Stephen A. Shinn

Steve Shinn serves as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for NASA since April 2020 and served as the interim Agency Chief Financial Officer and Agency Chief Acquisition Officer for 11 months while supporting the President’s nominee for the role. As Deputy Chief Financial Officer, he provides leadership for the strategic planning, performance reporting, budget analysis, justification, control, and reporting of all Agency fiscal resources. He directs all financial operations across the Agency and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of more than 1,600 personnel within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) as the Agency liaison responsible for civil servants and contractors to support NASA’s $25.4B annual portfolio.

Shinn served as the NASA Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Center Operations from 2019 to 2020. He provided leadership for all decisions regarding the planning, analysis, management, staffing, operations, and the strategic approach of financial activities at NASA’s 10 Centers. He ensured effective management, efficient use of Agency resources, and effective deployment of Center resources toward the achievement of NASA’s strategic plan and overall mission.

Shinn served as Chief Financial Officer for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) from 2016 to 2019. He ensured GSFC’s financial health by leading and managing nearly 600 civil servants and contractors in the development, implementation, and administration of all Center budgeting, including a $5 billion annual budget, finance, accounting, business systems, financial audits/internal controls, and cost-estimating activities that enable the effective management, control, and reporting of Government assets. He served as Flight Projects Deputy Director for Planning and Business Management for GSFC’s $3.6 billion Flight Projects Directorate from 2011 to 2016, accountable for business, technical, and resources management.

Prior to Federal government service, Shinn worked in industry, both in for-profit and non-profit organizations leading major initiatives for civilian and Department of Defense programs. His industry experience includes various management positions in mission budget formulation, life-cycle pricing, cost management, parametric modeling, accounting, project planning and control, financial management, operations management, earned value management, scheduling, and capital budgeting. His last industry position was Group Supervisor for the Space Operations Management Group at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.  

He has earned numerous awards and honors, including the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award (2021), NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal (2021, 2019, 2015), Robert H. Goddard Exceptional Achievement for Leadership Award (2015) for leading business change and organizational management, NASA’s Cost Estimating Leadership Award and three team awards for Quality and Process Improvements.  He is also the recipient of NASA’s Equal Employment Opportunity Medal for his broad successes in promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Shinn, an instructor in Project Management, Finance, and Project Control at Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering since 2009, received the school’s Annual Excellence in Teaching Award in 2016. He served as the Session Organizer for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Aerospace Conference since 2010 and has published more than 20 academic papers. He is a Project Management Institute-certified Project Management Professional and the NASA Headquarters Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Champion. Shinn earned his master’s degree in Technical Management from Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering and his bachelor’s degree in Finance from The College of New Jersey.