Melissa Starinsky is the Director and Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) for the Office of Acquisition & Grants Management within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. As the Director and HCA, she is responsible for overseeing the execution of more than $7 billion annually in discretionary contract, grant, and interagency spend.

Ms. Starinsky began her career as an acquisition intern in 1989 with the U.S. Department of the Navy and has since held various acquisition, policy, and programmatic leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. General Services Administration, and the private sector. Ms. Starinsky has an extensive background in contracting operations, having previously served as a Contracting Officer on billion dollar programs-including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Strategic Information Systems Technology Integration Resources, which was the agency's then largest and first multiple award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity type contract, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Medicare Administrative Contractor contracts. She also was the Contracting Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' first seat management contract in 1999 and was the Office of Acquisition & Grants Management's Deputy Director from 2011 to 2013.

Ms. Starinsky has significant experience in advancing the capabilities of the acquisition workforce through her prior roles as the Director of the Federal Acquisition Institute at the U.S. General Services Administration and the Chancellor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy; both are award-winning organizations where she was responsible for developing and executing human capital and career development strategies for hundreds of thousands of civilian agency acquisition workforce members.

Ms. Starinsky holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland. She also is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute.