President Donald Trump will nominate Michael Griffin, former NASA administrator, as principal deputy defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, Reuters reported Saturday.
Once confirmed, Griffin is expected to transition to the role of defense undersecretary for research and engineering by February 2018 as part of a reorganization plan the Defense Department announced in August.
DoD plans to split the AT&L undersecretary role into two positions in which one will oversee acquisition and sustainment functions – USDA&S – while the other undersecretary will be responsible for R&E efforts.
Griffin, who led NASA between 2005 and 2009, recently worked at Schafer Corp. as chairman and CEO.
He held various roles at NASA such as chief engineer and associate administrator for exploration.
He previously served as president and chief operating officer at In-Q-Tel and space department head at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Griffin also held senior leadership roles at Orbital ATK’s predecessor, Orbital Sciences, such as general manager of space systems group and CEO of the company’s Magellan systems division.
