People Profile: David Sharp
Full Name: David Sharp
Current Role: Contracting Officer (Head KO), Golden Dome for America (GDA)
Organization: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E)
Previous Organization: Space Development Agency (SDA), Department of the Air Force
Location: Manassas/Chantilly, Virginia, United States
Overview
David Sharp is a federal civilian contracting professional currently serving as the head Contracting Officer (KO) for the Golden Dome for America (GDA) initiative under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E). Prior to this role, he served as a Contracting Officer and Agreements Officer at the Space Development Agency (SDA), where he became one of the most decorated acquisition professionals in the defense space community. Sharp is recognized for his expertise in rapid acquisition, Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs), and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) mechanisms, and is an active participant in the defense technology startup community (Defense Acquisition University, 2024).
Career Timeline
| Period | Role | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–1999 | B.A. Student, Political Science & Government | University of California, Berkeley |
| Pre-2022 | Contracting Officer | United States Air Force |
| December 2021 – 2025/2026 | Contracting Officer / Agreements Officer | Space Development Agency (SDA) |
| 2025/2026 – Present | Head Contracting Officer, Golden Dome for America | OUSD R&E |
Sharp earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from the University of California, Berkeley, completing his degree in 1999 (LinkedIn, n.d.). He subsequently entered federal service as a Contracting Officer with the United States Air Force before transitioning to the Space Development Agency in December 2021 (SignalHire, 2026). His tenure at the SDA spanned the agency’s most consequential early acquisition years, during which it was establishing the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). By 2025 or 2026, Sharp transitioned from the SDA to OUSD R&E to serve as the head Contracting Officer for the Golden Dome for America initiative (GovTribe, 2026).
Notable Contract Actions and Programs
At the SDA, Sharp executed 95 contract actions involving 29 new awards, 19 negotiated modifications, and 47 administrative modifications, with a combined value exceeding $1.96 billion and obligations of over $1.70 billion (Defense Acquisition University, 2024). The most significant of these were two Tranche 1 Tracking Layer agreements valued at a combined $1.3 billion, awarded only 92 days after the solicitation was posted—68 percent faster than the Department of Defense average for contract awards and nine months faster than the industry average (Defense Acquisition University, 2024).
Additional documented contract actions associated with Sharp at the SDA include a Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) task order to Microsoft Corporation (Task Order FA240124F0003 under IDIQ HC105023D0003, May 2024) and a competitive Cost Plus Award Fee contract to Kratos for the Advanced Fire Control Ground Infrastructure (AFCGI) program (November 2024) (HigherGov, n.d.). His SBIR portfolio included Phase I and Phase II awards to companies such as Atombeam Technologies, Kitware, Orbital Micro Systems, Stellar Science, and Toyon Research Corporation (HigherGov, n.d.). Approximately 80 percent of his SDA acquisitions were set aside for small businesses under FAR 19.5, reflecting a deliberate orientation toward the defense innovation base (CLEATUS AI, n.d.).
In his current role at OUSD R&E, Sharp is the contracting lead for the GDA Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) HQ0202-26-S-0001, issued on April 2, 2026. The CSO is a long-term, continuously open solicitation designed to rapidly fund and deploy breakthrough solutions in missile defense—including ballistic missile, hypersonic, and advanced cruise missile defense—using agile, flexible contracting mechanisms including Other Transaction Agreements and fixed-price FAR-based contracts. The solicitation is open through September 30, 2035, and all inquiries are directed to the GDA contracting mailbox at osd.pentagon.ousd-r-e.mbx.gda-contracting@mail.mil (GovTribe, 2026).
Recognition and Awards
Sharp received the 2023 Defense Acquisition Workforce Individual Achievement Award for Contracting, presented by Dr. Radha Plumb, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, at a ceremony held on January 24, 2024, at Defense Acquisition University (Defense Acquisition University, 2024). The award citation described him as “the epitome of SDA’s motto, Semper Citius! bringing capability to the Warfighter always faster than the day before” and credited his “forward-leaning thought leadership and acquisition expertise” with enabling SDA to achieve the “agility, price control, and speed essential to the agency’s exceptionally aggressive delivery timeline” (Defense Acquisition University, 2024). The SDA’s official LinkedIn account announced the award in December 2023, with SDA Director Derek Tournear commenting that Sharp and the SDA contracts shop were “a model of speed and efficiency” (Space Development Agency, 2023).
