Chelsea Isherwood

Chelsea Isherwood serves as a secondary procurement specialist within Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance maritime warfare capabilities through research, development, and evaluation of advanced naval systems. She plays a critical role in facilitating acquisitions for technical services and specialized equipment essential to undersea, surface, and aerial domain superiority. Her responsibilities include managing contract execution for complex engineering, systems integration, and software development efforts, with a focus on sensor technologies, electronic warfare components, and integrated communication architectures. She operates within a high-technical procurement environment requiring deep domain knowledge and strict compliance with defense acquisition regulations. Isherwood maintains consistent working relationships with key industry partners including Science Applications International Corporation, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, Astronics Test Systems Inc, Serco Inc, and Mikel Inc. These vendors provide mission-critical support in test and evaluation, systems engineering, and advanced electronics manufacturing. Her procurement patterns reflect a preference for established defense contractors with proven expertise in naval systems, often engaging them for long-term, performance-based service contracts requiring specialized technical certification and security clearances. Her contracting activity is overwhelmingly non-set-aside, with 91.7% of awards issued without socioeconomic set-asides, indicating a primary focus on technical capability over socioeconomic preferences. However, she does support service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), accounting for 8.3% of awards, demonstrating a measured but intentional commitment to small business participation where qualified capabilities exist. Her primary NAICS focus lies in Other Computer Related Services (541519), reflecting heavy procurement of software development, data analytics, and systems integration services. She also frequently engages engineering services (541330) and technical consulting (541690), alongside niche manufacturing in ordnance accessories (332994). Her expertise centers on procuring advanced maritime electronics, sensor calibration systems, and real-time data processing solutions critical to naval operational readiness.