Candace A. Wood

Candace A. Wood serves as a Contracting Officer within the Office of Acquisition and Grants at the Social Security Administration, where she manages the acquisition of mission-critical services that enable the agency’s core functions in benefit delivery and operational resilience. Her portfolio centers on IT modernization, systems integration, cybersecurity, and administrative support contracts aligned with SSA’s strategic priorities. She exercises full contracting authority under FAR Part 15, overseeing complex solicitations, source selections, and contract administration to ensure compliance, efficiency, and mission alignment across federal procurement standards. Ms. Wood maintains established relationships with key contractors including CA, Inc., Johnson Controls, Inc., East Coast Welding & Construction Co., Inc., and ColorID, LLC, reflecting a mix of large-capability vendors delivering enterprise-grade IT infrastructure, facility management, and secure identification solutions. Her contracting patterns indicate a preference for established contractors with proven performance in federal environments, particularly those capable of delivering integrated, scalable systems under strict security and compliance requirements. She engages these partners through performance-based contracting and outcome-driven deliverables to ensure operational continuity and service reliability. While the majority of her acquisitions—87.5%—are conducted without set-asides, she maintains a consistent 12.5% commitment to Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a measured but deliberate emphasis on small business participation within her portfolio. Her socioeconomic contracting approach prioritizes broad competition while ensuring capability and capacity alignment with SSA’s technical demands. Her procurement focus is heavily concentrated in NAICS 721110 (hotels and motels), reflecting facility support for SSA’s field office network, followed by 423420 (office equipment wholesale) for administrative hardware, 621512 (diagnostic imaging centers), and 493110 (general warehousing and storage). These reflect a diverse operational footprint requiring secure logistics, equipment supply chains, and facility management—underscoring her expertise in non-traditional federal procurement domains that support mission-critical infrastructure.