Contract Specialist Strategic Sourcing

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LINDA NOWAK

Email: ************@*****.*** Phone: 410-***-****

Location: Aberdeen/Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC Metro Area LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/linda-nowak-793a4269/

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Senior Contract Specialist and Acquisition Leader with over 20 years of experience managing complex, high-value federal contracts for agencies including the CDC, the GSA, and the Department of Defense. Expert in full acquisition lifecycle management, strategic sourcing, FAR/DFARS compliance, vendor negotiations, and risk mitigation. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, streamline procurement operations, and advise senior leadership on regulatory and policy matters. Poised to leverage deep federal expertise to deliver results-driven solutions in private sector contract and procurement leadership roles.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Contract Management Strategic Sourcing Vendor & Supplier Negotiations Acquisition Planning FAR/DFARS Compliance Procurement Policy Stakeholder Engagement Risk Mitigation Cost Reduction Team Leadership Performance Evaluation PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Senior Contract Specialist

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA June 2024 – June 2025 – Reduction in Force (RIF) eliminated Branch FAC-C Level III Certification

Pre-award, administration and post-award management and oversight of high-dollar federal procurements up to and exceeding $100M annually in support of CDC programs, including NIOSH – National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health program operations and the WTCHP – World Trade Center Health Program.

Lead acquisition planning, solicitation, proposal evaluation, and post-award administration across multiple contract types.

Develop negotiation strategies and contract modifications, reducing procurement costs by 15% while enhancing vendor accountability for varied and other transactions for research and development programs including prototypes and grant management.

Advise senior leadership and program managers on procurement regulations, compliance standards, and acquisition reform efforts.

Conduct market research and competition analysis to support strategic sourcing and supply chain resilience.

Serve as primary contracting authority; prepare justifications, pre-negotiation objectives, and award documentation in accordance with FAR.

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Contract Specialist

General Services Administration (GSA), Washington, DC December 2009 – May 2024 – Promoted to GS13 Step 6 at the CDC (remote position) FAC-C Level II Certification $10M Contracting Officer Warrant

• Handled acquisition planning, negotiations, execution, administration and closeout for multiple task and delivery orders under large IDIQ contracts, GWACs, BPAs, stand alone competitive contracts, 8a sole source, etc. for construction, design, repair and alterations, engineering studies, art and historical preservation, Agency training, IT products and services, other transactions to include research and development of multiple project types and various of professional services, commercial and non-commercial.

• Performed technical evaluations, price analyses, and best-value determinations under FAR Part 15 procedures.

• Worked closely with internal customers to develop performance work statements (PWS), statements of work (SOW) and independent government cost estimates (IGCEs).

• Supported compliance reviews, audits, and acquisition policy updates for procurement improvement initiatives.

• Cradle to grave contracting procedures from market research, RFIs, RFPs and solicitations to the review of proposals, source selection, award, administration and closeout.

Jacobs Engineering, Inc.

Arlington, Virginia April 2007 – December 2009

Contract Employee – Federal Contract Specialist for General Services Administration, Washington DC

Planning, organization, documentation, and execution of all duties that are associated with the procurement of goods and services utilizing contracts, including Other Transactions and R&D programs including associated administrative duties. Engage in all duties associated with procurements, from initial request for the procurement from the Program Offices to final contract closeout. Includes but not limited to:

Develops Acquisition Plans and Procurement Schedules;

Assists in the evaluation of statements of services, scopes of work;

Prepares contract documentation to include solicitation preparation, requests for proposals, and award documents;

Uploads solicitation information to computer internet servers;

Schedules, arranges for and assists in architect/engineer, construction management, and construction contractor selection panels and interview panels;

Prepares request for audits, and assists in reviews and evaluation of audit reports;

Conducts and reviews technical analysis by others, reviews and evaluates bids and fee proposals;

Incorporates audit results and fee proposals into pre-negotiation objectives; conducts cost and price analysis; prepares pre-negotiation objective memorandums;

Assists in or conducts negotiations(does not make price reasonableness determinations);

Prepares price negotiation documentation;

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Composes and prepares letters to contractors and other government personnel;

Prepares award, contracting officer representative and notice to proceed letters.

Became a Federal employee with this position in December, 2009. Engineering and Envrionment, Inc.

Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD

Project Manager/Technical Administrator

July 2004 – April 2007

Chief Liaison to the US Army Environmental Center for the planning and logistics of the DERP Workshop for 2004 thru 2006 for Research and Development Programs

Program Management Technical Assistant to the Acquisition and Technology Division of the US Army Environmental Center Headquarters.

Defense Acquisition University completion of Acquisition 101 for project planning and support knowledge; technical editing, research and data analysis, technical review of project documentation as well as trade show logistics and document control for Contract Administration of Other Transactions.

Technical Coordinator and Editor for Installation Action Plan meetings to update annual requirements document, assist the IAP team with review and submission of Public Installation Action Plans to Public Affairs Office for final security review and posting to website for public use.

Maintain records for field office in compliance with US Army document control procedures and specialized training for contractor use of Government specific software

(PRISM) for electronic document management, local and remote business documents generated to enable, configure and adapt print data from any host or application.

Provide project related contract support to COTR and PMO Contract Specialists, maintaining a working knowledge of contract administration and subcontract administration for DoD tasks under R&D programs and projects including prototypes.

Daily use of FAR and DFAR training, DFAS invoice payment system for internal project controls and invoice management.

