Richard Spires, former chief information officer and later deputy commissioner for operational support at the Internal Revenue Service, is leaving. Spires, who oversaw much of the agency's modernization effort, announced this week that he would be leaving the agency "sometime in the next few months."

In an e-mail to staff, Spires wrote, "I believe that, having assisted Linda Stiff in her acting commissioner capacity and now having helped Commissioner [Douglas] Shulman transition into his new position, this is the right time for me to move on. It is very important that Commissioner Shulman be able to build a team that can work with him for the duration of his five-year term."

Spires left his post as president of consulting firm Mantas Inc. to join the IRS in 2004 as associate chief information officer reporting to CIO Todd Grams. He joined the agency at a time when the multibillion-dollar modernization effort was suffering from cost overruns and delays, and is credited with helping turn improve the program's management.

In one of his last interviews with Nextgov.com in March, Spires talked about completing back-office improvements to the Customer Account Data Engine, which replaced the decades-old Master File system. "Through March 7, CADE processed 15.1 million individual tax returns out of the more than 59 million received. In 2007, CADE processed a total of 11.2 million returns," according to the article. "Certainly the volumes speak for themselves," Spires said. "Additional infrastructure capabilities have made the system more robust. We feel good about its performance. It's worked exceedingly well."

Spires says he will pursue new career opportunities after leaving the IRS. His e-mail announcing his departure is posted below in its entirety:

As you have just read in Commissioner Shulman’s message, I will be leaving the IRS sometime in the next few months to pursue new career opportunities. I believe that, having assisted Linda Stiff in her Acting Commissioner capacity and now having helped Commissioner Shulman transition into his new position, this is the right time for me to move on. It is very important that Commissioner Shulman be able to build a team that can work with him for the duration of his five-year term.

I have tremendously enjoyed my time at the IRS and I am proud of all we have been able to accomplish. When I joined the IRS in early 2004, I planned to be here for only a four-year term, which I have already exceeded. My hope and goal was that, before I left the IRS, I would make a real difference, particularly in which the way the IRS executes its IT modernization strategy. I feel proud of the accomplishments that we have achieved together.

I have been so impressed by the quality and dedication of the employees at the IRS. I want to thank those of you who work for me in the Operations Support organization. As I learned over the past year, each of you plays a key role in helping the IRS achieve its mission. In particular I want to acknowledge those of you in the MITS organization. You faced and admirably met the challenges of the past year, including implementing the system changes to support the late passage of the Alternative Minimum Tax and the Economic Stimulus Payment program. I know that the improvements we made in MITS over the past few years position you to meet future challenges successfully.

During the remaining weeks of my tenure at the IRS, I hope to see and thank many of you in person.

Richard Spires