Cassandra Miller

Cassandra Miller serves as a key procurement professional within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (HDTRA1), supporting the agency’s mission to counter weapons of mass destruction through advanced scientific and technical acquisitions. She manages a portfolio focused on research and development contracts in physical, engineering, and life sciences, ensuring the timely delivery of cutting-edge capabilities to detect, analyze, and neutralize chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive threats. Her work directly enables the agency’s strategic priorities in threat intelligence, forensic analysis, and operational readiness by facilitating the acquisition of high-complexity R&D services and analytical systems. Miller maintains strong, long-standing relationships with leading technical contractors including TECHTRANS INTERNATIONAL INC, BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE, AERIS LLC, APPLIED RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, INC., and AMAZON WEB SERVICES, INC. These partnerships reflect a preference for established, high-capacity firms with proven expertise in defense science, systems engineering, and cloud-based data analytics. Her contracting approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, technical rigor, and mission-critical delivery, often involving complex statement of work development and multi-year task order execution under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) vehicles. Miller’s procurement portfolio is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic focus on technical capability over socioeconomic preferences, prioritizing mission effectiveness and the availability of specialized expertise required to address high-consequence threats. While small business participation is not formally incentivized in her portfolio, the nature of the work often necessitates collaboration with prime contractors who may subcontract to specialized firms. Her primary focus is on NAICS 541715—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences—where she procures advanced modeling and simulation tools, sensor development, forensic analysis platforms, and secure data infrastructure. Her domain expertise lies in integrating scientific research with operational defense systems, ensuring acquisitions align with national security imperatives and technical innovation cycles.