Greg Giddens
Greg Giddens co-founded Potomac Ridge Consulting in January 2018 after retiring from the Department of Veterans Affairs. He retired with over 35 years of experience in engineering, management, leadership, procurement, and program management with 16 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service. Throughout his career, Greg established effective relationships with stakeholders across a broad spectrum including the White House, Cabinet Agencies, Congress, and private sector.
Greg served as the Principal Executive Director for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Modernization from April 2017 until his retirement in November 2017. Greg led the agency’s efforts to accomplish the Secretary’s overall modernization vision and to respond to the President’s Executive Order and OMB’s memo on reforming executive branch agencies.
He was appointed as the Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO) for the Department in April 2015 and also as the Principal Executive Director for the Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction at VA where he oversaw almost $20B in annual spend.
He previously served as the Executive Director of VA’s Office of Policy and Planning, Enterprise Program Management Office. He led the start-up of a new office working directly with the Deputy Secretary to facilitate the planning and execution of the Department’s 16 most critical initiatives. Prior to joining the VA, Greg served in several executive positions at the Department of Homeland Security leading efforts to design and implement cross-agency and international efforts related to immigration and border security. He also served as the executive in charge of all horizontal and vertical construction and facilities management work at Customs and Border Protection. At the United States Coast Guard, he served in executive positions in acquisition and program management as the Coast Guard was recapitalizing its surface and air fleet with a $15B plus program. Greg started his career in the Department of Defense working as an Electrical Engineer for the Air Force and transitioned into acquisition and program management working at locations in GA, OH, VA, and MA.
Greg is as a Strategic Advisor to Government Executives (SAGE) for the Partnership for Public Service, a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow, and a member of National Contract Management Association’s Board of Advisors. He was selected to be a member of the Senior Executive Service in 2000 and has received several awards including the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executive in 2005 and Federal Computer Week’s top 100 IT Executives Federal 100 award in 2007 and 2017. In 2017, Greg was also selected as the recipient of the Public Sector Partnership Award as part of the Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards, ACT-IAC’s Janice K. Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award, and the Coalition for Government Procurement’s Lifetime Acquisition Excellence Award.
Greg holds a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a Master of Business Administration from Georgia College, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.