Yesterday, President Obama nominated Beth Cobert for the Director post at the Office of Personnel Management. Cobert has been serving as Acting Director of OPM since mid-July. 

“Beth will bring tremendous depth and quality of experience to her role as Director of the Office of Personnel Management,” Obama said in a statement. “As Acting Director, Beth has effectively pursued strategies to strengthen cybersecurity and improve the way the government serves citizens, businesses, and the federal workforce both past and present.” 

Cobert stepped into her new role during a time of turmoil for the agency. The Public Manager recently spoke to her about the importance of data-driven management, training, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities in government.  

“The core mission of OPM is to bring great talent into government. That means making sure that talent can actually deliver on the commitments they have to the mission. The  priorities for OPM are engaging the talent we have, getting them what they need to do their jobs well, recruiting great talent into government, and bringing in diverse talent so we have what we need to solve 21st century problems. There is no shortage of things to do,” Cobert told TPM.  

For more insight on how OPM is helping the federal government address systemic challenges regarding human capital, check out the full interview with Cobert. 

In addition, on September 10, 2015, Cobert addressed the Government Workforce Learning Innovations Conference about the challenges faced by today’s government managers and employees, and the future of the federal workforce.