Mr. Jessie Wood Jr., a native of Denver, Colorado, began his federal career serving on active duty for the U.S. Air Force from 1980 until his retirement in 2000.  While in the Air Force, he graduated from the University of Maryland Global Campus with a Bachelor of Science in Management.  Immediately following his retirement from the Air Force, Wood began his civilian Human Resources (HR) career with The Home Depot in 2000 where he was responsible establishing a customer service culture, driving the effective execution of all HR processes, talent management, performance management, and associate engagement for 10 stores and over 1,400 employees. 
 
In 2010, Wood accepted an HR position with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide the southeastern regional management with on-site leadership and direction on a broad range of HR issues.  In 2011, Wood accepted a promotion to the National Park Service (NPS) as the HR program manager for the HR Operation Center.  He and his team of over 90 HR professionals were responsible for the customer relationship management, classification, employee benefits, seasonal recruitment, and transactional HR processing for over 25,000 NPS employees. 

In 2016, Wood accepted a reassignment within the NPS as the business services officer, a key strategic advisor to the SES and the management team.  He managed a $45 million budget and provided administrative, financial, and program support.  In 2020, he accepted another reassignment with the NPS as the national veteran program manager to serve as the authoritative consultant and key advisor to all management officials and supervisors within the NPS regarding veteran recruitment and initiatives. 
 
In November 2020, Wood reported to his current assignment as the HR deputy director for the Naval Education and Training Command at Naval Air Station Pensacola.

Last Updated: 30 August 2022