Meet Jennifer
Jennifer Oliver is the corporate director for contracts and procurement and member of Noblis’ Executive Council. Jennifer has more than 25 years of experience in federal contracting. While most of her experience is as a Contracts professional, she also held roles in finance, project control, pricing and as an instructor/trainer.
What made you pursue a career in government contracting?
As so often happens, I ended up in the Contracts profession in a roundabout manner. Back when I was in college, there were not that many programs related to the government contracting field. Now there are several reputable programs. I started working at a government contractor in the finance department but realized I was interested in what the contracts professionals were doing. Fortunately, one of the contracts managers had an opening for a junior contracts administrator and hired me for that role. She was a great mentor and former teacher, so I had a very solid foundation and was able to move and grow within the company. I had roles in both project control and pricing which has provided me with a wider breadth of experience.
Can you tell us about a pivotal point/proudest achievement in your career?
A pivotal point for me was when my then employer asked me to relocate to Hawaii for a promotion and to lead the contracts team for our West Coast operations. This was a challenging job because I was managing the staff in California, all the contracts in Korea, Japan and Hawaii, and was the leader of the shared services organization in Hawaii. The experience really helped me learn how to juggle time zones, staffing needs and prioritize my own portfolio. It was a great experience and set me on a path to get promoted again to an even more senior position.
What’s one thing that your colleagues don’t know or have been surprised by when they find out?
I love to sing and, as a child, once auditioned for a Broadway show. I was not successful, but it was a lot of fun trying. I am now a big fan of karaoke.
What was it about Noblis, our mission, or our culture that influenced your decision to come to, or stay at, Noblis?
After working for a publicly traded, large government contractor, I was looking for a company with more intimacy, less bureaucracy and a focus that was less about the bottom line. Noblis intrigued me because of the nonprofit status and strong mission focus. Because of its size, Noblis offers the best of both worlds – a small-company, family feel without a lot of red tape and well-established practices, policies and systems of a larger company.
Learn more about Noblis and how to work with us at noblis.org.
Learn more about Noblis’ commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion here.
