SPEAKER

Joy M. White, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Executive Director for the Space Systems Command and the Head of Contractor Activity for the U.S. Space Force, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. She is the principal assistant to the Program Executive Officer for Space for acquisition strategies, portfolio management and program execution. She acts for and with the commander in the execution of an annual budget of $11 billion to develop and deliver capabilities that provide the warfighter agile, integrated, resilient and protected effects in space to meet critical national imperatives. In this role, she leads a workforce of approximately 10,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel to enable the Space Warfighting Construct, preparing the nation to fight and win a conflict in space. Additionally, as the HCA, Ms. White works on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisitions to expedite the development of business processes and contracting solutions to capitalize on rapid acquisition of space assets in today’s competitive space economy.

Joy M. White

Executive Director
Space Systems Command

Joy M. White, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Executive Director for the Space Systems Command and the Head of Contractor Activity for the U.S. Space Force, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. She is the principal assistant to the Program Executive Officer for Space for acquisition strategies, portfolio management and program execution. She acts for and with the commander in the execution of an annual budget of $11 billion to develop and deliver capabilities that provide the warfighter agile, integrated, resilient and protected effects in space to meet critical national imperatives. In this role, she leads a workforce of approximately 10,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel to enable the Space Warfighting Construct, preparing the nation to fight and win a conflict in space. Additionally, as the HCA, Ms. White works on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisitions to expedite the development of business processes and contracting solutions to capitalize on rapid acquisition of space assets in today’s competitive space economy.

Ms. White entered federal service in 1985 as a Copper Cap contracting intern at the Space and Missile Systems Center. She earned her contracting officer warrant, becoming a contracting officer for Global Positioning System. In 1992, she transferred to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Washington, D.C., serving an
eight-year tenure in a variety of positions. In this role, she gained hands-on experience in law and regulatory analysis, spearheaded two joint service committees and spent several years in the Systems Acquisition Division, advising acquisition leadership on a wide range of strategies for programs including Global Hawk, Predator, F-15, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle and GPS.

Prior to her current position, Ms. White was the Space and Missile Systems Center Director of Contracting leading a workforce of more than 300 personnel in the implementation of Better Buying Power initiatives resulting in significant savings, which enabled increased mission capabilities. She was responsible for executing an average annual budget
of $8 billion and managing roughly 600-plus active contracts valued at $80 billion. Ms. White also gained experience as the Deputy Director of Contracting for the Missile Defense Agency. At MDA, she guided a cadre of more than 200 contracting professionals at five locations in the execution of contracts totaling approximately $9 billion annually. She
provided acquisition advice to senior leadership with frequent interaction with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and congressional staff offices.


Related Videos

Symposium Keynote: Space Systems Command Seeks Resilience in Orbit

Originally aired: February 16, 2022