Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation

The Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation (M/PRI) is the Under Secretary for Management’s central management analysis organization. M/PRI is comprised of three staffs that handle management policy, rightsizing, and innovation.

M/PRI’s Management Policy Staff provides analysis of cross-cutting issues for the Under Secretary for Management and other senior managers in the Department. Specifically, the Policy Staff

• Manages and coordinates press and public outreach in addition to Congressional outreach for the entire M-family of bureaus;
• Coordinates and oversees the Department’s initiatives within the President’s Management Agenda;
• Manages the Accountability Review Board (ARB) function for the Secretary of State;
• Acts as liaison with the Office of Inspector General(OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for M-family recommendations and findings;
• Provides advice and recommendations for cross-cutting issues when impasse is reached;
• Sets the policy for the Department’s central system data warehouse;

M/PRI’s Rightsizing Staff provides expertise to senior managers on chief of mission authority. The Rightsizing Staff

• Manages the NSDD-38 and country clearance processes;
• Conducts overseas staffing reviews of all missions on a rolling 5-year basis, as well as prior to planning any new embassy construction, in order to determine the minimum human resources required to meet foreign policy goals;
• Identifies potential efficiencies through outsourcing, empowerment of local staff, regionalization, and other rightsizing techniques;
• Works with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to provide advice and guidance regarding the President’s Management Agenda for Rightsizing the entire U.S. Government presence overseas;
• Serves as the principal State Department interlocutor with other agency headquarters on management issues overseas to facilitate interagency cooperation, eliminate duplicative activity, and optimize productivity;
• With USAID counterparts, manages the day-to-day activities of the Joint Management Council to ensure ongoing consolidation of overseas management platforms.

M/PRI’s Innovation Staff serves as the primary M representative to the Regional Initiatives Council (RIC) and leads regionalization/standardization activities, especially those with an overseas focus. The Innovation Staff

• Provides expertise in performance measurement and Department-wide
  management best practices to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction;
• Is the first liaison with the International Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS) Service Center and with private-sector experts in quality improvement, especially with regard to process mapping and ISO9000 as well as other leading-edge management tools;
• Is the business case manager for Post Administrative Software Suite (PASS) and serves as co-chair of the PASS steering committee;
• Serves as co-chair with the Office of Medical Services (MED) of the Avian Influenza Working Group to ensure that the Department is able to function in case of global pandemic.