Kathy Cocus

Kathy Cocus serves as Business Development Director at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NAWC), where she leads strategic acquisition planning and market engagement to advance critical undersea warfare capabilities. In this role, she aligns procurement initiatives with the agency’s mission to develop, test, and sustain advanced sonar, navigation, guidance, and underwater sensor systems for submarines and unmanned undersea vehicles. Cocus oversees the identification of emerging technologies and the structuring of contracts for ruggedized computing platforms, signal processing systems, and electronic warfare solutions, ensuring that acquisition strategies support technological superiority in undersea domains. Her work bridges operational requirements with industry innovation, facilitating timely delivery of mission-critical capabilities. Cocus maintains consistent partnerships with a core group of contractors including Ordnance Technology Service, Inc., Boh Environmental, L.L.C., Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, McKenzie Construction & Site Development LLC, and EOS of North America, Inc. These relationships span technical services, environmental compliance, systems integration, and specialized construction support essential to undersea test facilities and infrastructure. Her approach emphasizes long-term vendor collaboration, performance-based contracting, and technical alignment with NAWC’s engineering and R&D priorities, fostering reliable delivery of high-integrity systems under demanding maritime conditions. Cocus’s procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for full and open competition, with 100% of awards issued under no set-aside classifications. This indicates a focus on technical merit and capability over socioeconomic categories, prioritizing mission readiness and system performance above targeted small business participation. While socioeconomic set-asides are not utilized, her team maintains compliance with all federal contracting regulations and evaluates vendor qualifications based on technical expertise and past performance. Her primary procurement focus is under NAICS 921190—Other General Government Support—which encompasses a broad range of specialized technical services supporting undersea warfare R&D, including systems engineering, test and evaluation, facility sustainment, and mission-critical support services. Cocus’s expertise lies in acquiring advanced electronic systems, signal processing tools, and ruggedized hardware platforms essential to undersea dominance.