Nancy S Howard

Nancy S. Howard serves as a Contract Negotiator at Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport, where she plays a critical role in securing advanced maritime technologies essential to naval dominance. Her responsibilities include negotiating complex contracts for research, development, testing, and evaluation of sensor, navigation, and electronic warfare systems. She works closely with engineering and technical teams to align procurement outcomes with mission-critical requirements in undersea, surface, and aerial domains, ensuring compliance with Department of the Navy acquisition regulations and technical specifications. Howard maintains established relationships with leading defense and aerospace contractors, including Science Applications International Corporation, Aerospace & Commercial Technologies, LLC, Astronics Test Systems Inc, Serco Inc, and Mikel Inc. These partnerships reflect a focus on high-precision engineering, test instrumentation, and integrated communication platforms. Her negotiation approach emphasizes technical rigor, performance-based outcomes, and long-term vendor collaboration to support sustained innovation in naval systems. While the majority of her acquisitions are unrestricted, Howard consistently facilitates a 20% small business set-aside program under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a strong commitment to expanding opportunities for certified small businesses in the defense industrial base. Her socioeconomic contracting patterns prioritize broad-based participation without favoring specific categories such as 8(a) or HUBZone, instead emphasizing capability-driven competition among qualified small firms. Her procurement portfolio is concentrated in NAICS 541330 (Engineering Services), 334511 (Search, Detection, Navigation, and Nautical System Manufacturing), 334290 (Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing), and 423830 (Industrial Machinery Wholesalers). She specializes in procuring advanced sonar arrays, signal processing hardware, tactical communication modules, and test and evaluation equipment critical to naval platform modernization and operational readiness.