Name: Andrea Ross
Title: Contracting Officer
Formal Job Classification: Contracting Officer
Organization: Office of Procurement, Information Technology Procurement Office (Code LP0130, matrixed to Goddard)
What do you do and what is most interesting about your role with the agency? How do you help support the Agency’s mission?
I am a steward of your taxpaying dollars. My role is to make sure that NASA is getting the best value for the services and supplies they acquire.
What is one of your most interesting projects?
I recently worked on a small team within the Information Technology Procurement Office to establish the Information Technology Procurements On-Demand Team (ITPOD). Though it was only two months, we were able to benchmark the NASA Shared Services Center and SEWP Program Office to develop and implement the processes and procedures the team will use for acquiring ad-hoc IT goods and services that are above $250,000 and below $7.5 million across all NASA centers. I was able to work on developing the templates, procurement package checklists, a buying guide, training for the contract specialists and end-users, and a complete communication approach to inform stakeholders.
Working on this team showed me the importance of being technically knowledgeable, while remaining creative and innovative. I think it is important to bring creativity and innovation to the contracting world.
How do you help your colleagues stay creative?
I encourage them to know the parameters of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), but also to not be afraid to think outside the box. I remind them that the FAR gives you the flexibility to be creative in making business decisions pertaining to an acquisition. If you have an idea contrary to the norm, be willing to try that approach, to present that option. The worst thing that could happen is someone will tell you no, but at that point it can now become a lesson learned.
Who inspired you?
I met Wanda Peters in 2018 through the Leadership Development and Excellence in Management program, and she became my mentor. She gave me a lot of insight about how to see a problem and present a solution that may be different from that of your colleagues. Managers want alternative viewpoints. Empower yourself and use your voice to speak up. Be technically knowledgeable but also develop yourself professionally and understand the culture and working environment.
Trena Ferrell also inspired me as a member of the New and Developing Professionals Group. She encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and partake in activities in different directorates.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I see myself in a role helping to change what NASA procurement views as common practice; hopefully showcasing a streamlined approach for NASA acquisitions. Additionally, I want to continue sharing what I have learned over my years in procurement and help others develop professionally.
Is there something surprising about your hobbies outside of work that people do not generally know?
I had a daughter in June 2020, so my hobby currently consists of watching her grow and develop her own personality.
If you had a dinner party, who would you invite, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
It would be a casual dinner party with an eclectic group in hopes of great open dialogue. I would invite Eleanor Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, Josephine Baker, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Dorothy Height, James Baldwin, and John F Kennedy. I am curious to see how the conversation would play out; they all came from different walks of life but were able to be innovative and dared to challenge the status quo in their respected fields — not to mention all were instrumental in their own rights with the women’s movement.
Both of my parents are from Trinidad, so I would serve either a traditional Trinidadian Sunday dinner of macaroni pie (macaroni and cheese), fried rice, stewed chicken, callaloo (a leafy green vegetable), potato salad and black cake (a very potent rum cake) for dessert or my favorite meal of curry fish and dumpling in a coconut curry sauce.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of question-and-answer profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.