Appointed in June 2019, Ms. Jennifer Santos  served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy (lndPol). In this capacity, she was principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment for analyzing the capabilities, overall health, and policies concerning the industrial base on which the Department relies for current and future warfighting capabilities. IndPol is also responsible for developing the Department's position on the business combinations and transactions, both foreign and domestic, that shape and affect national security. 

In August 2017, Ms. Santos joined Cypress International Inc. as Vice President, USAF and DoD Innovation programs. At Cypress, she advised numerous defense industrial base companies on acquisition, finance, and strategy in national security issues. In 2012, Ms. Santos joined the Senate as a Professional Staff Member for the Senate Appropriations Committee, Defense Subcommittee - Washington, DC. In this role, she served as majority Professional Staff Member, responsible for oversight of major DoD acquisition programs. From 2006-2012, Ms. Santos served in Air Force finance and acquisition roles, where she was responsible for analyzing annual and multi-year Air Force appropriations and coordinating  cross-functional national security issues. During this time, she also received an Aerospace MBA degree from University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Ms. Santos graduated from Wheeling Jesuit University in 1997 with a BS degree in Mathematics. From 1997-2006, she worked for the Air Force on major weapons systems, such as the F-22, AMRAAM, and Anti-Tamper programs. During this time, she co-authored a publication titled "The Role and Nature of Anti-Tamper Techniques in U.S. Defense Acquisition," in Acquisition Review Quarterly, 1999.

Ms. Santos is a regularly invited guest lecturer at Defense Acquisition University, National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and DoD organizations.