Susan Kelly

Susan Kelly serves as a Contract Specialist at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), where she plays a pivotal role in executing complex research and development acquisitions that support the Department of the Navy’s mission to advance next-generation maritime technologies. She manages the full lifecycle of procurement actions for high-precision scientific instruments, electronic warfare components, signal processing systems, and autonomous navigation technologies, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and alignment with NRL’s strategic R&D priorities. Her work directly enables the transition of foundational science into operational capabilities for naval forces. Kelly maintains consistent working relationships with a core group of technical contractors, including Assurance Technology Corp, L3Harris NexGen Communications LLC, Envisioneering Inc, Integration Innovation Inc, and Analex Corporation. These partnerships are characterized by deep technical collaboration, often involving customized development of specialized sensors, analytical instrumentation, and advanced signal processing hardware. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting and technical evaluation criteria, fostering long-term vendor engagement grounded in innovation and mission-critical reliability. Her contracting portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 91.2% of awards issued without set-aside designations. When small business participation is pursued, it most frequently takes the form of Total Small Business Set-Asides (5.9%) or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-Asides (2.9%), demonstrating a measured but intentional commitment to socioeconomic goals without compromising technical rigor. Kelly’s procurement focus is concentrated in NAICS 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing) and 541712 (R&D in Physical and Engineering Sciences), reflecting her specialization in procuring advanced instrumentation and applied scientific research services. She routinely acquires custom-built spectrometers, radar signal analyzers, and embedded systems for maritime applications, requiring deep domain knowledge in physics-based engineering and defense-grade instrumentation standards.