Jessica Harrington

Jessica Harrington serves as a key procurement lead within the W6QK Acc-apg Durham office of the Department of the Army, driving acquisitions that advance the Army’s scientific and technical modernization priorities. She specializes in managing complex research and development contracts aligned with disruptive technologies, including autonomy, quantum systems, and intelligence horizon scanning. Her portfolio centers on professional, scientific, and technical services that support high-risk, high-reward innovation initiatives, ensuring rapid translation of emerging capabilities from lab to field. Harrington operates at the intersection of mission need and acquisition agility, frequently navigating unconventional contracting pathways to accelerate R&D delivery in support of Army Futures Command objectives. Her contractor relationships are primarily with small businesses certified under the 8(a) program, reflecting a deliberate strategy to cultivate agile, innovative partners capable of responding to rapidly evolving technical requirements. She engages with a network of specialized R&D firms, university-affiliated contractors, and emerging technology startups that possess niche expertise in physical sciences, engineering, and advanced computing. These partnerships are characterized by iterative collaboration, early-stage prototyping support, and performance-based acquisition structures designed to reduce time-to-deployment. Harrington maintains an unwavering commitment to socioeconomic diversity in contracting, with 100% of her awards structured as 8(a) competed acquisitions. This pattern underscores her strategic focus on empowering disadvantaged small businesses with the technical capacity to contribute to critical national defense innovation. Her contracting approach actively leverages the 8(a) program to build sustainable small business capacity within the defense science and technology ecosystem. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 541990—All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services—encompassing advanced research, systems engineering, experimental development, and technical advisory services. She routinely procures capabilities in quantum information science, autonomous systems integration, sensor development, and predictive analytics for battlefield intelligence, ensuring the Army maintains a technological edge through targeted, mission-aligned R&D contracting.