James
Sigg
Leadership Role
Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Chief Operating Officer - Office of Operations
James “Jim” Sigg is the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he maintains oversight of FDA’s operations worldwide to include ethics, equal employment opportunity, human resources, safety and security, facilities, acquisition, and financial management oversight of $6 billion.
More specifically, Mr. Sigg has led several key initiatives on behalf of and in support of FDA to include but not limited to:
- Leading FDA’s operational response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure a safe and operable FDA’s workforce.
- Expanding FDA’s recruitment strategy to hire at an unprecedented rate and mitigate attrition during a global pandemic.
- Leading and facilitating HHS’ call to deploy over 250 volunteers to support the Unaccompanied Children Mission of minors entering the United States without immigration status, and
- Collaborating with the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) to reduce harm from opioid addiction and abuse through advancing high priority International Mail Facility (IMF) expansion needs, further protecting the safety and health of families.
Mr. Sigg has been with the FDA for over 30 years. He previously served as the Associate Director for Management, Executive Officer, and Director of the Office of Management in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). In these roles, he managed CBER’s annual budget of $300 million and provided executive leadership in the areas of workforce development, budget formulation and execution, resource management, program planning and evaluation, and other administrative services that support CBER’s public health mission. Mr. Sigg advised CBER’s Director and senior executives on Center-wide administrative functions including financial management, human resources, and procurement. Under his leadership, he strategically managed the move of over 1,100 employees and contractors, 70 laboratories and approximately 14,000 research animals from eight locations to the FDA White Oak Campus with no disruption to critical regulatory and administrative operations.
Mr. Sigg earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Saint Francis College. He has been the recipient of three Commissioner’s Special Citation awards for his contributions in leading improvements in human resources efforts and has received multiple awards and citations for his extraordinary leadership in managing fiscal responsibilities and staffing.