Surlean D. Darby

Surlean Darby serves as a Contract Specialist responsible for managing the full lifecycle of complex research and development acquisitions, ensuring compliance with federal procurement regulations and aligning contracts with agency mission objectives. She specializes in soliciting, evaluating, and awarding service-based contracts for scientific and technical services, with a focus on advancing innovation in physical, engineering, and life sciences. Her role involves collaborating with technical stakeholders to define requirements, draft solicitation documents, conduct source selection, and administer awarded contracts, ensuring transparency, fairness, and efficiency throughout the acquisition process. While no specific contractor relationships are currently identifiable in the data, Darby’s procurement patterns indicate consistent engagement with a broad range of research institutions, private R&D firms, and academic entities capable of delivering high-caliber scientific services. Her contracting approach emphasizes competitive solicitation practices and performance-based outcomes, fostering partnerships with organizations possessing deep technical expertise in experimental design, data analysis, and applied research. Darby’s contracting activity is exclusively non-set-aside, reflecting a 100% focus on open competition under the general services umbrella. This pattern suggests a preference for merit-based selection rather than socioeconomic set-asides, prioritizing technical capability and past performance over demographic classifications. While she does not currently utilize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her approach ensures broad market access and rigorous evaluation of all qualified offerors. Her primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541712 and 541715, encompassing research and development in physical, engineering, and life sciences—excluding biotechnology and nanotechnology. She frequently procures services such as laboratory testing, engineering prototyping, clinical trial support, and scientific data management. Additionally, she engages with educational institutions under NAICS 611310 to leverage university-based research capabilities. Her domain expertise centers on technical, non-biomedical R&D, making her a key conduit for advancing foundational scientific innovation through federal contracting.