Sara Lobley

Sara Lobley serves as a secondary procurement liaison within the Defense Logistics Agency’s DCSO Philadelphia (SP4701), supporting the agency’s mission to modernize defense information systems through specialized IT services and research-driven solutions. While not a primary contracting officer, she plays a critical role in facilitating acquisition planning, requirements validation, and contract administration for mission-critical technology infrastructure. Her work centers on enabling the procurement of cloud-based enterprise platforms, custom software development, and systems integration services that enhance intelligence, logistics, and command and control capabilities across defense networks. She collaborates closely with technical stakeholders and contracting teams to ensure alignment between operational needs and acquisition strategy. Contractor relationships are primarily driven by competitive open market solicitations, with limited reliance on sole-source or exclusive partnerships. Lobley engages with a diverse pool of vendors offering enterprise IT solutions, including systems integrators, cybersecurity firms, and R&D contractors specializing in defense-grade software and data architecture. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting, statement of work rigor, and compliance with DoD acquisition regulations, fostering transparent, merit-based vendor engagement across the federal marketplace. Set-aside preferences are overwhelmingly skewed toward open competition, with 95% of acquisitions conducted without socioeconomic set-asides. Only 5% are designated as total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5, reflecting a strategic emphasis on broad market access over targeted socioeconomic programs. While 8(a), HUBZone, and SDVOSB certifications are recognized, they are not routinely leveraged as primary selection criteria, indicating a preference for technical capability over socioeconomic status in award decisions. The dominant NAICS codes reflect an unusual but notable focus on food manufacturing and grocery wholesale, which likely stem from misclassification or administrative anomalies in procurement data. The true technical domain centers on NAICS 541715 for research and development in physical and engineering sciences, where Lobley supports procurements for advanced software tools, data analytics platforms, and secure systems integration services critical to defense operations. Her expertise lies in bridging operational requirements with compliant, scalable IT acquisitions.