Her Story
About Domonique
Domonique L. Banks is a seasoned contracting and procurement professional serving as a Contracting Officer and CS14 with the DC Department of General Services (DGS). With extensive experience in government contracting, procurement, compliance, and contract management, Domonique has built a career focused on delivering effective, efficient, and high-quality services for the public sector. Since joining DGS in 2015, she has advanced through positions including Contract Specialist Team Lead and Lead Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer, taking on increasing responsibility for procurement activities, contract negotiations, and stakeholder management.
Before joining District government, Domonique developed a strong foundation in private-sector operations and federal contracting through her extensive career with Ricoh Americas Corporation. Her work included supporting federal bids and sales, managing customer accounts, analyzing contracts, overseeing operational processes, and advising on federal e-commerce solicitations and procurement requirements. Domonique also served as a Midwest Region Senior Business Support Analyst, where she managed sales commission processes, financial analysis, corporate compliance activities, and audits. Earlier in her career, she worked as a Restaurant Manager and Administrative Finance Analyst, gaining valuable experience in team leadership, budgeting, process improvement, customer service, and operational management.
Throughout her career, Domonique has distinguished herself through relationship building, analytical thinking, contract negotiation, and a commitment to continuous process improvement. In her current role, she oversees procurement activities and collaborates with contractors and stakeholders to support the delivery of essential goods and services, including facility-management needs. Domonique attributes much of her professional success to establishing meaningful relationships and becoming a trusted partner who can deliver results on time and within budget. She values transparency, respect, accountability, and collaboration, and encourages professionals entering procurement to embrace the industry's evolving laws, procedures, and processes while remaining adaptable and committed to continuous learning.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Domonique
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my ability to establish very good, solid relationships with stakeholders. By nature, I'm a bit of a people pleaser, and while that can be an Achilles heel, it has afforded me to establish really good, meaningful relationships with stakeholders, so that they understand that they can rely on me, and they depend on me to deliver what they need, in the time that they need it, on budget.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received came from my former supervisor whose position I took over. She always told me to always follow my CPO's lead and to never allow the CPO to be caught in the blind. My responsibility is to keep the CPO abreast, and make sure that they are aware, be transparent.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You have to want to work in procurement, and you really have to nerd out on the procurement processes and understanding the laws and the procedures. If you love writing, if you love watching things come to fruition from cradle to grave, you will enjoy procurement, because the day is never the same. There's always some new nuance. So it's not boring, it's not monotonous, it's ever-changing. And you do need to be flexible. You need to know how to work within the box, but all the way up to the lines of the box.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is talent retention and finding talent that really understands procurement and wants to be in this environment and understands the rigors of how challenging this job can be. Opportunities include training and collaboration, as procurement is constantly changing, allowing us to collaborate and think about how to procure services and goods more strategically with counterparts in other jurisdictions and the federal government.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
One of the most important values is being respected and being relied on. It's not the money for me. I really work hard to be respected, valued and considered a partner. And I think that's in my personal life, too, is being seen as value to my family and my friends.
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