Sarah Kapnick, a former deputy division leader and research physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has been appointed to serve as chief scientist of the scientific and regulatory agency.

In her new role, Kapnick will serve as the senior scientist for the agency and provide direction for NOAA’s science and technology priorities, the agency said Thursday. Kapnick’s appointment makes her the third woman in NOAA’s history to be appointed to the position.

It also marks her return to NOAA having previously served as deputy division leader for seasonal to decadal variability and predictability at the agency’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey.

During her tenure, Kapnick conducted research on various topics including seasonal climate prediction, water security and climate impacts, and served as a climate science expert for NOAA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program.

She left NOAA in 2021 to join J.P. Morgan as a senior climate scientist and sustainability strategist for asset and wealth management.

“I have no doubt that Dr. Kapnick will play an important role in advancing the Department’s goal of addressing the climate crisis by providing science, data and services to help communities and businesses become climate-ready,” said Gina Raimondo, secretary of the Department of Commerce.

Allen Hill, a Federal Acquisition Service official at the General Services Administration, was tapped to become the chief information officer of the Federal Communications Commission on Aug. 1, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

Hill currently works as deputy assistant commissioner for Category Management in the FAS. He joined the agency in 2018 and has, since then, been involved in the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions network modernization program, the 2nd Generation Information Technology Blanket Purchase Agreements and other programs.

The official’s government and industry career also includes time with the Department of Education, CACI International and Verizon. In addition, he served with the U.S. Air Force for two decades.

Hill will assume the FCC CIO responsibilities currently being handled on an acting basis by Andrea Simpson, chief information security officer of the agency.

Jack Hess has been promoted from chief operating officer to president of public sector-serving information technology company Spry Methods.

With extensive experience in both federal law enforcement and government contracting, Hess is expected to lead Spry’s service delivery, business expansion and corporate strategy in his new position, the McLean, Virginia-based company said Thursday.

As president, Hess will additionally collaborate with Ed Kim and Ted Ahn, Spry’s co-CEOs, to chart the company’s course forward.

In a statement, Ahn described the influential role Hess has played in his over a year as COO, pointing to the executive’s ability to organize the team and services to best suit government agencies’ objectives.

“Jack has also fine-tuned our pipeline of opportunities to capture foundational contracts within the national security, DoD, Intelligence, and Federal Civilian communities,” Ahn added.

Hess’ career began with an over two-decade stint at the Federal Bureau of Investigations, from which he retired in 2009. At the FBI, he cultivated expertise in investigations, tactical and management strategies and counterterrorism with senior-level jobs and responsibilities such as special agent, associate director of national intelligence, section chief for the counterterrorism division’s communication exploitation section and chief of the national center for the analysis of violent crime.

Upon his retirement, Hess pivoted to the private sector, joining Sotera Defense Solutions. At the latter company he partnered with the intelligence community to perform analysis and operations duties and graduated to senior vice president before it was acquired by KeyW Corporation in 2017. He then worked for two years at KeyW as senior vice president for the national intelligence sector until the organization was purchased by Jacobs Engineering Corporation in 2019.

The newly appointed Spry president held the role of vice president and general manager at Jacobs in the homeland and justice performing division for two years prior to coming to his current employer.

In 2021, former federal chief information officer Basil Parker was appointed senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Spry.

Mark Livingston, a four-decade government service veteran, took on a new role as assistant director of personnel security at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.

He will lead efforts to sustain, transform and integrate security practices for the agency’s workforce, DCSA said Wednesday in a LinkedIn post.

Livingston previously served as assistant deputy for manpower, personnel, training and education at the U.S. Navy, lead for the Department of the Navy Security Enterprise and the service branch’s acting deputy undersecretary for intelligence and security.

The former U.S. Marine also worked at the Transportation Security Agency’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis as deputy assistant administrator and at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as senior reactor specialist.

Earlier in his career, Livingston served as director of corporate intelligence programs for Northrop Grumman.