Marina Orlova

Marina Orlova serves as an Acquisition Specialist at USAID/Ukraine, where she plays a pivotal role in executing mission-critical procurements that support democratic governance, economic resilience, and public service modernization. She manages the full lifecycle of acquisitions for professional, scientific, and technical services, ensuring alignment with U.S. foreign assistance objectives and compliance with federal acquisition regulations. Her work directly enables technical assistance programs aimed at strengthening civil society, institutional capacity, and private sector development in Ukraine, particularly in post-conflict recovery contexts. Orlova specializes in complex, performance-based contracts requiring high levels of technical expertise and adaptive implementation. Orlova collaborates with a diverse range of international and local service providers, including consulting firms, research institutions, and technical assistance contractors with deep expertise in governance, public administration, and economic reform. Her procurement approach emphasizes competitive bidding, transparency, and value-driven outcomes, fostering long-term partnerships with vendors capable of delivering context-sensitive, high-impact solutions. She maintains a vendor ecosystem grounded in technical proficiency and cultural competency, ensuring that contracted services are both effective and sustainable within Ukraine’s evolving operational environment. Orlova’s contracting patterns reflect a strong preference for open, non-set-aside competitions, with 100% of her acquisitions conducted under full and open competition. While she does not routinely utilize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, her process remains inclusive and accessible to all qualified offerors, prioritizing technical merit and mission alignment over socioeconomic categorization. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 541990—All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services—encompassing policy analysis, institutional capacity building, public finance management, and civil society engagement. She routinely procures specialized technical assistance, training programs, diagnostic studies, and monitoring and evaluation services, demonstrating deep expertise in governance and development consulting domains.