Alex E. Bednarek
Alexandria,VA
Summary
Focused and dedicated policy professional considered a knowledgeable and effective team leader and talented problem solver with eight years of valuable transferable expertise. Significant experience building trust and lasting relationships with partners, both foreign and domestic. Attentive to detail when strategic planning, managing projects, and overseeing budgets and deliverables on challenging issues.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
International Project Manager
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
02.2021 - Current
- Utilize effective communication, technical expertise, strong networks, and problem-solving skills to manage the redirection and expansion of the Delivery Systems Threat Reduction (DSTR) team into a multi-faceted portfolio that encompasses work related to the counterproliferation of WMD-capable delivery systems and their related components and technologies
- Build critical relationships across the U.S. interagency, international organizations, and key foreign partner governments to execute effective bilateral capacity-building work and build foreign trust in the U.S. government
- Execute role as DoD Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), to effectively manage, expend, and track a budget of more than $6M annually, spread across multiple acquisition pathways - contracts, grants, and interagency orders
Program Officer
Nuclear Threat Initiative
07.2018 - 02.2021
- Provided vital substantive and logistical support across the portfolio of the International Fuel Cycle Strategies Team, which includes the Nuclear Threat Initiative's work with the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV), regional efforts to address safe and secure management of spent nuclear fuel, and efforts towards the strengthening of the international nuclear safeguards system
- Developed and helped maintain critical foreign relationships, and worked to build trust with foreign and domestic partners on challenging technical and political issues
Research Assistant
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
04.2018 - 07.2018
- Engaged with experts across the laboratory complex on issues related to cooperative threat reduction efforts between the United States and the Russian Federation since the end of the Cold War
- Drafted a unique analysis of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) using historical and budgetary analysis to explore how the ISTC has evolved in its strategy and mission to allow itself to continue as a useful tool for current and future science cooperation and threat reduction
Research Assistant
Nuclear Threat Initiative
08.2017 - 04.2018
- Researched and wrote extensively on the nexus of nuclear and radiological source material security and terrorist activities within the Russian, East European, and Central Asian regions
Intern
Nuclear Threat Initiative
09.2016 - 07.2017
- Researched and wrote extensively on the nexus of nuclear and radiological source material security and terrorist activities within the Russian, East European, and Central Asian regions
- Provided vital logistical and communications support for various regional workshops and meetings on radiological security both domestically and internationally, to include California, Russia, and Central Asia
Research Intern
House Foreign Affairs Committee
01.2016 - 04.2016
- Conducted high-level research on transnational organizations such as ISIL and Boko Haram, Iranian and North Korean nonproliferation, Cuban trade, and U.S. Policies towards these international players
- Drafted extensive technical background research products for preparation of members of Congress
Education
Master of Arts, Security Policy Studies -
George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs
05.2017
Bachelor of Music -
University of Texas At Austin, Butler School of Music
Austin, TX05.2015
Skills
- Briefing Senior Leaders
- Advanced Problem-Solving
- Strategic Planning
- Cross-cultural Communication
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Scope Management
- Technical Expertise - Defense Issues
- Requirements Analysis
Certification
- Class of 2020 Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Nuclear Scholar, 07/2020
- International Nuclear Safeguards Policy and Information Analysis Course, 06/2019
- Policy and Technical Fundamentals of International Nuclear Safeguards Workshop, 07/2018
- Bridging Disciplines Program, 05/2015
- Certificate of Global Studies - International Conflict, 05/2015
- Certificate of Completion - At least 15 hours completed and passed, 05/2015
Publications
- Military Micro Nuclear Reactors: Proliferation Problem or Energy Solution?, Alex Bednarek, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 02/2021, https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fspublic/publication/210223_PONI_Horizon_Vol.3.pdf?FCt2gpgWqqY22l2yu2hsZfFpMZRluhau
- Cooperative Spent Fuel Management Partnership in the Pacific Rim, Alex Bednarek, Andrew Newman, International Atomic Energy Agency, 06/2020, https://www.iaea.org/publications/14680/management-of-spent-fuel-from-nuclear-power-reactors (supplementary files)
- IPNDV in the context of the upcoming NPT RevCon, Alex Bednarek, European Leadership Network, 03/2020, https://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/commentary/ipndv-in-the-context-of-the-upcoming-npt-revcon/
- Security and Proliferation Risks Associated with Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel, Andrew Newman, Alex Bednarek, September 2019 American Nuclear Society Global/Top Fuel Conference
- 5 Questions About Verifying North Korean Denuclearization, Corey Hinderstein, Alex Bednarek, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 10/2018, https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/10/05/5-questions-about-verifying-north-korean-denuclearization-pub-77834
- The International Science and Technology Center: Product of the Past or Prototype for the Future?, Alex Bednarek, Center for Global Security Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 07/2018, https://cgsr.llnl.gov/content/assets/docs/ISTC_paper_Bednarek.pdf
Additional Information
- Active DoD TS/SCI Clearance with Counterintelligence Polygraph
Timeline
International Project Manager
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
02.2021 - Current
Program Officer
Nuclear Threat Initiative
07.2018 - 02.2021
Research Assistant
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
04.2018 - 07.2018
Research Assistant
Nuclear Threat Initiative
08.2017 - 04.2018
Intern
Nuclear Threat Initiative
09.2016 - 07.2017
Research Intern
House Foreign Affairs Committee
01.2016 - 04.2016
Master of Arts, Security Policy Studies -
George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs
Bachelor of Music -
University of Texas At Austin, Butler School of Music
- Class of 2020 Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Nuclear Scholar, 07/2020
- International Nuclear Safeguards Policy and Information Analysis Course, 06/2019
- Policy and Technical Fundamentals of International Nuclear Safeguards Workshop, 07/2018
- Bridging Disciplines Program, 05/2015
- Certificate of Global Studies - International Conflict, 05/2015
- Certificate of Completion - At least 15 hours completed and passed, 05/2015
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