Public Statements and Community Engagement
Sharp is an active reader and commenter within the defense technology startup community on Substack, where he engages with authors and practitioners on acquisition policy, OTA mechanics, and the role of government contracting in the defense innovation ecosystem.
In December 2023, Sharp commented on a Substack post by Nathan Mintz titled “How to Realistically Estimate Market Size and Revenue in Defense,” publicly identifying himself as an Agreements Officer at the SDA and correcting factual errors regarding OTA eligibility rules. He clarified that OTAs require “significant contributions from non-defense contractors (NDCs), not any numerical contribution,” and that the definition of “significant contribution” is “purposefully undefined and at the discretion of the Agreements Officer.” He further noted that the same NDC may pair with a traditional defense contractor “any number of times,” and that traditional defense contractors may participate in OTAs without NDC partners if they contribute a one-third cost share (Mintz, 2023). In a follow-up comment in the same thread, Sharp observed that “a very savvy approach I have seen space startups use is to treat SBIR awards as levers to access VC capital for better terms” and noted that the mandatory 3.65 percent DoD R&D budget set-aside for SBIR/STTR awards “lowers the bar for winning an award” (Mintz, 2023).
In July 2025, Sharp commented on Maggie Gray and Nestor Levin’s Substack article “Satellites and SBIRs: The Strategic Signal the Space Force Must Send,” calling it “the best article on this subject” and noting that one of the featured companies was likely to receive a SBIR Phase 3 award as a result of the article’s visibility. He also provided a technical clarification on SDA’s use of the spiral development model and RDT&E funds for major efforts (Gray & Levin, 2025).
Sharp also liked the July 2025 Substack article “Headlines: Acquisition Reform and AI” published by the Defense Tech and Acquisition newsletter (MacGregor & Modigliani, 2025).
Online Presence
| Platform | URL |
|---|---|
| linkedin.com/in/davidlgsharp | |
| Substack | substack.com/profile/10902701-david-sharp |
| Government Email (SDA) | david.l.sharp42.civ@mail.mil (per HigherGov public record) |
| GDA Contracting Mailbox | osd.pentagon.ousd-r-e.mbx.gda-contracting@mail.mil |
References
Defense Acquisition University. (2024, March). Defense acquisition workforce 2023 awards. Defense Acquisition Magazine. https://www.waru.edu/library/damag/march-april2024/defense-acquisition-workforce-2023-awards
CLEATUS AI. (n.d.). David Sharp: FA2401 Space Development Agency SDA. Retrieved June 23, 2026, from David Sharp | CLEATUS
GovTribe. (2026, April 2). Golden dome for America commercial solutions opening (HQ0202-26-S-0001). https://govtribe.com/opportunity/federal-contract-opportunity/golden-dome-for-america-commercial-solutions-opening-hq020226s0001
Gray, M., & Levin, N. (2025, July 15). Satellites and SBIRs: The strategic signal the Space Force must send. Gray Matters. Satellites and SBIRs: The Strategic Signal the Space Force Must Send
HigherGov. (n.d.). David Sharp (Department of the Air Force). Retrieved June 23, 2026, from David Sharp (Department of the Air Force)
LinkedIn. (n.d.). David Sharp: Contracting officer at Space Development Agency. Retrieved June 23, 2026, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlgsharp
MacGregor, M., & Modigliani, P. (2025, July 26). Headlines: Acquisition reform and AI. Defense Tech and Acquisition. Headlines: Acquisition Reform and AI
Mintz, N. (2023, October 18). How to realistically estimate market size and revenue in defense [Comments section]. Nathan’s Substack. Comments - How to realistically estimate market size and revenue in defense start ups
SignalHire. (2026, June 1). David Sharp: Contracting officer at Space Development Agency. Find David Sharp's email & phone number - Contracting Officer at Space Development Agency, Manassas | SignalHire
Space Development Agency. (2023, December 15). The Space Development Agency is proud to announce that Contract Specialist David Sharp has been selected for the 2023 Defense Acquisition Workforce Award [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. #teamsda #sempercitius #pwsa #space #defense | Space Development Agency | 23 comments
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