Secret’s out: National Archives searches for new FOIA chief
Lovers of open government take note: The federal government is on the hunt for a new Freedom of Information Act ombudsman.
The Office of Government Information Services has been under the leadership of acting Director Nikki Gramian since its award-winning founding director retired late last year. But now OGIS, an office within the National Archives and Record Administration that oversees federal FOIA activities, is searching for a permanent chief.
The new director would manage programs that “contribute to the effective administration of the FOIA,” mediate FOIA disputes and provide input on policies related to FOIA, according to the Thursday posting on USA Jobs.
During an event last October, then-Director Miriam Nisbet hailed one interagency effort to improve the FOIA process — FOIAonline — as a significant achievement. FOIAonline is a digital processing system for FOIA requests and is used by a number of units, including the U.S. Navy, Commerce Department and General Services Administration.
“To say it’s a success is not overstating things,” Nisbet said at the time.
Late last year, the National Archives posted another top-level job: director of the Federal Register, the “newspaper” of the government that publishes federal notices and executive orders. Both positions require top-secret clearance.
The OGIS director job pays between $121,000 to $168,000 a year. The application closes March 12.
