Wendy Baca started her career in 1987 with the Department of Energy in what was then known as the Albuquerque Operations Office. She was hired to fill the W87-1 Small Inter-continental Ballistic Missile (SICBM) Program Engineer position where one of her first tasks was to issue the Phase 3, Development Engineering, authorization to the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex. Although the program was canceled a short time later, she continued to work in numerous Federal Program Manager roles for the next 25 years. The majority of Wendy’s work focused on the ICBM programs where she was also the Director of the DOE’s and later, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s), ICBM Division for 9 years. During that time, her primary focus was the First Production Unit through completion of the W87 Alt 342, which was also referred to as the W87 Life Extension Program. Wendy’s other Federal Program Manager positions included the Pantex Stage Right Program, the AT-400A Pit Container, the DOE/NNSA Dismantlement Program, Plutonium Sustainment, and the Modernization Programs.

After retiring from DOE/NNSA in 2012, Wendy worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as an Executive Advisor in the Principal Associate Directorate for the Weapons Program. In 2015, Wendy became the Director of the Integrated Program Management Office in the Plutonium Science and Manufacturing Division where she focused on the ongoing LANL Production Agency efforts to include plutonium pits.

Wendy worked at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) from February 2017 until October 2022. She started in the Military Liaison Department as the W80-1/W84 Field Engineer and she finished her SNL career as the Manager of the Accident Response Group and Legacy Hardware Laboratory Department.

In 2021, Wendy joined TechSource Inc’s Weapons Knowledge Preservation and Transfer Program where she works with the team to develop and deliver instructional modules for new and mid-career employees across the Nuclear Security Enterprise. As a Subject-Matter-Expert, Wendy provides lessons learned, experiences, and perspectives regarding the NNSA’s Weapons Acquisition Process that she has gained over the past 35 years.

Since November 2022, Wendy has also been a consultant with MELE Associates where she is part of the NNSA’s Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation “Reserve Force” which is a cadre of retired employees that provides expertise and support to the NNSA’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team.

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