Why We Serve: Camille Hogan
In this series you’ll hear stories from USDSers and learn why they decided to join, why they stay, and how their work is making an impact for all Americans.
Camille Hogan (she/her), Procurement @ USDS HQ. Previously at the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center. From Boston, Massachusetts.
I started my civil service career as a summer intern at the General Services Administration after my freshman year of college. I was lucky to have the opportunity to stay on board throughout the school year as a federal co-op student and receive on the job training to become a contract specialist, while also finishing my bachelor’s degree. Growing up I had always wanted to be a lawyer, and when I graduated college I took a leap of faith and continued working full time while earning my law degree at night. I dove into learning the nuances of federal procurement regulations, contract negotiation tactics, administrative law, the whole nine yards. I used the skills I learned in law school to take apart complex problems and figure out solutions in my previous life as a contracting officer, and today as a procurement expert at USDS. What I’ve learned in my tenure in government is it always comes back to the money and the contracts, so crafting contracts well and spending taxpayer dollars wisely are very important skills!
Did you start pre or post-COVID? What’s the biggest difference you see?
I started at USDS in December 2019. The months before the pandemic seem like they both went by in a flash and a were a full USDS tour. Before the pandemic, I met many USDSers (in person!) and worked on a few different teams during that time; it is hard to believe it all fit into 4 months. I even got to take advantage of one of the perks of being an EOP employee when I won a raffle for tickets to the Kennedy Center and sat in the presidential box for a performance of My Fair Lady. Once it was clear that we were moving to fully remote during the pandemic, everything transitioned fairly smoothly. Group huddles quickly moved to zoom calls and sticky note brain storming sessions moved to Mural. In some sense it was actually easier to communicate with colleagues near and far because we could all be in the same “virtual room” and not juggling who was at which office on which day. The biggest difference is not having the ability to casually get to know other USDSers that aren’t working on the same projects as easily as it was in person.
What are you working on right now?
Currently, I am part of a USDS team working in collaboration with the CDC on Pandemic-Ready Interoperability Modernization Effort (PRIME). The mission of PRIME is to get better, faster, complete and accurate data to state and local public health departments so that they can take appropriate timely action. My team is specifically focusing on a project improving timeliness, completeness and quality of lab results and hospital utilization and capacity data reported to public health. As part of our project we do continuous user research with hospital users and state and local health authorities to understand how they report and collect data. We use that research to help identify opportunities and deliver solutions where automation can streamline processes. We are helping those that are on the frontlines of COVID-19 spend less time dealing with technology challenges and more time providing care to patients. I am truly grateful for that experience and hearing the feedback from users on how our work directly impacts their day and makes life even a little bit easier.
What has been the biggest challenge during your service?
The biggest challenge during my service at USDS has been battling imposter syndrome. Working at USDS you are part of an elite team working with people with incredible talents and expertise. Couple that with working on high visibility projects and top level stakeholders and the pressure can be very daunting. It can be easy to slide into a self-doubting mode. I try to remind myself that we are all brought on as digital service experts, and that each of our individual skill sets are valuable and contribute to the mission of delivering better government services to the American people through technology and design.
The best of technology.
The best of government.
And we want you.
We’re looking for the most tenacious designers, software engineers, product managers, and more, who are committed to untangling, rewiring and redesigning critical government services. You’ll join a team of the most talented technologists from across the private sector and government.
If you have questions regarding employment with the U.S. Digital Service, please contact us at usds@omb.eop.gov or visit our Hiring FAQ.
