Heather Rosario Armstrong

Heather Rosario Armstrong serves as Executive Officer at USAID/Serbia, providing strategic leadership over the agency’s procurement and contracting operations to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives in institutional capacity building and democratic governance. In this role, she oversees the planning, solicitation, and award of technical assistance contracts that support Serbia’s alignment with European Union standards, particularly in public sector reform, transparent procurement, and data-driven policy development. Her portfolio primarily encompasses professional services requiring high-level advisory expertise, ensuring that acquisitions align with USAID’s mission of fostering sustainable, locally-led institutional change through evidence-based interventions. Her contractor relationships are centered on elite professional services firms and independent consultants with deep regional expertise in public administration, governance, and EU harmonization. She engages with a network of specialized technical providers offering strategic advisory, institutional diagnostics, and capacity-building services, often partnering with firms possessing proven experience in Balkan public sector reform. These engagements are typically performance-based, emphasizing outcome-driven deliverables over traditional input-based contracts, and reflect a preference for subject-matter experts with demonstrated success in complex transition economies. Ms. Armstrong’s contracting practices reflect a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of awards issued under non-set-aside authorities. While she does not routinely utilize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her approach ensures broad market access and competitive rigor, prioritizing technical merit and regional relevance over socioeconomic classifications. Her procurement focus is overwhelmingly concentrated in NAICS 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services), with a secondary emphasis on NAICS 541611 (Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services). She routinely procures technical advisory services, institutional assessments, public procurement reform support, and civic engagement analytics, demonstrating deep expertise in governance, transparency, and public service modernization initiatives.