An official website of the United States government
This is the position of Supervisory Contract and Grants Specialist in the Sponsored Programs and Procurement [SPP] Department. The Incumbent is responsible for all work product including the coordination, review, and submittal of contract proposals and the negotiation, execution, administration, and closeout of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and other awards.
Note: Telework may be an option under this appointment, you must first discuss and receive approval from Management.
Learn more about this agency11/21/2022 to 02/24/2023
$110,798 - $144,034 per year
IS 13
1 vacancy in the following location:
No
No
No
Permanent - Trust Fund. This is not a federal position.
Full-time - Full time. First consideration may be made 14 days after the opening date.
Competitive
13
No
No
23-30
690418900
This vacancy is open to all qualified candidates who are US citizens or Perm residents. First consideration may be made 14 days after the opening date.
Serves as Senior Contract and Grants Specialist responsible for pre-award and post-award functions involving highly specialized contracts, which are of significant importance to SAO, and that arrive at SAO in the form of contracts, grants, awards, agreements, and other such types of funding that are received from federal agencies, FFRDCs, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, foundations, and private industry.
Duties include performing all necessary acquisition functions in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation [FAR], NASA FAR Supplement [NFS], NASA Handbooks and Guidebooks, applicable Parts of the Code of Federal Regulations [CFR], applicable Office of Management and Budget [OMB] Circulars, and all other applicable regulations and policies. These acquisition functions include:
• Identifying opportunities and provides information about funding sources and availability of contracts and grants to senior management, scientific, and technical staff.
• Managing proposal preparation process. Reviews solicitations from sponsors; coordinates proposal activities; provides advice on meeting sponsor and SAO/SI legal and policy requirements; reviews and recommends changes to the Statement of Work and cost section; analyzes proposals for conformance with the sponsor’s solicitation; and ensures that proposals are compliant with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Serving as Senior Authorized Organizational Representative. Submits proposals and certifies SAO compliance with various representations, certifications, and assurances necessary to complete the proposal process in accordance with SAO policy and procedures. Ensures that SAO is properly registered in all proposal submission and award administration electronic systems that are maintained by the Government and other sponsors.
• Serving as Negotiation Team Leader. serves as spokesperson for SAO during complex contract negotiations that involve a sizable portion of SAO’s resources, and leads these negotiations with sponsors to develop the contract prices, deliverables, terms, and conditions. Monitors and provides liaison with Government and other Accepts contract and grant awards and modifications, and executes awards in the absence of the Department Manager.
• Performing complex contract and grant administration.
Provides overall human resources management to Sponsored Programs Section staff by: planning and assigning work supervising day-to-day awards administration operations; interviewing and hiring new team members; developing performance standards and reviewing performance; recommending and taking necessary disciplinary action; giving advice, counsel, and instruction to team members; determining training needs and arranging for training as appropriate.
Maintains communications with user community within SAO regarding their present and anticipated contracting needs. Develops and updates guidance material to inform, clarify, and explain major regulatory requirements, policies, and procedures, and changes thereto so as to enable users to properly generate proposals. Coordinates enhancements to and operation of web-based Contract and Grant Tracking system with SAO’s Administrative Information Systems [AIS] Group.
Performs other duties as assigned.
For Requirements please refer to qualification standards to Individual Occupational Requirements for Contracting Series:
http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/Standards/IORs/gs1100/1102.htm
Basic Requirements for GS-13
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 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
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.
For the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccination requirements and its impact on your application, click on Smithsonian Institution’s Frequently Asked Questions
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:
Mastery of a variety of contracting laws, methods and types, clauses, terms and special provisions, as identified in the FAR. Contract administration policy, procedures, sufficient to monitor performance on awards that extend over several years and cover research and development.
Mastery of procurement regulations and contracting principles, laws regulations and practices sufficient to plan, develop, implement, and administer all contractual aspects of company projects; Procurement principles, methods, and techniques required to negotiate multi-year awards. Including knowledge of non-procurement regulations and laws that affect procurements and research issues, e.g., ITAR, EAR, RCR training, etc.
Mastery of pre-award negotiation techniques and the ability to meet and deal with representatives of the various sponsors sufficient to serve as the lead negotiator with scientists, project managers, and project administrators in developing SAO’s prenegotiation strategy in conducting pre-award negotiations with the sponsors, and in performing postaward negotiations involving award changes and modifications.
Thorough working knowledge of the following: Federal Acquisition Regulation [FAR] and Agency Supplements. Applicable Parts of the Code of Federal Regulations [CFR], Title 2 Office of Management and Budget Guidance for Grants and Agreements. Federally Funded Grants Policy and Procedures; Non-Profit and Private Foundations processes.
Skill in managerial and coordinative activities sufficient to undertake a variety of post award administration, contractual, in an overlapping fashion, or sequentially and to control several simultaneous interrelated awards with different sponsors and knowledge of monitoring and management control techniques necessary to monitor performance of and compliance with awards provisions, including closeout and termination procedures, property management procedures, and other administrative procedures involved in overall award management.
Knowledge of Federal Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) sufficient to ensure proper application of funds, direction to project managers and administrators on reasonable, allowable and applicability of expenditures.
Ability to supervise and motivate assigned Sponsored Programs personnel, and to prioritize, assign, and review their work.
Skill in the use of a personal computer and associated software including word processing, spreadsheet programs, and web browsers.
1. Detailed Resume.
2. School Transcripts. Education is a requirement for this position.
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. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page.
Please Note:
After you apply, you will receive an automated acknowledgement email that your submission was successful.
The staffing process to identify highly qualified candidates may take up to four weeks or more to complete. After the announcement closes and application reviews are done, you may be contacted by the hiring office if further evaluation or interviews are required.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/690418900. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is part of what is arguably the largest and most diverse astrophysical institution in the world, where the staff carries out a broad program of research in astronomy, astrophysics and earth and space sciences. If you would like to join this exciting organization, apply today!
