Whitney Jones is the Director, Submarine Industrial Base (SIB), a component of the Navy’s (DON) Program Executive Office, Strategic Submarines (PEO SSBN).

As Director of SIB, Jones is responsible for leading enterprise efforts to develop and deploy the industrial base capacity and capability required to build and sustain submarine warfighting needs. In this capacity, Jones is accountable for collaborative efforts across defense workforce, technology, infrastructure development, process change, and data analytics. Her role focuses on fostering relationships between Navy and industry to improve communications, industrial processes, and capacity planning.

Before assuming the role as Director in February 2022, Jones served as Deputy, Shipbuilding Industrial Base Task Force, where she leveraged her shipbuilding acquisition and supply chain experience to coordinate cross-enterprise projects and oversee strategic communications. She also led Navy Enterprise response, engagement, and assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on the defense industrial base, working closely with industry to mitigate the pandemic’s impact on key suppliers by maintaining defense supply chains as part of “critical infrastructure” exempt from work stoppages.

Additionally, she served as the submarine enterprise lead for a Columbia (CLB) and Virginia Submarine (VCS) Industrial Base assessment with Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) Cost Assessment Program Evaluation (CAPE). During the same time period, she implemented submarine enterprise efforts on benchmark setting workforce development pilots including Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) and the Pennsylvania Talent Pipeline Project.

From 2017-2019 Jones gained valuable defense industry experience in roles that included strategy and communications support for the Columbia Class Submarine Program, and Strategy/Business Development for a major defense electronics supplier. Prior to these roles, she served in Team Ships, where she provided direct strategic communications and management support to the Flag Officer and Executive Director of Surface Ship Maintenance, Modernization, and Sustainment.

From 2015-2016, Jones was the Director of Operations for the DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer Program. In this role, and in the year leading up to first-of-class delivery, she was responsible for all strategic operations and internal and external communications for the DDG 1000 program, to include setting program priorities and managing daily execution of program resources.

Early in her Navy civilian career, Jones served as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for a number of multi-million dollar projects, to include Primary COR on a Follow-On Technical Support (FOTS) services contract valued at $1.3B and requiring over 300 contracting actions per year in support of technical services and procurements. She began her career as the Communications Coordinator for the United Service Organization (USO) in Fort Myer, VA.

Jones earned her Bachelor of Arts in media & communications (with honors) from The University of Virginia in 2006. She has also earned Program Management Ceritifcation from the Defense Acquisition University. Her awards include DON Innovation Excellence Acquisition Team of the Year (July 2021) and numerous special action and performance awards  from both her industry and government service.