Invoices are sent from contractor to Government COR for review and approval for payment and/or change request, according to Statement of Work and/or Work Plan.

Attend planning committee meetings for quality control and quality assurance of cost to complete estimates that feed into the budget report to Congress.

Direct experience in writing scopes for Request for Proposals (RFPs), Statements of Work, Work Plans and Design Documents for various projects and schedules including VV&A of software and business processes.

Promoted to CTC team to audit supporting documentation for estimates for Installation site cleanup, including QA/QC cycles for the improvement in reporting Environmental Liabilities.

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Validation cycles include the use of AEDB-R and AEDB-CC databases for reporting and tracking of Environmental Liabilities such as metrics, input parameters and updating database assemblies, etc.

Administration Point of Contact for RACER (Remedial Action Cost Engineering and Requirements) software development technical working group and steering committee under US Army Environmental Branch Chief.

Shaw Environmental, Inc.

Edgewood, Maryland

Technical Administrator/Contract Specialist

April 2003 – July 2004

Provided technical oversight to the contract administration office to the Regional Program Manager and several Executives on location;

technical PM Support to site offices at APG, Maryland Chemical Demilitarization Facility and Newport Chemical Depot, Indiana.

Planned and coordinated project scheduling, budgeting and administrative tasks to support current task orders as well as submissions for bids and proposals.

Assigned as senior buyer and subcontract administrator to specific projects with largest single production value of $1.5M.

Directly supported COR, project staff, chemists and engineers by facilitating project logistics such as training, meetings, conference calls, travel, meeting minutes and action items during meetings.

Follow-up and assisted in the development of technical, business development and training presentations; being familiar with a wide variety of concepts, practices and procedures related to government customer support. Relying on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.

Typically reports to Program Manger or Project Leader, supervises permanent admin staff and all temporary admin staffing.

Maintain updates to FAR and GSA library used in contracts administration and business development procedures for Federal Programs.

Helmut Guenschel, Inc.

Baltimore, Maryland

Executive Assistant/Office Manager

November 2002 – April 2003

Private industry manufacturing plant for specialized cabinetry and woodwork; accomplished duties included screening incoming phone calls for Company President, sales, all contract and subcontract organization and daily review with management.

Clients included Local, State and Federal Government as well as Private Industry clients such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, Johns Hopkins University, University of Baltimore, University of Maryland and the Walters Art Gallery.

Daily office management duties included office and shop equipment inventory and service maintenance records management, project organization and maintenance as job progresses and changes, travel arrangements, payroll, petty cash, office supplies, etc. 5

All Personnel Records Management for 25 full time employees including health benefits, 401K, medical, dental, vision and life insurance administration;

Expert Level User of Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, NT, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Implementation and internal training of Goldmine sales and marketing software and Visual Manufacturing software for payroll, human resources tracking, accounts payable/receivable and business development.

Directly supervised receptionists, AP/AR team and janitorial staff. Geo-Centers, Inc. (SAIC)

Gunpowder, Maryland (APG)

Cost and Data Analyst II

November 1997 – November 2002

Support US Government team leader, program managers and team members with analysis of

Chemical/Biological Filtration testing data for technical reports and presentation, research and development tasks and technical writing editor for specific tasks with security requirements.

Obtained and maintained a Secret Level Security Clearance until February 2004 for design and build tracking requirements of new Chemical/Biological Research Facility and project work within.

Maintained project task assignments, organized (develop, maintain & update) contract and subcontract administration to include all program requirements records using US Army (DoD) reporting systems as well as use and implementation of FAR, DFAS and GSA contractual requirements as they relate to scope of work and task order/delivery order modifications and deliverables schedule.

Scheduled weekly team task meetings, took meeting minutes, updated records for research and technical purposes, maintained technical manual library with updates for specific tasks, alert team of changes and updates; maintained presentation files (technical and administrative) from conception to final submittal and archiving. Strategic contract and invoice record management under security requirements using all computer technologies available;

Special recognition by the Aberdeen Proving Grounds Garrison Commander and Department of Defense Homeland Security Project office for the Washington DC corridor.

Projects included Joint Force Warfighter, JWARN- Joint Warning and Reporting Network and more.

I obtained and maintained a SECRET level DoD clearance for this position. Precis Corporation

Gunpowder, Maryland (APG)

October 1995 – November 1997

Contracted Support for US Government DOD facilities as maintenance manager and liaison between the Government DPW shops and the civilian and military personnel for their mission essential operating requirements, health and safety needs, etc. 6

Served as Contract Administrator for all contracts awarded; full administration for the maintenance contracts and various other contracts as assigned.

Reviewed specific and specialized maintenance activities carried out under specific budget constraints and time critical deadlines.

High level customer service oriented; Time and materials contract with strict and specific record requirements.

Developed working knowledge and increased responsibilities outlining and monitoring the implementation of FAR and DSA Regulations as related to Program Manager;

Database administrator for DPW Facilities Division. EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

B.S., Business Administration – Southern New Hampshire University, 2023 Acquisition 101 and Technical Writing Workshop – U.S. Army PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES:

Denise Avery-Craft - General Services Administration (GSA) ******.*****-*****@***.*** or ************@*******.*** 571-***-**** or 202-***-**** Chrischanda Smith - GSA/DOT

****************@*****.*** 240-***-**** or 202-***-**** Kimberly Travis - GSA

********.******@***.*** 202-***-**** or 240-***-**** Mark Draluck - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC ********@*****.*** 404-***-****

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