Samita Maharjan

Samita Maharjan serves as a key procurement professional within USAID/Nepal, supporting the agency’s mission to advance sustainable development through technically robust and locally grounded interventions. In her capacity, she manages the acquisition of professional, scientific, and technical services critical to strengthening institutional capacity, improving public service delivery, and fostering inclusive economic growth. Her portfolio primarily encompasses contracts for advisory services, data-driven program design, monitoring and evaluation, and capacity-building initiatives across health, agriculture, governance, and community empowerment sectors. She ensures all procurements align with U.S. government standards and USAID’s local ownership principles, prioritizing quality, transparency, and impact. Maharjan collaborates with a diverse range of international and local service providers, including technical assistance firms, research institutions, and civil society organizations with demonstrated expertise in development programming. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, her contracting patterns reflect a preference for partners with deep contextual knowledge of Nepal’s socio-political landscape and proven experience in implementing USAID-funded initiatives. She fosters long-term vendor relationships built on performance, adaptability, and alignment with USAID’s strategic objectives. Maharjan’s procurement activity is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a deliberate strategy to maximize technical expertise and global best practices, prioritizing merit-based selection over socioeconomic preferences. While small business participation is not formally incentivized through set-asides, she actively evaluates proposals from firms of all sizes based on technical merit and local engagement capacity. Her primary focus lies in NAICS 541990—All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services—encompassing consulting, evaluation, training, and systems design services. She routinely procures expertise in health system strengthening, agricultural innovation, governance reform, and urban resilience, ensuring acquisitions are grounded in evidence-based approaches and adaptive management frameworks.