Leadership-level org chart with named principals, acting designations, PEO/PAE structure, and PMO portfolio. Includes search, expand/collapse, and source attribution.
Department of Veterans Affairs Organizational Structure
Current as of October 19, 2026 · department.va.gov Staff Biographies, all 115 entries read October 19, 2026• Secretary: Doug Collins (sworn in Feb 5, 2025)• RISE Initiative: 18 VISNs → 5 Operations Centers• Sources: department.va.gov Staff Biographies · VA OIT · fehrm.gov · Government Manual
Acting / Performing Duties
Vacant
RISE Initiative
Office of the Secretary Executive Leadership
12th Secretary of Veterans Affairs
The Hon. Douglas A. Collins
Sworn in Feb 5, 2025 · Trump 2nd Term
Senate Confirmed
Deputy Secretary / COO
Dr. Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D.
Confirmed March 27, 2025 · EHRM Program Lead for VA
Senate Confirmed
Chief of Staff
Curt Cashour
Effective Feb 13, 2026 · Iraq Vet · Bronze Star
General Counsel
James Baehr
General Counsel · per VA.gov Official Biographies (Aug 2026)
Three Administrations Primary Operating Pillars
Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
Under Secretary for Health
Acting · John Figueroa (also Senior Advisor to the Secretary)
Acting USH · permanent search underway
John Figueroa serves as Acting Under Secretary for Health and Senior Advisor to the Secretary, per VA.gov Official Biographies (verified Aug 25, 2026). John Bartrum, Senate-confirmed USH in December 2025, departed in early July 2026 after fewer than seven months; Dr. Lee Payne briefly covered the role and has returned to serving as Deputy Under Secretary for Health only. A search commission chaired by Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence continues recommending a permanent USH. Dr. Erica M. Scavella leads Clinical Services as Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Lee Payne · DUSH only (dual-hat as Acting USH ended)
AUSH for Clinical Services / CMO
Dr. Erica M. Scavella · Chief Medical Officer (org chart monitor, Aug 25, 2026)
Deputy Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Veterans Community Care (VCC)
Alicia Skolrood · named Oct 2026 · leads the Office of Veterans Community Care, the program office over CCN Next Gen · joined VHA in 2024 from healthcare management · per her own announcement; pending official confirmation on a VA page
Office of Veterans Community Care (VCC) · Executive Director, Networks and Contracts Management
Janet Cabeen · SES, sworn in Oct 20, 2026 · reports within VCC · leads CCN Next Gen, which pulls Veterans Care Agreements and local care contracts under one network structure and tightens TPA oversight · per her own announcement; pending official confirmation on a VA page
VHA Chief Operating Officer
⚠ BEING ELIMINATED under RISE Initiative
VHA Central Office (VHACO)
Policy, Financial Mgmt, Oversight, Compliance
RISE Initiative (Restructure for Impact & Sustainability Effort)
Announced Dec 15, 2025. Implementation: 2026 to 2027.
Key Structural Changes:
• 18 VISNs → 5 regions, supported by 15 Health Service Areas (HSAs), reporting directly to USH
• VHA COO position eliminated
• VHACO staff placed under USH, DUSH, or Associate DUSH
• New Medical Operations Center delivers consistent guidance to facilities
• Medical facility directors empowered with more local authority
• No RIF · staffing at VAMCs and clinics unchanged
Timeline: Leadership consolidation begins mid-2026; VISN realignment starts late 2026 and completes around mid-2027 (18 to 24 months). Projected cost at least $312M. Goal: Eliminate redundant bureaucracy, clearer accountability chain Secretary → front-line clinical leaders.
18 Current VISNs (Consolidating to 5 Regions)
VISN 1 · New England
VISN 2 · NY/NJ VA HCS
VISN 4 · VISN 4
VISN 5 · Capitol HC
VISN 6 · Mid-Atlantic
VISN 7 · SE Network
VISN 8 · Sunshine
VISN 9 · Mid South
VISN 10 · Great Lakes
VISN 12 · Midwest
VISN 15 · Heartland
VISN 16 · S Central
VISN 17 · TX Valley
VISN 19 · Mtn States
VISN 20 · Northwest
VISN 21 · Sierra Pacific
VISN 22 · SW HC
VISN 23 · Midwest HC
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)
Acting Under Secretary for Benefits
Margarita Devlin · Principal Deputy USB, performing the duties
Acting · Confirmation Required
Margarita Devlin is Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits per the department.va.gov Staff Biographies (verified Aug 25, 2026; re-read Oct 19, 2026) and leads the VBA front office while the USB seat awaits a confirmed appointee; the index lists no Under Secretary for Benefits. The same index lists Sandra D. Flint as Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations, VBA.
