Before returning to the Decennial Directorate, Thieme was the chief of the Center for Adaptive Design in the Research and Methodology Directorate. In this position, he led the effort to implement adaptive survey design and IT system modernization with an enterprise approach that reduced duplication and increased efficiency both in the development of IT systems and in the application of modeling and analytics to data collection operations. He was also the Research and Methodology Directorate’s senior manager for information technology, working to enable on-demand expansion and contraction of high-performance computing services for critical research and business applications using both internal (data center) and external (cloud) resources.

Thieme began his federal career in 1990 as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Grenada, West Indies, where he was a business development advisor. From there he joined the Peace Corps Staff at headquarters in Washington, D.C. At the Census Bureau, he has served in a number of roles, including Chief of the Decennial Systems and Contracts Management Office (DSCMO) in the 2010 Census, as well as the Systems Engineering and Integration Lead for the 2020 Census Research and Testing Program. He spent six years as the assistant division chief for Geographic Program Management in the Geography Division, and held positions in the Information Technology Directorate, Field Division during Census 2000, and on the Budget and Cost-Modeling Staff in the Decennial Management Division.

Thieme has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas and attended the Federal Executive Institute. He also holds a master’s certificate in information technology project management from George Washington University and is a certified project management professional. He has two grown daughters, and lives with his wife and two dogs in Staunton, Virginia.