Linda O'Neil

Linda O’Neil serves as a Contracting Officer within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where she manages the acquisition of scientific and technical services critical to advancing oceanic, atmospheric, and coastal research. Her role centers on ensuring compliant, efficient procurement of high-value research and development contracts that support NOAA’s mission of environmental monitoring, climate resilience, and predictive modeling. She routinely handles complex sole-source and competitive acquisitions under FAR Part 15, with a focus on performance-based contracting and technical evaluation of scientific proposals. O’Neil maintains longstanding relationships with a select group of specialized contractors, including the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, Tronconi Segarra & Associates LLP, JNB Services LLC, Pure Enviro-Management, LLC, and The Regents of the University of Colorado. These partnerships reflect a preference for institutions and firms with proven expertise in environmental data systems, field instrumentation, and applied scientific research. Her contracting patterns emphasize collaboration with academic and nonprofit research entities, often leveraging cooperative agreements and other non-traditional procurement vehicles to meet mission-critical scientific needs. While the majority of her acquisitions are conducted without set-asides, O’Neil consistently allocates approximately 25% of her portfolio to Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a deliberate commitment to fostering small business participation in federal science and technology procurement. She actively encourages eligible small businesses to compete for opportunities aligned with NOAA’s technical requirements, ensuring broad access without compromising scientific rigor. Her procurement focus is exclusively centered on NAICS 541712—Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology). She procures advanced sensor systems, oceanographic data platforms, climate modeling tools, and environmental analytics services, requiring deep technical understanding of earth system science and instrumentation development. O’Neil’s expertise lies in bridging scientific objectives with sound contracting practices to deliver mission-critical capabilities.