Page 57 - GCN, October/November 2018

KATHERINE M. KATINA
Business Development Associate, SAIC
Katherine Katina is an alternative-contracting pacesetter for SAIC who knows her way around the emerging landscape of “other transaction agreements,” as well as the more familiar terrain of the General Services Administration’s governmentwide acquisition contracts and IT Schedule 70.
OTAs are becoming an important alternative to traditional federal contracting paths, particularly at the Defense Department. Many of the laws and regulations that govern federal contracts, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation, don’t apply to OTAs, so they require expert tailoring for agencies to use them appropriately.
Katina manages seven of SAIC’s OTAs, including those for the Army and Air Force research labs. She also serves as deputy program manager for the company’s participation in GSA’s Alliant GWAC and IT Schedule 70 multiple-award contract, where task orders total over $3.5 billion.
She has also contributed her expertise to industry efforts to advise congressional committees on OTA policy.
In addition, she regularly briefs SAIC executives on lessons learned, develops internal strategy to improve business development efforts, and prepares marketing materials and informational briefings for managers to provide to government customers. And she conducts internal training to improve the company’s acquisition approach and competitive posture.
“Katherine’s efforts to modernize internal processes
and educate others about OTAs and other streamlined acquisition vehicles creates a win-win for both SAIC and our federal government customers,” said Amy Benson, SAIC’s vice president for government affairs.
DANIELLE LAUHOFF
Project Manager, Telos Corp.
Ensuring that the Department of Homeland Security’s mission-critical cybersecurity programs adhere to federal policies is complex work even for industry veterans, but 25-year-old Danielle Lauhoff is undaunted.
According to her managers at Telos, Lauhoff has the technical chops and personal demeanor to handle the company’s contract for managing and supporting all DHS and Federal Information Security Management Act compliance requirements.
Telos provides on-site help-desk support and expertise for process engineering and software updates. As the technical and programmatic liaison to DHS, Lauhoff uses the company’s risk management platform to aggregate scanned information and create the monthly FISMA scorecard and run queries.
Lauhoff has become deeply attuned to DHS’ requirements and concerns, making her a trusted adviser. That trust was particularly important in her first few months when she was the sole Telos employee on-site at the agency managing day-to-day operations.
In her current role, Lauhoff manages a $1.7 million contract and six full-time employees. She is also developing a stakeholder outreach campaign to help the agency
and Telos evolve as DHS moves increasingly into cloud environments.
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