Lead Contract Specialist

Duties

The selectee will serve as a Lead Contract Specialist in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Procurement Division. Typical work assignments include:

• Providing assistance, advice and guidance to lower-graded specialists, senior management, and program office personnel; advising program officials of procurement objectives; and assisting with preparing the statement of work; leading studies as required by senior management or departmental officials.
• Analyzing requirements and determining appropriate acquisition method and contract type; performing detailed analyses of all cost elements in contractor proposals and making competitive range determinations.
• Planning the negotiation strategy; leading the negotiation and awarding contracts; incorporating new or modified contract requirements and settling issues that develop; and providing guidance to contractor’s concerning obligations to perform within contractual terms.
• Planning and conducting pre-proposal conferences; establishing work schedules with contractors and tracking progress to evaluate performance; briefing senior management on programs, strategies or specialized studies; leading sensitive and difficult negotiations.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

A. Completion of all mandatory training prescribed by the head of the agency for progression to GS-13 or higher level contracting positions, including at least 4-years of experience in contracting or related positions. At least 1 year of that experience must have been specialized experience at or equivalent to work at the next lower level of the position, and must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the work of the position.

AND

B. A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree, that included or was supplemented by 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.
C. Exceptions: Employees in GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupy on January 1, 2000. This also applies to positions at the same grade in the same agency or other agencies if the specialized experience requirements are met. However, they will have to meet the basic requirements and specialized experience requirements in order to qualify for promotion to a higher grade, unless granted a waiver under Paragraph D.

D. Waiver: When filing a specific vacant position, the senior procurement executive of the selecting agency, at his or her discretion, may waive any or all of the requirements of Paragraphs A and B above if the senior procurement executive certifies that the applicant possess significant potential for advancement to levels of greater responsibility and authority, based on demonstrated analytical and decision making capabilities, job performance, and qualifying experience. With respect to each waiver granted under this Paragraph D, the senior procurement executive must document for the record the basis of the waiver. If an individual is placed in a position in an agency on the basis of a waiver, the agency may later reassign that individual to another position at the same grade within that agency without additional waiver action.

AND

Qualifications: You qualify for the GS-14 level (starting salary $112,021) if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level performing duties such as serving as a lead contract specialist with signatory authority for a significant system or program consisting of large funding levels which may involve long time periods extending to five years (i.e., information technology, technical security systems, and training programs); planning, directing and coordinating with specialists and other technical support personnel; providing direction and guidance for acquisition planning and requirements; developing, planning and establishing a contractual strategy for the overall acquisition program; developing pre-negotiation position and determining the contract type and authorizing it to be used; leading contract negotiations; directing the full range of contract administration actions for the acquisition program; providing authoritative interpretation of federal and departmental regulations, procedures and policies pertaining to contracting.

Selective Placement Factor: In addition to the minimum qualifications described above, you must meet the following requirement(s) to be considered qualified for the position: Applicant must have a level III Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C Level III) or Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level III Certification.

Qualifications Must Be Met: The qualification requirements listed above must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

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.