Charlie Phalen to Head Background Check Bureau
Charles Phalen will head the Office of Personnel Management's National Background Investigations Bureau.
He will report to the OPM Director and leads a newly established entity within the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, a government-wide service provider for background investigations. He will also partner with the Department of Defense, which is responsible for designing, building, securing, and operating the NBIB information technology systems.
In his previous position, Phalen was Vice President, Corporate Security for Northrop Grumman Corporation and led the security organization, responsible for overseeing the security policies, procedures and processes that protect company employees, information and property.
Prior to that, Phalen spent 30 years in the federal service. His most recent government positions include Director of Security for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Assistant Director, Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief, Protective Programs Group, CIA Office of Security; Executive Officer, CIA Office of Security; Center Chief, CIA Office of Facilities and Security Services; and Chief, Facilities and Information Security Division, National Reconnaissance Office. Previously, he worked in or managed security activities involving investigations, operations support, risk analysis, and facility and asset protection, in the United States and abroad.
Phalen has a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and criminology from the University of Maryland. He is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security and is active in a number of external security forums.
The NBIB was announced in January as a replacement to OPM's current Federal Investigative Services system. The creation of the NBIB was precipitated by a series of hacks on Office of Personnel Management personnel and security clearance systems in 2014 that compromised the information of more than 20 million Americans.
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