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James (Jim) L. Ropelewski, J.D., DBIA, PIPI
Principal ROPE Strategies, LLC |
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Federal Career
Jim served 16+ years with the U.S. Department of Justice, in both senior legal and operations positions. As an attorney, he specialized in government contracts and construction litigation, defending his clients against multi-million dollar bid protests, claims and disputes, including two Terminations for Default. He also served as Chief of Construction Contracting and Deputy Chief of Procurement. In both roles he directed the procurement process for all new Federal detention construction and established an integrated Design-Build program. The program was recognized by DBIA as one of the most successful, forward-looking design and construction approaches in the public sector. He also developed and implemented a structured Partnering Program, which resulted in faster and more effective issue resolution and dramatically reduced the number of claims. The Association of General Contractors of America awarded the Partnering Program its Marvin Black Award for extraordinary teamwork in resolving construction issues.
Jim served in the U.S. Department of Education in various leadership roles, including Director of Contracting, Senior Procurement Executive, Suspension and Debarment Official, and Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Management and Operations. In those roles, he oversaw contracts, procurement policy, indirect cost negotiations, audit resolution, and internal controls. During his tenure he integrated best practices from public and private sectors to establish an Acquisition Fellowship Program consisting of extensive hard and soft skill training and developmental rotations and an Executive Coaching Program for all managers to enhance their effectiveness as leaders. He also implemented a risk-based review process to evaluate program office acquisitions, establishing a scoring methodology to align risk level with review frequency to encourage improvement.
Jim completed his Federal service as an Assistant Inspector General in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Office of Personnel Management, working directly with the Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Appropriations staff on budget formulation and execution, overseeing the modernization of the OIG’s data warehouse (migrating from an on-premise data center to the cloud), and establishing an Information Assurance Group to improve the OIG’s IT security posture. He also led the effort to incorporate strategic foresight techniques into the 5-year OIG Strategic Plan through the use of issue scanning, trend identification, and scenario development and introduced it to the broader OIG Community.
Post Federal Career - ROPE Strategies, LLC (RopeStrat)
Drawing on these diverse Federal experiences, Jim has established a unique advisory services firm that provides a holistic approach to major capital construction projects, focused in four disciplines: Risk Righting, Owner Advisor Services, Partnering/Mediation, and Executive Development/Strategic Foresight. The following lists include some of the organizations that have received RopeStrat services:
Jim served 16+ years with the U.S. Department of Justice, in both senior legal and operations positions. As an attorney, he specialized in government contracts and construction litigation, defending his clients against multi-million dollar bid protests, claims and disputes, including two Terminations for Default. He also served as Chief of Construction Contracting and Deputy Chief of Procurement. In both roles he directed the procurement process for all new Federal detention construction and established an integrated Design-Build program. The program was recognized by DBIA as one of the most successful, forward-looking design and construction approaches in the public sector. He also developed and implemented a structured Partnering Program, which resulted in faster and more effective issue resolution and dramatically reduced the number of claims. The Association of General Contractors of America awarded the Partnering Program its Marvin Black Award for extraordinary teamwork in resolving construction issues.
Jim served in the U.S. Department of Education in various leadership roles, including Director of Contracting, Senior Procurement Executive, Suspension and Debarment Official, and Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Management and Operations. In those roles, he oversaw contracts, procurement policy, indirect cost negotiations, audit resolution, and internal controls. During his tenure he integrated best practices from public and private sectors to establish an Acquisition Fellowship Program consisting of extensive hard and soft skill training and developmental rotations and an Executive Coaching Program for all managers to enhance their effectiveness as leaders. He also implemented a risk-based review process to evaluate program office acquisitions, establishing a scoring methodology to align risk level with review frequency to encourage improvement.
Jim completed his Federal service as an Assistant Inspector General in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Office of Personnel Management, working directly with the Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Appropriations staff on budget formulation and execution, overseeing the modernization of the OIG’s data warehouse (migrating from an on-premise data center to the cloud), and establishing an Information Assurance Group to improve the OIG’s IT security posture. He also led the effort to incorporate strategic foresight techniques into the 5-year OIG Strategic Plan through the use of issue scanning, trend identification, and scenario development and introduced it to the broader OIG Community.
Post Federal Career - ROPE Strategies, LLC (RopeStrat)
Drawing on these diverse Federal experiences, Jim has established a unique advisory services firm that provides a holistic approach to major capital construction projects, focused in four disciplines: Risk Righting, Owner Advisor Services, Partnering/Mediation, and Executive Development/Strategic Foresight. The following lists include some of the organizations that have received RopeStrat services:
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Owners/Agencies
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Contractors/Design Firms/Construction Management Firms
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