The General Services Administration is looking for a new commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service.

GSA posted the FAS commissioner’s job announcement on USAJobs.gov Sept. 17.

This means Steve Kempf, who has been on a 60-day medical leave since July 30, will not be returning to the role of commissioner. He’s expected to return to GSA as a senior adviser to the administrator at the end of September.

Mary Davie, the assistant commissioner of FAS’s Office of Integrated Technology Services, has been the acting commissioner since Kempf went on leave.

Acting GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini sent an email to staff announcing the changes at FAS, in which he said “Kempf will be taking a significant new role at GSA,” according to sources.

Tangherlini’s email about Kempf follow the recent announcement of Dorothy Robyn becoming the new Public Building Service commissioner and the organizational changes he told the Senate about last week.

In that email, Tangherlini thanked Kempf and acting PBS Commissioner Linda Chero for their leadership over the last five months.

Kempf and FAS is caught up in the conference spending scandal. House lawmakers are pressing the agency for more information on a November 2010 conference honoring employees that cost FAS more than $268,000.

Kempf’s decision to take medical leave had nothing to do with the conference scandal, sources say.

The job posting, which closes Oct. 17, calls for someone to “deliver value and savings through innovative tools and solutions, acquisition expertise and a customer experience that is friendly, convenient, efficient and preferred.”

GSA appointed Kempf commissioner of FAS in July 2010 after spending three months in an acting capacity.

Kempf has been with GSA since 1992. He also has been the assistant commissioner for the FAS Office of Acquisition Management and the deputy assistant commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Services. He also worked at the Federal Systems Integration and Management Center during his career.

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