Kristen Menard

Kristen Menard serves as a key procurement professional within the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, supporting the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance ordnance systems, explosives, and precision instrumentation. She manages a diverse portfolio of acquisitions focused on technical services, explosives manufacturing, and specialized testing, ensuring the reliability and modernization of naval weapon systems. Her work directly enables the sustainment and innovation of critical defense capabilities through strategic contracting for engineering, training, and laboratory services essential to ordnance lifecycle management. Menard maintains consistent working relationships with a select group of specialized contractors, including TOTAL CONCEPTS OF DESIGN INC, Boh Environmental, L.L.C., CHUCKING MACHINE PRODUCTS, INC., CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORP, and DEVAL LIFE CYCLE SUPPORT LLC. These partnerships reflect a preference for firms with deep expertise in explosives handling, precision machining, environmental compliance, and life cycle support. Her contracting approach emphasizes long-term collaboration with vendors possessing niche technical capabilities, often requiring security clearances and specialized facility certifications to meet stringent naval ordnance standards. Her procurement patterns show a strong emphasis on open competition, with 75% of awards issued without set-asides, while maintaining a deliberate 25% commitment to total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5. This balanced approach ensures access to innovative small business capabilities while preserving flexibility for complex, mission-critical requirements that demand specialized technical capacity. Menard’s primary NAICS focus areas—325920 (Explosives Manufacturing), 541380 (Testing Laboratories and Services), 541990 (Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services), and 611430 (Professional and Management Development Training)—reflect a technical domain centered on ordnance production, safety testing, engineering support, and workforce development. She procures services and products essential to the safe handling, certification, and modernization of naval munitions systems, requiring deep familiarity with DoD explosives standards and defense supply chain protocols.