Manages nearly $200B in annual benefits. 56 Regional Offices nationwide.
Principal Deputy USBenefits · Margarita Devlin
Performing the duties of USB · VA.gov Official Biographies (Aug 2026)
VA workforce 300,000+ · VA.gov Official Biographies (Aug 2026)
AS for IT / Chief Information Officer
Gary Shatswell
Nominated April 21, 2026 (3rd nominee); SVAC hearing June 2026; not confirmed as of Oct 19, 2026. Lawrence still performing the CIO duties per the VA OIT page (verified Oct 19, 2026).
Nominated · Pending
AS for Management / CFO
Richard F. Topping
CFO · ~$350B total VA budget authority · VA.gov Official Biographies (Aug 2026)
AS for Public & Intergovernmental Affairs
Pete Kasperowicz
OPIA · VA.gov Official Biographies (Aug 2026)
Executive Directors & Independent Offices
Accountability & Whistleblower Protection (OAWP)
Theodore Radway
Employee accountability and whistleblower protections · org chart monitor (Aug 25, 2026); not on the Oct 19, 2026 Staff Biographies index
Inspector General · VA.gov Official Biographies (Aug 2026) · formerly BVA Chairman
Acquisition — OALC / Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) Office of Acquisition, Logistics & Construction
Principal Executive Director, OALC · VA CAO
Phillip W. Christy
Principal Executive Director, OALC & VA Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO)
AED & HCA, TAC
Jeffrey C. Neill
Associate Executive Director, Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) per department.va.gov Staff Biographies (Oct 19, 2026) · HCA designation per org chart monitor (Aug 25, 2026), not on the official bio
Acting Deputy AED, TAC
David Nostrant
Acting Deputy AED, TAC · also Director, Procurement Service E
Acting
Acting Executive Director, OSDBU
Chanel Bankston-Carter
Acting Executive Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization · department.va.gov Staff Biographies (Oct 19, 2026)
Acting
Procurement Systems Management
Evangelos Mihelis
Enterprise Acquisition Systems Service (EASS), OALC
External Partner · GSA FAS
Lawrence C. Hale
Assistant Commissioner, Office of Acquisition Solutions Development, FAS (GSA)
TAC Leadership
TAC provides acquisition, program management, and technical expertise to support procurement life-cycle management of enterprise-wide IT and communication solutions.
AED & HCA
Jeffrey C. Neill
Associate Executive Director, TAC per Staff Biographies (Oct 19, 2026) · HCA designation org chart monitor only (Aug 25, 2026)
COs: Matt Truex · Michael Marone · Kathryn Pantages · Edward Hebert
Service G — Kari Cozzens
Director
COs: Lori Walker · Claudetta Smith · Edgar Alonso-Bernal · Mary Accomando
Service H — Iris Farrell
Director
COs: Mina Awad · Diana Armesto · Kendra Casebolt · Newton Maloba
Service I — Josh Hammill
Director
COs: Ruth Smith · Ashley Rock · Wendella Baptiste · Stephanie Applegate
Service J — Juan Quinones
Director
COs: Ioannis Vardouniotis · Joseph Jones · David Long · Jason King
Engineering Services — Jon Smolenski
Director
Operations Services — Ariel Arrosa
Director
TAC Points of Contact
Small Business Specialist · Tony Owens
Reach via the TAC public contact page on va.gov
Customer Liaison · Richard Wortman
Reach via the TAC public contact page on va.gov
Delivery — Office of Information & Technology (OIT) IT Leadership & Mission Challenge Owners
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, OIT
Zack Schwartz
PDAS, OIT
Context: Sworn in late Jan 2026, replacing Eddie Pool; reports to Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence (acting CIO). Publicly stated “Incumbency is not a guarantee.” [MeriTalk 2026-02-03; FedScoop/ExecutiveGov 2026-06-19; VA OIT page, verified Oct 19, 2026]
