Sharon Bickford

Sharon Bickford serves as a Contracting Officer within the Department of the Air Force’s FA7014 office, where she manages a diverse portfolio of professional services contracts critical to sustaining Air Force operational readiness. Her responsibilities include soliciting, evaluating, and awarding contracts for technical assistance, administrative support, and mission-critical analytics services. She plays a pivotal role in aligning procurement activities with the agency’s priorities in systems engineering, enterprise IT modernization, and cybersecurity infrastructure, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and strategic sourcing objectives. Bickford maintains established working relationships with key contractors including SIGMATECH, INC. and PURDUE UNIVERSITY, leveraging their expertise in technical consulting, systems analysis, and research-driven support services. Her procurement approach emphasizes long-term vendor partnerships grounded in performance-based outcomes, with a preference for firms capable of delivering integrated solutions across multiple technical domains. She frequently collaborates with these contractors on task orders under IDIQ vehicles, fostering innovation through responsive and agile contract management. Her contracting patterns reflect a strong commitment to small business participation, with 40% of her awards structured as Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5. While the majority of her acquisitions are open competition, she consistently prioritizes socioeconomic programs to expand opportunities for small businesses, particularly those certified under standard small business categories. Her approach balances competitive fairness with intentional inclusion to strengthen the defense industrial base. Bickford’s primary procurement focus centers on NAICS 561720 (Janitorial Services), 541614 (Process and Logistics Consulting), 561920 (Convention and Trade Show Organizers), and 541611 (Administrative Management Consulting). These reflect her role in supporting both operational infrastructure and mission-enabling administrative functions. She specializes in procuring non-clinical, high-volume support services that underpin Air Force readiness, demonstrating deep familiarity with performance metrics, labor categorization, and service-level agreements in complex federal environments.