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CONTRACT SPECIALIST

Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary of the Interior
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is part of the Department of the Interior (DOI), Office of the Secretary (OS), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD). The incumbent will be responsible for pre-award and/or post-award functions for a broad range of complex, multidisciplinary, multi-agency contracts, and interagency agreements, including research and development contracts.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
09/15/2023 to 09/25/2023
Salary
$112,015 to - $145,617 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
Few vacancies in the following location:
Herndon, VA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—Eligible for telework no more than 50% of the time.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - 1 to 5 nights per month for training and conferences
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
IBC-23-MP-12117326LH
Control number
747758400

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Duties

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  • Performs compliant and mission-focused pre-award and post-award functions for a full range of acquisition activities in support of a fee-for-service acquisition shared services provider;
  • Researches, analyzes, and applies governing acquisition, agency, organizational regulations and policies, to include those that are customer-specific, in order to deliver compliant acquisition services;
  • Conducts acquisition planning in coordination with the technical program office, and determining the recommended contractual strategy to be used in the acquisition of a specific program element; processing, analyzing, evaluating, and performing price analysis; providing input for the competitive range determinations and developing a pre-negotiation position for proposals;
  • Serves as a member of a negotiating team responsible for planning, coordinating, and negotiating a variety of procurements;
  • Applies technical acquisition knowledge and utilizing efficient acquisitions processes and good business management to ensure timely delivery of acquisition services to the customer.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Suitable for Federal employment, determined by background investigation.
  • Direct Deposit of pay is required.
  • Selective Service registration required for male applicants, unless exempt.
  • Status candidates must meet time-in-grade (see Qualifications).

Qualifications

ALL APPLICANTS FOR THE CONTRACT SPECIALIST, GS-1102-13, POSITION MUST POSSESS THE FOLLOWING BASIC REQUIREMENTS: A 4-year course of study in any field leading to a bachelor's degree that included 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 (NOTE: You are required to submit your unofficial college transcripts from an appropriately accredited educational institution in order to document completion of the educational requirements for this position. The unofficial transcripts must be legible and include your name, major, school name/location, course title/number, date completed, grade, number of credits earned, and degree(s) conferred. In the case that your transcripts do not show that a degree was conferred, you may submit your unofficial transcripts AND a copy of your degree certification. If selected, official transcripts will be required prior to establishing an entrance on duty date.)

AND

At least 4 years experience in contracting or related positions - 1 year of which is specialized experience or equivalent to work at the next lower level in the Federal service.

AND

One of the following:

  • A current Federal Acquisition Certification - Contracting (FAC-C) Level I or higher certificate
  • A current DoD Contracting Professional Certification
In the case you do not have one of the certifications listed above, the following FAC-C Level I courses are required: CON 091 - Contract Fundamentals; CON 100 Shaping Smart Business Arrangements OR FCN 101 Contracting Basics; CON 121 Contract Planning; CON 124 Contract Execution; CON 127 Contract Management; FAC 023 Basic Contracting for GSA Schedules; FAC 031 Small Business Programs; CLC 056 Analyzing Contract Costs; CLC 057 Performance-based Payment & Value of Cash Flow; CLC 058 Introduction to Contract Pricing; CON 170 Fundamentals of Cost and Price Analysis; FCL-CM-2500 Category Management 101.

NOTE: COPIES OF THE CERTIFICATION OR TRAINING CERTIFICATES MUST BE PROVIDED WITH YOUR APPLICATION BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THE VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT.

AND

One year of specialized experience or equivalent work at the GS-12 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is that which has equipped the applicant with the competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience for this position includes: Using contracting principles and procedures applicable to complex pre-award and/or post-award actions sufficient to procure and/or administer contracts for a variety of specialized equipment, services, and/or construction; conducting price or financial analysis for highly complex contracts and applying cost and price analysis principles and techniques and business and industry principles and practices to analyze cost elements on an extensive range of contracts; independently developing strategic procurement plans or methods for an acquisition program; effecting procurements by negotiation, performing the full range of competitive contract negotiation tasks for highly complex acquisitions; developing new terms and conditions or other innovations necessary to satisfy the unique and complex procurement requirements and conditions; analyzing difficult contracting issues and identifying any alternative courses of action to provide the most effective support of current needs and anticipated acquisition program requirements; exemplifies ability to work in customer-focused environment, to include instilling in others effective adaptability to change based on shifts in workload and/or customer requirements.

Exception: Employees in the GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupied 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, employees will have to meet the basic requirements and specialized experience requirements in order to qualify for promotion to a higher grade. If using this exception to qualify you MUST submit an SF-50 that supports the title, series, and grade occupied on 01/01/00.)

Applicants must carefully review the information in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section for important information and instructions pertaining to the multi-hurdle assessment process for this position.

Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

TIME-IN-GRADE: Current career or career-conditional employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b).

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

You are required to submit your unofficial college transcripts from an appropriately accredited educational institution in order to document completion of the educational requirements for this position. The unofficial transcripts must be legible and include your name, major, school name/location, course title/number, date completed, grade, number of credits earned, and degree(s) conferred. In the case that your transcripts do not show that a degree was conferred, you may submit your unofficial transcripts AND a copy of your degree certification. If selected, official transcripts will be required prior to establishing an entrance on duty date.

Only education from institutions which are accredited or preaccredited/candidate for accreditation may be used to meet education requirements.

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. For further information, visit: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Programs: CTAP/ICTAP provides placement assistance to permanent Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated. Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal, proof of eligibility, and most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with their application. To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, applicants must be well-qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), score at least 85 on the assessment questionnaire, and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. For information on CTAP and ICTAP visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/federal-employees/career-transition/

Appointment Authorities: For more information on appointment authority eligibility requirements:
Persons with Disabilities-Schedule A
Special Hiring Authorities for Veterans
Special Hiring Authority for Certain Military Spouses
Other Special Appointment Authorities
OPM Interchange Agreement and Other Miscellaneous Authorities

Telework Suitability:
The duties of this position are suitable for occasional telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval and if they meet the eligibility criterion in the 2010 Telework Act.

Stipulations of Employment:
Selection may require completion of a 1-year probationary period.

Selectee will be responsible for obtaining and maintaining a Contracting Officer's Certificate of Appointment consistent with assigned duties.

A Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) will be required at the time an employee becomes a warranted contracting officer.

Work Schedule:
This position allows for a flexible work schedule.

Miscellaneous:
This position has been designated as hard to fill. If you were referred by an IBC employee, the employee may be eligible to receive a bonus for referring you under the IBC Referral Program. A qualified referring employee must submit the Candidate Referral Form to the HROD point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement prior to the issuance of a competitive selection certificate.

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify.

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill similar positions within 90 days.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Applications: help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the Assessment Questionnaire and any additional assessment required for this position. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

You will be evaluated for this job based on:

  • The experience listed in your resume and how well you meet the experience listed in the qualification section of announcement and the competencies listed.
  • On-line job Assessment Questionnaire
    • Competency based scaled self-report responses
  • Technical Assessment Questionnaire - Questionnaire that measures applicants' technical expertise
    • Questionnaire designed to measure components of knowledge that the applicant will be required to display on the job and are administered as part of the application process.
You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Legal, Government, & Jurisprudence
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Technical Competency
  • Technical Competency - Contracting / Procurement
  • Technical Competency - Technical Documentation


Due Weight Consideration is a review process used to provide consideration to performance appraisals and awards submitted with each application on a used merit promotion certificate and factoring the results into the merit promotion selection process.

Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

It is your responsibility to obtain and upload your performance appraisal/evaluation and/or list of awards prior to the closing of the vacancy announcement.

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