March 21, 2009 - Federal Auto Task Force, Washington D.C.

Obama auto team recruiting

Task force e-mail invites Wall St. financial experts -- with no recent industry experience -- to apply.

Obama auto team recruiting

Task force e-mail invites Wall St. financial experts -- with no recent industry experience -- to apply.

Wanted: Financial experts for what might be a year-long assignment in Washington, helping restructure the auto industry. Long hours. Government wages. Must not have worked for an auto company in the past 12 months.

That, in a nutshell, is the message from the Obama administration's Task Force on the Auto Industry, which is urgently trying to increase the size of its shoestring staff, as it scrutinizes the books of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, as part of its broad review of the entire auto industry.

Harry J. Wilson, a new member of the task force, recently sent an e-mail that circulated on Wall Street, seeking applicants for up to four jobs on the autos team. The task force's findings will help chart the government's role in the future of the U.S. auto industry.

"Our team is quite small," said Wilson, formerly of Silver Point Capital and the Blackstone Group, in the March 13 e-mail obtained by The Detroit News.

"The work is incredibly intense. The amount of work is massive, the timelines are tight and the level of focus is also very high."

Reached by phone Friday, Wilson declined to comment on his e-mail. The White House and Treasury Department also declined to comment, but confirmed Wilson's hiring and didn't dispute the accuracy of the e-mail.

That message said the team was looking for up to two hires in each of two job categories: principal/vice president level and associate/analyst level. Candidates should have eight to 12 years experience and be "sufficiently intellectually and professionally nimble." The analyst would have "the same skills," with less experience.

While "automotive knowledge experience is a plus," candidates and their close relatives could not have worked or served on the board of directors for an auto-related company or the United Auto Workers in the past 12 months.

Furthermore, the communication said, candidates "must divest any auto-related investments (liquid or illiquid) held by you, your spouse or your dependent children."

The restrictions may raise a few eyebrows.

Some Michigan members of Congress, including U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, have grumbled that the Obama task force doesn't have anyone with auto experience -- though they praised the selection of Ron Bloom, special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers. Bloom previously worked, albeit briefly, as an informal adviser to the UAW in 2005, reviewing GM's finances.

David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said the Obama team has its work cut out for it.

"It takes a long time to learn this very complicated industry," he said. The group, Cole said, should seek to add staffers with automotive or manufacturing experience.

The ethics rules, he said, disqualify some people who could be very helpful. But employees with Wall Street expertise may help prod GM's bondholders into accepting a deal to reduce the automaker's debt, as called for in the company's request for $13.4 billion in loans

Wilson's e-mail said it is expected that the task force will be in place "for 6 to 12 months" -- though he said events "could certainly overtake that time frame, in either direction."

Dealing with the bureaucracy is an important and daily part of the job, he said, and the task force hopes to hire immediately. It's unclear if anyone has been hired this week.

On Friday afternoon, a half-dozen members of the Obama auto team, including Steve Rattner, a top Treasury adviser, and Diana Farrell, the deputy National Economic Council director, were seen emerging from a White House meeting.

The Obama administration's 25-member team, which is reviewing GM's books, is staffed by consultants hired by the Treasury Department and government officials.

The smaller team, of which Wilson is now a part of, is working out of the U.S. Treasury Department, toiling nearly around the clock. Last week, key staffers met in Michigan with GM and Chrysler officials.

GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner affirmed the intensity of the effort, saying the company gets e-mails from the auto team nearly every day and at all hours.

Original Story - Detroit News