Tom Sharpe, the senior procurement executive of the Treasury Department and long-time federal acquisition expert, has been named the new commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service.

Sharpe replaces Steve Kempf, who left in July to take long-term medical leave, as the head of GSA’s acquisition department.

Mary Davie, FAS’ assistant commissioner for IT services, had served as acting commissioner since then.

GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini called Sharpe’s appointment “another step forward” in a far-reaching effort to refocus the agency since it was rocked by a conference spending scandal last spring.

“[Sharpe’s] experience as an acquisition leader both in government and the private sector as well as his work representing a key customer of GSA at the Treasury Department make him uniquely qualified to help GSA better serve all of our partners,” Tangherlini said in a statement.

Sharpe has been Treasury’s senior procurement executive since September 2008 where he helped manage almost $6 billion in procurement spending annually. He’s responsible for Treasury-wide procurement policy, e-procurement initiatives, procurement career management, and oversight and continuous improvement of bureau procurement operations. He also has management responsibility for Treasury’s headquarters procurement operations, according to his biography.

Sharpe has worked in government for more than 20 years, including stints at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Defense Department. He also worked for IBM as a consultant.

Last summer, Sharpe was also featured in a special Federal News Radio feature “The who’s who of federal acquisition,” which recognized his efforts to help establish governmentwide strategic sourcing initiatives.

In an email to GSA staff, Tangherlini said Davie would return to her prior role as assistant commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Services.

“As we welcome Tom to the GSA team, I want to acknowledge the significant contributions of Acting Commissioner Mary Davie,” Tangherlini said in the email. “She did an outstanding job leading FAS at a very difficult time for GSA and we would not be where we are today without her hard work and dedication.”

GSA began looking for a new FAS commissioner in September. Sources say they received more than 40 applications and narrowed down their choices to three, including Raj Sharma of Censeo Consulting, Sharpe and Davie.

One industry source, who requested anonymity, said Sharpe’s appointment will not sit well with vendors. The source said Sharpe is not well received by companies.

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