Jennifer Chrissis

Jennifer Chrissis serves as a key procurement professional at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where she manages complex acquisitions supporting advanced propulsion systems, space vehicle technologies, and mission-critical research and development. Her work directly enables the Center’s mission to pioneer next-generation rocket engines and deep space exploration capabilities, with a focus on high-precision engineering solutions and computational infrastructure for propulsion testing and real-time data analysis. She handles a diverse portfolio of contracts under FAR Part 15, primarily involving research services, specialized manufacturing, and communications equipment essential to Moon-to-Mars architecture development. Chrissis maintains strong, ongoing relationships with specialized contractors including Bastion Technologies Inc. and Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, both of which provide advanced engineering support and mission-critical hardware. Her procurement patterns reflect a preference for partnering with niche vendors possessing deep technical expertise in aerospace systems, powder metallurgy, and radio frequency communications. These collaborations are characterized by long-term technical alignment, iterative requirement development, and performance-based contracting approaches that ensure mission readiness and technological innovation. Her contracting portfolio demonstrates a robust commitment to small business participation, with over 57% of awards structured as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This reflects a deliberate strategy to foster innovation through agile, specialized vendors, prioritizing small businesses capable of delivering high-precision components and R&D services. While no single socioeconomic category dominates, her consistent use of small business set-asides underscores a strategic emphasis on expanding the supplier base for critical aerospace technologies. Chrissis’s primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 541715 for physical and engineering R&D, 332117 for powder metallurgy part manufacturing, and 334220 for radio and wireless communications equipment. These categories reflect her domain expertise in high-performance materials, propulsion system components, and telemetry systems critical to launch vehicle and deep space mission success. Her acquisitions consistently target technically demanding, low-volume, high-reliability products requiring rigorous qualification and systems integration.