Executive Director, Data Governance and Analytics, and Chief Data Officer, Office of Enterprise Integration (OEI) · department.va.gov Staff Biographies (Oct 19, 2026); prior “Acting DCIO, CRR” association removed as unverified
Enterprise Data Storage Environment
Acting DCIO · CCS
Jason Miller
Acting DCIO · Connectivity and Collaboration Services (CCS)
Acting
Technology Fielding and Logistics Pipeline
Exec Director, End User Operations · EUS
Jeff VanBemmel
Executive Director, End User Operations · End User Services (EUS)
Operational AI for IT Efficiency (AIOps)
Exec Director, Enterprise Command Operations · EUS
Bob Cunningham
Executive Director, Enterprise Command Operations · End User Services (EUS)
Intelligent Non-Human Agent (Tier 1 Contacts)
Acting VA CISO & Acting DAS · OIS
Jeff Spaeth
Acting VA CISO & Acting DAS · Office of Information Security (OIS)
Acting
Comply to Connect (“Bouncer”)
VA Chief AI Officer · OCTO
Dr. Kimberly McManus
VA Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer · Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO)
AI Expansion Across VA
DCIO · IO
Kendall Krebs
DCIO · Infrastructure Operations (IO)
Optimizing Workload Placement in a Hybrid Hosting Environment
Acting DCIO · PDS
Rob Orifici
Acting DCIO · Product Delivery Service (PDS)
Acting
Modernization with Purpose
Source: VA FY26 IT Advanced Planning Brief to Industry (APBI), presented June 17–18, 2026. APBI content is advisory and subject to change. Context lines marked with citations are verified public sources, not APBI claims.
FEHRM
Federal EHR Modernization · VA / DoD Joint Program
The Federal EHR Modernization (FEHRM) is jointly managed by VA and DoD (DHA). FEHRM Director Dr. Leslie Sofocleous (fehrm.gov/leadership lists “Dr. Leslie Sofocleous, Director”, page undated, read Oct 19, 2026; succeeded Bill Tinston) coordinates Oracle Cerner deployment across both enterprises. Per VA's EHR deployment schedule (updated Sept 15, 2026), 17 VA sites are live on the Federal EHR, including the 4 Michigan sites (Apr 11, 2026), 4 Ohio and Kentucky sites (Jun 6, 2026) and 3 Indiana sites (Aug 22, 2026); Anchorage and Cleveland are scheduled for Oct 24, 2026, 26 more sites follow in 2027, and all 170 medical centers are planned by Nov 2031. Deputy Secretary Lawrence personally oversees the EHRM program for VA, appearing weekly on the “Federal Electronic Health Record Update” internal program.
⚠ Risk Flag: The DHA April 2026 reorg · PAE “Construct Pending” status and HCDS recompete · creates a governance gap for FEHRM coordination on the DoD side during the IOC to FOC transition (target: Jul 19, 2026). On the VA side, the vacant CIO position (Gary Shatswell not confirmed as of Oct 19, 2026) adds further coordination risk for the joint program.
Sources: department.va.gov Staff Biographies (all 115 entries read Oct 19, 2026; va.gov/opa/bios now redirects to department.va.gov/biographies; Collins, Lawrence, Baehr, Bergin, Devlin, Engelbaum, Figueroa, Kasperowicz, Mason and Topping listed as charted since the Oct 5, 2026 read; Flint, Davis, Rosenmerkel, Neill and Bankston-Carter titles taken from the Oct 19, 2026 read) · VA OIT page (verified Oct 19, 2026) · fehrm.gov/leadership (undated, read Oct 19, 2026) · VA EHR deployment schedule (digital.va.gov, updated Sept 15, 2026) · SVAC hearing record (veterans.senate.gov) · US Government Manual · Federal News Network · NextGov · MMT org chart monitor (Aug 25, 2026) · Janet Cabeen's own SES announcement (Oct 20, 2026; not yet on the VA Staff Biographies index) · Mission Meets Tech Research · Current as of October 20, 2026. Glynn (OEI), Radway (OAWP) and Cabeen (VCC) are not on the official index and stay pending. Nodes citing only the org chart monitor are pending confirmation on an official page and are annotated as such.