO Shyam Salona said, “We are very pleased to expand our relationship with the FDA. This contract award demonstrates FDA’s confidence in REI’s ability to provide continuity of essential operations and apply innovation to modernize ORA’s mission-critical systems, all with an Agile mindset.” Megan Hicks, REI Systems Account Executive for the FDA, added, “We are honored to assist FDA in its mission to inspect and ensure only the safest products make it into the hands and households of consumers throughout the country.” |
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Key Employer in the Cleared Industry
| Northrop Grumman | At Northrop Grumman, you can visualize a career that can take you places, build your skills, and grow – not just for a project, but for a career. Discover a role that’s right for you. Explore opportunities.
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Cleared Job of the Week
| Financial Analyst | A financial analyst is a key behind-the-scenes contributor for most defense contractors. Generally, financial analysts play a two-part role: ongoing project financial management in coordination with the program manager and financial support for proposal development. At times, financial analysts will be called upon to conduct internal financial audits and support need for external financial audits.
Financial analysts require a Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting. Other complimentary degrees, such as business, are acceptable. It goes without saying that you’ll need to be good with numbers and a little detail-oriented. Financial analysts who who want to move up the ladder should at least consider additional training in financial planning, government financial regulations, and financial tools. A master’s degrees in finance or business can be more effective in moving analysts into more leadership positions. |
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Growth Opportunities
This week, Deloitte acquired substantially all the assets of Sentek Consulting, Inc. (Sentek Global), a San Diego-based systems engineering and cybersecurity firm primarily serving the U.S. Navy.
“The acquisition of Sentek Global’s business will expand Deloitte’s existing presence in San Diego, while also bolstering our current mission-focused systems engineering capabilities and cyber offerings to other military branches and federal agencies,” said Mike Canning, US Government & Public Services Industry leader and principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP.
Heather Reilly, Deloitte’s Defense, Security and Justice sector leader and principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, added, “Deloitte is focused on delivering mission-relevant, complex and technology-enabled engineering, analytics and transformation solutions to our clients in the Department of Defense (DoD). The addition of Sentek Global’s capabilities expands our complement of skilled system engineering and cybersecurity professionals that will enhance DoD’s ability to accelerate its engineering and acquisition processes to ensure effective and reliable systems for our warfighters. And, it enables us to welcome those Sentek Global professionals who are former members of the Armed Forces into our existing veteran workforce.”
Mark Nace, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory’s Government & Public Services leader for the Cyber & Strategic Risk practice and principal, Deloitte & Touche LLP, said, “As cyber threats to all organizations — particularly U.S. federal agencies — continue to proliferate and become more complex, we’re investing to help our clients prevent, detect and remediate those emerging threats. The addition of Sentek Global’s capabilities allows us to do just that.”
In addition to providing systems engineering and cybersecurity to the Defense, Security and Justice sector, Sentek Global also offers program management and integrated logistics services.
Eric Basu, CEO and founder, Sentek Global, added, “Sentek Global and Deloitte share many common values, not the least of which is providing high quality services and solutions for the agencies that serve our country. We are joining Deloitte to help our government clients solve complex systems engineering and cybersecurity challenges, while also accelerating the scaling of our services for defense, security and justice sector organizations.”
