Vanessa Vickers

Vanessa Vickers serves as a Contracting Officer responsible for managing complex defense and aerospace procurement actions, ensuring compliance with federal acquisition regulations and mission-critical delivery timelines. She oversees the full lifecycle of contracts—from solicitation and evaluation to award and closeout—focusing on high-precision manufacturing and technical systems essential to national defense. Her acquisitions primarily support advanced propulsion systems, aircraft components, and specialized electronic subsystems, requiring deep technical understanding and rigorous source selection processes. She plays a pivotal role in aligning procurement strategy with operational readiness goals, ensuring timely access to mission-essential capabilities while upholding fiscal accountability and regulatory integrity. Vanessa maintains professional relationships with a diverse range of industrial contractors, including prime manufacturers of guided missile propulsion units, aircraft subsystems, and precision machine shop services. Her contracting approach emphasizes competitive solicitation under full and open competition, with strategic use of set-asides to foster innovation and supplier diversity. She collaborates closely with engineering and logistics teams to define technical requirements and evaluate vendor capabilities, ensuring that awarded contracts meet stringent performance, quality, and delivery standards. Her procurement patterns reflect a strong preference for unrestricted competition, with 86.7% of awards issued under full and open conditions. When set-asides are utilized, they are evenly split between Total Small Business Set-Asides and 8(a) competed contracts, demonstrating a measured commitment to socioeconomic programs without compromising technical requirements. She actively engages with certified small businesses, particularly those with specialized manufacturing capabilities, to expand the industrial base and enhance supply chain resilience. Vanessa’s primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 336415 (guided missile and space propulsion systems) and 336413 (other aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment), with significant activity in 332710 (machine shops) and 334419 (other electronic components). She routinely procures high-tolerance fabricated metal parts, avionics subsystems, and propulsion components requiring advanced materials and precision engineering, reflecting deep expertise in aerospace and defense manufacturing domains.