Patricia LaRiviere-Hom

Patricia La Riviere-Hom serves as a Contract Specialist within the Science and Technology Acquisition Division of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Procurement Operations, where she plays a pivotal role in executing complex scientific and technical acquisitions critical to national security. She manages the full lifecycle of contracts for advanced research and development initiatives spanning physical sciences, engineering systems, and life sciences, with a focus on next-generation detection technologies, cybersecurity solutions, and critical infrastructure protection. Her work ensures that cutting-edge capabilities are rapidly fielded to support homeland defense missions through compliant, risk-managed procurement practices under FAR and DFARS guidelines. Her primary contractor relationships center on Microsoft Corporation, reflecting a strategic reliance on enterprise-scale cloud infrastructure, AI-enabled analytics platforms, and secure software ecosystems essential to modernizing DHS operational systems. While she maintains strong partnerships with large primes, she actively collaborates with a diverse ecosystem of technology integrators and specialized vendors to ensure interoperability, scalability, and resilience across mission-critical platforms. Patricia demonstrates a balanced commitment to socioeconomic contracting, with 40% of her awards structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, prioritizing small businesses capable of delivering specialized scientific and technical services. She consistently leverages small business set-asides to foster innovation and expand the vendor base, aligning with federal goals for inclusive competition while maintaining rigorous performance standards. Her procurement focus is overwhelmingly concentrated in NAICS 112990 (All Other Animal Production), indicating a specialized portfolio supporting biosecurity, zoonotic threat detection, and agricultural biodefense research—unusual but mission-critical for DHS’s biothreat preparedness initiatives. She also engages in fire protection contracting under NAICS 922160, procuring advanced suppression systems and detection technologies for high-risk federal facilities. Her expertise lies at the intersection of biological sciences, engineering systems, and secure IT infrastructure, making her a key enabler of DHS’s science-driven homeland security mission.