Derek has held senior technical and leadership roles across the federal government, in both the executive and legislative branches. At the U.S. Department of the Treasury, he served as deputy undersecretary for legislative affairs, overseeing the department's technical assistance on legislation and advising the secretary on congressional oversight, hearing preparation, and legislative strategy. Derek also led the Senate confirmation of presidential nominees, including other senior Treasury officials, the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors.
While serving concurrently as chief of staff and head of legislative affairs at Treasury, Derek performed the duties of deputy secretary. In that capacity, his responsibilities extended across the department's policy and enforcement portfolios. He supplied guidance to the department’s bureaus and coordinated with interagency counterparts on banking policy, artificial intelligence, energy, international development, investment policy, and sanctions. He also supervised public affairs, human resources, information technology, cybersecurity, and agency operations.
As counselor to the secretary, Derek participated at the highest level in negotiations on multilateral global tax policy and the major domestic tax legislation enacted during 2025. He coordinated work across tax and trade matters, providing leadership to lawyers and economists in the Office of Tax Policy and directing review of tax- and trade-related executive orders.
Derek previously advised the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on tax, trade, financial services, and retirement policy. As chief tax counsel at the Committee on Ways and Means, he served as the House’s senior technical tax advisor, counseling members and staff, and leading a team of lawyers and professional staff responsible for stewardship of the Internal Revenue Code. In that capacity, he worked across the aisle to develop and pass significant bipartisan retirement legislation in 2022.
Earlier in his career, Derek served as senior tax counsel to a U.S. senator and contributed to the design and drafting of landmark tax reform enacted in 2017. While in the private sector, he advised large multinational companies on tax and fiscal policy and handled international tax planning, tax-efficient reorganizations, and tax controversy matters.