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Contract Specialist
 

Summary

Through this shared cross-government announcement, we're hiring Contract Specialists to join different agencies across the Federal government to improve the way we serve the public.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

 

U.S. Citizens, CTAP, ICTAP

 

The public

 

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

 

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

 

Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.

Duties

The Federal government is looking to fill Contract Specialist positions across many different agencies through this shared job opportunity announcement. Contract Specialists serve in critical roles across government to support procurement activity or the audit/review of that activity. Some examples of typical work assignments may include:

  • Determining appropriate contract type and method of procurement based on the nature of requirement, urgency of need, estimated cost, market conditions, and applicable procurement policies and regulations.
  • Contacting offerors or contractors to negotiate prices that appear either excessive or underestimated, to request earlier delivery date or closer conformance to specifications or similar matters.
  • Developing procurement plans by reviewing previous history, market research, and specifications or technical data packages.
  • Preparing and issue solicitation documents.
  • Selecting appropriate clauses by ensuring clear and complete specifications.
  • Performing detailed analysis of responses to solicitations, including price reasonableness, adequacy of competition, compliance with solicitation, and probability of meeting requirements.
  • Serving as a central point-of-contact on assigned procurements, and respond to inquiries.

RequirementsConditions of Employment

 

  • Some agencies may have in-person work with or without telework options, and some may have remote (virtual/work-from-home) positions. Be sure to get clarification from the hiring agency about the duty location and remote or telework policies that apply for each job you consider.
  • Completion of one-year probationary period.
  • May be covered by a bargaining unit.
  • May qualify for bonuses, incentives, and/or reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
  • May require financial disclosure filing.
  • May require a pre-employment drug test and/or random drug testing during the period of employment.
  • Must be a U.S. citizen or national.
  • Promotion potential varies. May have promotion potential to higher grade levels.
  • Selective service registration is required, as applicable.
  • Travel and security clearance requirements vary.

 

Qualifications

 

This announcement will close at 11:59 PM (ET) on 05/31/2024, or 11:59 PM (ET) the day when 500 applications are received, which may be sooner than the closing date. Applicants must meet all qualifications requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENT: To be considered for this position, you must demonstrate that you meet the basic requirement:
A. Degree: Successful completion of a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field. (You must submit transcripts.)
OR
B. Industry-Specific Coursework: Successful completion of at least 24 semester hours in any combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. (You must submit transcripts.)
OR
C. Exception for 1102 Series: Employees in GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupy on January 1, 2000. Employees who occupy GS-1102 positions at grades 5 through 12 will be considered to meet the basic requirements for other GS-1102 positions up to and including those classified at GS-12. This includes positions at other agencies and promotions up through grade 12. However, employees must meet specialized experience requirements when seeking another position. (You must submit SF-50(s).)

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement listed above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement(s) in order to be considered:
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for these positions, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education, or exception, for the respective grade level(s) to which you are applying:

GS-07
Specialized Experience: One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties (You must meet 3 of 4 specialized experience statements to be determined qualified.):

  1. Assisting with the development, preparation, and presentation of terms and conditions in bids or proposals related to the award of contracts;
  2. Supporting the negotiating and awarding of contracts, contract modifications, and subcontracts;
  3. Assisting with the administration of the terms and conditions of contracts; and
  4. Analyzing proposed prices or costs to forecast price trends in regards to contracts.

OR
Education: One full academic year (18 semester hours or the equivalent) of graduate education or law school. Your field of study must have been in one or a combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. (You must submit transcripts.)
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: Combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total requirement for this position. To determine your combination, first compute your experience as a percentage of the experience listed above; then compute your graduate education as a percentage of the graduate education listed above; then add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent. (Only graduate-level education may be combined with specialized experience. You must submit transcripts.)
OR
Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): A bachelor's degree in one or more of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management, or any field that equipped you with the knowledge, skill, and ability to perform the work of a Contract Specialist, AND meet one of the following: (1) Grade point average of "B" (GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study; (2) Grade point average of "B+" (GPA of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study; (3) Rank in the upper one-third of your class in your college, university, or major subdivision; or (4) Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. (You must submit transcripts.)

OR
Exception to 1102 Series: Employees in GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupy on January 1, 2000. Your position must have been grade 5 or higher. (You must submit SF-50(s).)

GS-09
Specialized Experience:One or more full-time years (12-months) of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service, performing the following duties (You must meet 3 of 4 specialized experience statements to be determined qualified.):

  1. Reviewing requisitions to ensure the proper specifications or product descriptions are included;
  2. Analyzing responses to bids or proposals to evaluate compliance with solicitation specifications;
  3. Monitoring the progress of contractors to ensure deadlines/standards are met; and
  4. Analyzing factual data (e.g., prices, delivery dates) to make recommendations.

OR
Education: Two full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education or master's or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D. Your field of study must have been in one or a combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. (You must submit transcripts.)
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: Combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total requirement for this position. To determine your combination, first compute your experience as a percentage of the experience listed above; then compute your graduate education as a percentage of the graduate education listed above; then add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent. (Only graduate-level education in excess of one year (18 semester hours) may be combined with specialized experience. You must submit transcripts.)
OR
Exception to 1102 Series: Employees in GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupy on January 1, 2000. Your position must have been grade 7 or higher. (You must submit SF-50(s).)

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must support your application responses.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work performed through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

For more information regarding the Individual Occupational Requirements for the Contracting Series, 1102: www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1100/contracting-series-1102.

Education

 

 

You must submit a copy of your college transcripts to show that you meet the basic education requirement for the Contract Specialist position, 1102 series. Unofficial transcripts with the degree title, list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter or semester hours earned can be used as a substitute for the official transcripts at the time of application. If you are selected for a position, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty.

If you are claiming education as any part of your qualifications for this position: You must submit a copy of your college transcript. An unofficial transcript with the degree title, list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned can be used as a substitute for the official transcript at the time of application. If you are selected for a position, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty.

Note about Graduate Education: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

Note about Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Applicants usually cannot claim credit based on their overall GPA if more than 10 percent of their total credit was based on pass/fail or similar systems rather than on traditional grading systems. However, if they can document that only their freshman-year courses (25 percent or less of their total credit) were credited on a pass/fail or similar system, they can use their overall GPA to claim SAA. If 10 percent or fewer credits or only freshman-year courses were based on pass/fail or similar systems, such credits can be ignored and the GPA computed on the graded courses. Applicants can, however, still claim credit based on their last 2 years if 10 percent or fewer credits were based on pass/fail or similar systems. Applicants who cannot claim credit under the GPA requirements may claim credit for SAA only on the basis of class standing or honor society membership.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications; applicants' resumes and supporting documentation should only reflect education received from schools accredited by such institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home.

If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g., special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Provide all relevant transcripts, not just your most recent one.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. Failure to provide such documentation with your application will result in lost consideration. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

 

Additional information

 

 

  • Agencies across the Federal government may participate in hiring applicants identified through this job posting.
  • Final duty station and salary will be determined by the hiring agency.
  • Recruitment and/or relocation incentives may be available and will depend on the hiring agency.
  • Qualified, eligible Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) applicants will be referred to the selecting official under the selection priority placement program.
    • CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in an agency with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate well qualified. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#ctap.
    • ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate well qualified. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp#ictap.
  • Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, non-career SES, or Presidential appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.