Jennifer Swanson

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Data, Engineering & Software for ASA(ALT)

U.S. Department of the Army

Jennifer Swanson currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data, Engineering & Software (DASA(DES)) within the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)), where she drives digital transformation to improve how the Army develops and procures weapons and business systems. She drove Army-wide adoption of modern software practices including agile development and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment. She orchestrated changes to critical external processes, resulting in streamlined development cycles and high-value capabilities. She led development of the Unified Data Reference Architecture (UDRA) to drive data-centricity. UDRA conformance is now required Army-wide and UDRA is used by external agencies as a baseline. She co-led the effort to adopt generative AI capabilities Army-wide and led initiatives to accelerate secure discriminative AI development and third-party algorithm validation. She led Army-wide efforts to accelerate adoption of digital engineering capabilities and identify/remove barriers, including policy. Finally, she drove new cyber security initiatives, including Supply Chain Risk Management for software.
Before her role in DASA(DES), Ms. Swanson served as the Director of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineering Center (SEC), where she led a global workforce of approximately 3,000 employees and oversaw an annual budget exceeding $700 million. She led digital transformation of the organization, resulting in higher-quality software delivered to customers at significantly lower cost.

CAREER CHRONOLOGY:
• May 2022 – Present: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Data, Engineering & Software (DASA DES) within the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics & Technology (ASA(ALT))
• Apr 2017 – May 2022: Director, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineering Center (SEC)
• Jun 2009 – Apr 2017: Chief, Technical Management Division of the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), former Project Manager, Tactical Radio Communications Systems (PM TRCS); Product Director of PM WIN-T’s Tactical Network Architectures and Configurations-Current
• Oct 2007 – Jun 2009: Chief, of the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), Product Director Tactical Network Architectures
• Jan 2005 – Oct 2007: Chief Engineer, of the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T), Tactical Radio Communications Systems (PM TRCS)
• Dec 2003 – Jan 2005: Division Chief Communications and Electronics Research & Development Center • Jul 1991 – Dec 2003: U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM), Software Engineering Center, Evaluator with the Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity (AMSAA), developer and division chief
Ms. Swanson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Florida, and a Master of Science degree in Software Engineering from Monmouth University. She is Level III certified in Systems Engineering and Program Management.

AWARDS AND HONORS:
• 2022 Presidential Rank Award, Department of the Army – Meritorious Executive (SES)
• 2010 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award

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