Cassi Ballinger

Cassi Ballinger serves as a Contract Negotiator within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate (FA8650), where she plays a pivotal role in securing advanced aerospace technologies critical to U.S. air and space dominance. She specializes in negotiating complex, high-stakes contracts for next-generation propulsion systems, hypersonic flight components, and mission-critical materials development. Her work directly supports the agency’s mission to accelerate innovation in adaptive flight control, thermal management systems, and high-performance functional materials through fundamental and applied research programs. Ballinger manages the full lifecycle of procurement actions, from solicitation to contract execution, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning technical requirements with operational readiness goals. She maintains consistent, long-term relationships with leading defense contractors including UES INC, General Electric Company, DCS Corporation, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, and Advanced Thermoplastic Composites LLC. These partnerships are characterized by deep technical collaboration, often involving proprietary research, prototype development, and systems integration for propulsion and airframe applications. Ballinger’s negotiation approach emphasizes performance-based outcomes, risk-sharing mechanisms, and technical flexibility to accommodate rapidly evolving R&D environments, fostering trust and innovation among prime contractors with extensive aerospace engineering capabilities. Ballinger’s procurement portfolio reflects a strict focus on open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside categories. This underscores a strategic prioritization of technical excellence and mission-critical capability over socioeconomic preferences, ensuring access to the most capable industrial base for high-risk, high-reward propulsion technologies. While small business participation is not formally structured into her acquisition strategy, she evaluates all vendors based on technical merit, past performance, and production readiness. Her primary procurement focus is centered on NAICS 336411 (Aircraft Manufacturing), encompassing the development of advanced jet engines, scramjet systems, thermal protection materials, and integrated propulsion-airframe architectures. She routinely procures specialized components such as single-crystal turbine blades, ceramic matrix composites, and active flow control systems, demonstrating deep expertise in propulsion engineering and materials science domains.