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# Mr. J. Aaron Harding

##### **Assistant Director, Office of Business OperationsChief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Defense Security Cooperation Agency**

 

Mr. Harding serves as the DSCA Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer and is the senior executive overseeing all DSCA financial, information technology, physical security, and facility policy and operations. He is responsible for managing the financial aspects of the Foreign Military Sales program and Foreign Military Sales Trust Fund with a total program value of over half a trillion dollars, to include the Foreign Military Financing Program. Additionally, he is responsible for oversight of the programming, budgeting, financial execution, and reporting for a variety of security cooperation programs.

Mr. Harding served as the Acting Deputy Director of DSCA for six months. In this capacity, he was responsible for oversight of DSCA’s diverse portfolio of Security Cooperation programs and for working with external stakeholders to synchronize DSCA activities with foreign policy and national security objectives.  Additionally, he directly supported the transformational reorganization of the agency to improve operational effectiveness and better align to the National Defense Strategy.

Mr. Harding joined DSCA in 2013 as the Comptroller responsible for all financial operations and audit readiness activities.  In this capacity, Mr. Harding led the successful migration from two separate legacy accounting systems to the Department’s Defense Agency Initiative (DAI).  Additionally, he oversaw the formulation, execution, and financial reporting for over $12 billion annually in Security Cooperation and Security Assistance resources.  He served as the acting DSCA CIO for a nine-month period, in which time he led the divesture of all common Information Technology (IT) functions to the Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) and laid the ground work for improved governance and portfolio management capabilities for DSCA business systems.

Prior to joining DSCA, Mr. Harding served as the Assistant Director for Program and Budget within WHS, responsible for financial management support, to include performance management and analytical support, to Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), WHS, and multiple Defense Agencies and miscellaneous organizations.

Mr. Harding began his federal career with the Department of Defense in 1994 as an IT professional.  He later joined the private sector as a government IT contractor where his experience spanned a number of Federal Agencies to include the Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense.  In 2004, Mr. Harding rejoined federal service as an IT manager within the WHS responsible for the financial, acquisition, and executive domains.

Mr. Harding has earned his Department of Defense Financial Management Certification (Level 3), Basic Security Cooperation Certification, and is a Certified Defense Financial Manager (CDFM). 

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