Kathleen Hipes

Kathleen Hipes serves as a primary procurement lead within the Defense Logistics Agency’s Land and Maritime organization, where she manages the acquisition of critical mechanical, electrical, and fabricated metal components essential to sustaining naval, land, and expeditionary military platforms. Her responsibilities include executing full lifecycle contracting for industrial valves, power transmission systems, sealing devices, and ordnance accessories, ensuring the operational readiness of defense systems through reliable, high-performance parts. She works closely with technical stakeholders to define requirements, evaluate technical proposals, and award contracts under FAR and DFARS guidelines, prioritizing mission-critical delivery timelines and supply chain resilience. Hipes maintains strong, recurring relationships with key contractors including TRIMAN INDUSTRIES INC, ECI DEFENSE GROUP, ITL LLC, KAMPI COMPONENTS CO INC, and ASRC FEDERAL FACILITIES LOGISTICS, LLC. These partnerships reflect a focus on specialized manufacturers of precision mechanical components and integrated logistics support providers. Her contracting patterns indicate a preference for established vendors with proven capability in defense-grade manufacturing, often leveraging long-term agreements and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) vehicles to ensure consistent supply chain availability. Her procurement activity reflects a strong emphasis on open competition, with 96.9% of awards issued without set-asides, indicating a mission-driven prioritization of technical capability and supply reliability over socioeconomic preferences. While small business participation is limited to 3.1%, it is strategically aligned with qualified firms capable of meeting stringent military specifications. Hipes specializes in NAICS categories centered on industrial valve manufacturing (332911), pumping equipment (333914), and hardware production (332510), with significant activity in power transformer manufacturing (335311) and shipbuilding support (336611). Her expertise lies in procuring engineered components that directly enable the functionality of armored vehicles, naval vessels, and expeditionary systems, requiring deep technical understanding of materials, tolerances, and military certification standards.