Navy Acquisition Chief Nickolas Guertin to Address 2024 Navy Summit

On August 15, the most important decision-makers and experts of the U.S. Navy will meet at the Potomac Officers Club. Navy Summit 2024 to discuss what lies ahead for the Navy. Among the distinguished speakers at the event is the Honorable Nickolas Guertin, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition.

Join the conversation to hear insights from Guertin, Navy representatives, and other GovCon leaders!

Who is Nickolas Guertin?

Nickolas Guertin, previous Wash100 Award winner, serves as the US Navy’s purchasing chief. He was approved for this position by the Senate December 13, 2023, and officially sworn in as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition on December 20. In this role, Guertin directs the Department of the Navy’s research, development, acquisition, and sustainment programs, as well as the Navy’s contracting community.

Guertin replaces Wash100 award winner James “Hondo” Geurts, who left the position in January 2021.

Professional career of Nickolas Guertin

Prior to his current position, Guertin was the senior advisor to the secretary of defense for operational and live fire test and evaluation of DoD weapons systems. In that role, Guertin conducted independent, objective assessments to ensure that defense weapons and equipment were combat ready.

Here are other roles Guertin has held throughout his career:

• Senior Software Systems Engineer at Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute
• Systems Engineer for Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc.
• Director of Rapid Prototyping and Strategic Planning Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, US Navy
• Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (DASN RDT&E) Our Navy
• Principal Assistant Program Manager for Open Architecture and Systems Engineering Navy Sea Systems Command
• Combat Control Lead Engineer PEO Submarines
• Mechanical engineer for Navy Submarine Warfare Center
• Lieutenant Commander (Retired) US Navy Reserve

Nickolas Guertin wins Wash100 2023

In 2023, Guertin was honored with the title winner of the prestigious Wash100 awardwhich recognizes the best and brightest leaders working in the U.S. government and government contracting industry. He was named to the list in recognition of his vision for advancing mission systems as a candidate for the position of chief of Navy acquisition.

Guertin’s priorities as naval purchasing chief

Increase in the procurement workforce

Guertin said the Navy’s acquisition workforce must continue to evolve so the service can keep up with the pace of innovation.

“Contract officers are a key part of our future. We need contract officers to thrive,” Guertin said. “Quite frankly, the Navy is making great contract officers because people are constantly hiring them. It’s something we have to keep refreshing.”

Using new technology

During his Nomination hearing in March 2023Guertin emphasized his commitment to leading a team dedicated to designing and building cutting-edge solutions that effectively support the Navy’s missions.

“As part of that, I intend to harness their expertise and enthusiasm to accelerate and streamline the delivery of innovations needed to deliver unprecedented warfighting advantage — at scale,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“To achieve these goals, we need to leverage things like model-driven engineering and digital threads, rapid hardware design, and modern and proven development practices to evolve software capabilities – in short, we need to use new tools to evolve our practices,” Guertin added.

Listen to Nickolas Guertin’s speech at the 2024 Navy Summit

Nickolas Guertin to Launch Potomac Officers Club Navy Summit 2024 with an inaugural speech. Join this event on Thursday, August 15, in McLean, Virginia, to participate in a conversation about the future of the U.S. Navy.