Kent named deputy assistant manager for administration for DOE Oak Ridge

Melanie M. Kent was recently named deputy assistant manager for administration in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

In her new position, Kent will support the assistant manager for administration in developing and executing policies and plans for public relations, real estate and personal property management, multiple activities involving ORO’s management of the 33,000-acre DOE federal reservation in Oak Ridge, and management and operation of some 28 federally-owned facilities, a press release said.

It said Kent brings a wealth of knowledge, skills, and abilities to her new position that will assist managers in the organization to improve the quality and delivery of critical business and technical services provided to clients in Oak Ridge and the DOE’s Office of Science program throughout the United States.

“I am pleased to see Melanie in this role at ORO,” said Don Thress, acting ORO manager. “She is a seasoned manager, whose experience and forward-thinking will be of great value to the administration program.”

Kent began her federal career in 1979 in the human resources arena. She served as the chief, Federal Human Resources Branch, in the DOE ORO from May 2001 to April 2015, when she was promoted to the position of human resources director at ORO.

Kent has supported DOE on multiple headquarters-level teams and committees during her career. She served as a lead auditor for talent management and strategic alignment on several Human Capital Management and Accountability Program audits. She was an active participant on the core team responsible for the design and implementation of the Department’s Corporate Human Resources Information System and was instrumental in the evaluation, selection, and implementation of QuickHire as the department’s first automated applicant system and predecessor to the current Hiring Management system, the release said.

Most recently, she has worked closely with the Office of Human Capital Management to stand up the department’s Shared Service Center for Science and Energy in Oak Ridge.

Kent has a bachelor’s degree in business management with emphasis in human resources from Tennessee Technological University.

She and her husband, David, have two children. They live in Clinton.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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