Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP)

Mission

The Office of Contracting and Procurement serves the Secretary and USDA mission areas by providing oversight, policy, guidance and coordination of acquisition planning, contracting and execution.

Leadership

Donald Baker, Jr.

Senior Procurement Executive
Director, Office of Contracting and Procurement

Don is the Director of the Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP) and the USDA Senior Procurement Executive (SPE). More...

Hilary Erickson

Head of the Contracting Activity
Deputy Director, Office of Contracting and Procurement

Hilary Erickson is the Deputy Director and Head of Contracting Activity for the USDA’s Office of Contracting and Procurement. Hilary has led acquisition initiatives and served as an acquisition professional at USDA and U.S. Department of Energy. Hilary has a BSBA in Marketing and Master of Business Administration from The University of Central Missouri. She is originally from Prairie Home, Missouri and currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri.

What We Do

The Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP), an organization under Departmental Administration (DA) within USDA, oversees over $11 billion in annual obligations. OCP provides leadership, policy, guidance, and services in the areas of contracting, procurement, category management, procurement systems, and strategic sourcing through three divisions. In addition, OCP serves as the procuring office for the Office of the Secretary, DA staff offices, and USDA agencies, as requested.

Division Breakdown

Procurement Operations Division

The Procurement Operations Division's (PODs) mission is to be a trusted business partner that provides premier acquisition leadership, support and guidance to the Secretary, Headquarters Staff Offices, and all other USDA Agencies and staff offices on Department-wide acquisitions; to facilitate effective contracting approaches that maximizes efficiency and cost effectiveness and ensures integrity and fairness in the solicitation, selection, negotiation and award of contracts consistent with public policy to meet emerging and ongoing customer needs and mission critical Department-wide procurements.

To contact Procurement Operations Division, please email us at procurement.operations@usda.gov

Procurement Policy Division

The Procurement Policy Division (PPD) is responsible for USDA-wide procurement policy and regulations, including the Agriculture Acquisition Regulation (AGAR) and the USDA Contracting Desk Book. Also, PPD leads Acquisition Workforce management and contracting-related reporting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI), and others.

To contact Procurement Operations Division, please email us at procurement.policy@usda.gov.

Procurement Systems Division

The Procurement Systems Division (PSD) provides reliable and integrated Information Technology solutions, products, and services in support of USDA’s acquisition community and provides consolidated oversight, guidance, and program assistance to the USDA Government Purchase Card (GPC) community.

USDA procurement systems are accessible to USDA employees only. Information on systems requirements for businesses who want to contract with the federal government is available on the “Contracting with USDA” page.

Contact Information

Office of Contracting and Procurement
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Suite 124W
Mail Stop Code 9308
Washington, DC 20250
(202) 720-9448