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Contract Specialist

Small Business Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the Small Business Administration, Performance Planning and CFO in the Acquisitions Operations Division with a duty station in either Denver, CO or Washington, DC. This Contract Specialist is responsible for cradle-to-grave contracting for a variety of supply, service, and minor construction efforts primarily for acquisitions above and below the simplified purchase threshold.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
07/12/2024 to 07/25/2024
Salary
$88,520 to - $115,079 per year

This announcement reflects the GS base salary. The actual salary will be based on the selectee's location, grade, and step.

Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Locations
4 vacancies in the following locations:
Denver, CO
Washington, DC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
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
Critical-Sensitive (CS)/High Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
24-392-LAC-DE
Control number
799417200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

The selected candidate(s) will report to the duty location in either Denver, CO or Washington, DC. Salary will be based on the duty location of the selected candidates.

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Duties

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As a Contract Specialist, some of your duties will include:

  • Serves as advisor to program officials in procurement planning meetings. Advises program officials of the procurement objectives to be used and assists in the preparation of statements of work or performance work statements. Conducts preproposal conferences with prospective contractors to arrive at a clear understanding of what is required under the proposed contract. Issues necessary solicitation amendments to clarify questions concerning such topics as specification changes, language ambiguities, or clarification of contract clauses. Prepares determinations and findings and solicitation documents. Performs detailed analyses of all elements of price and cost (costs if applicable) in contractor proposals and makes competitive range determinations if using FAR 15 and the Government announced the right to award with discussions.
  • Serves as lead negotiator in commercial acquisitions and non-commercial acquisitions. Plans the negotiation strategy, coordinates strategy with negotiation team, and leads the negotiation. Negotiating teams may include engineers, auditors, attorneys, and scientists in the negotiation and settlement actions involving significant Government and contractor program obligations. This includes negotiating any bilateral changes in the post-award environment.
  • Serves as senior contract specialist responsible for pre-award and post award functions involving highly specialized procurements of significant importance to the agency. Develops procurement objectives for the program in terms of competition and price range, and constructs the contractual vehicle including use of pricing arrangements, subcontracting policy, set-aside policies, and similar considerations. Prepares and maintains current acquisition plans, appropriate milestone charts, and related schedules.
Salary by location: This announcement reflects the GS base salary. The actual salary will be based on the selectee's location, grade, and step.
Salary Range-Denver, CO: $114,970 - $149,465
Salary Range-Washington, DC: $117,962 - $153,354

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen
  • You must successfully complete a background investigation.
  • You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR GS-13 and ABOVE:

A. Applicants must have 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 GS-12 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public, as defined under Specialized Experience below.
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: Applicants holding a GS-1102 position in federal service 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, 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 filling 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 possesses 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.

In order to be rated as qualified, you must provide copies of your college transcripts. Failure to provide copies of your college transcripts may result in a rating of "Ineligible".

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

Applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level or equivalent pay band. This experience includes all the following:

1. Performing operational contracting in both supply and services purchasing and contracting as a contract specialist/administrator; and
2. Developing acquisition packages that include assisting program offices with developing scopes of work, source selection plans, and crafting technical evaluation factors; and
3. Conducting research related to acquisitions; and
4. Presenting findings on contracting approaches and methodologies used in federal acquisition regulations.
These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume.

AND

Selective Placement Factor: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified.

NOTE: As of February 1, 2023, the FAC-C certification program has transitioned to a single-level FAC-C (Professional) requirement:
A. You must possess a FAC-C(Pro) / DAWIA Professional certification OR industry equivalent such as the NCMA Certified Professional Contract Manager or a combination of experience and education that evidence comparable skills to FAC-C(Pro). ). You can find additional information regarding the certification requirements https://www.fai.gov/certification/fac-c/new-fac-c-professional
OR
B. If you do not currently have the FAC-C (Pro) you will be required to obtain certification within 24 months of entrance upon duty. You will be required to sign a training agreement and a statement of understanding.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's Qualifications web site: Contracting Series, 1102 (opm.gov)

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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 07/25/2024.

Education

Education may not be substituted for experience for this position.

APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE: 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 (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.) Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Verify School accreditation. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. *** If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. *** For further information, click on: Foreign Education.

Additional information

This is a bargaining unit position with AFGE Local 228.
This is not a drug testing designated position (TDP).

Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

Career and InterAgency Career Transition Assistance Programs:
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) is a program that helps "surplus" or "displaced" federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job in their current agency (intra-agency, i.e. SBA employees only).

Inter-Agency Career Transition Assistance (ICTAP) is a program that helps "surplus" or "displaced" federal employees improve their chances of finding a new job at another agency (inter-agency; i.e. not applying to their current or former agency).

You are eligible for CTAP/ICTAP if:
1. You are a current federal employee who meets the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee meaning you have received official notice that your job is no longer needed or that you will lose your job by Reduction-in-Force (RIF).
2. Your agency, or the agency to which you are applying, is accepting applications from within or outside of the permanent workforce.
3. The position to which you are applying MUST BE in the Local Commuting Area of the position of record from which you are being displaced.
4. You meet the qualifications and other requirements of the job for which you are applying. This includes being rated as well-qualified for the position (score of 85 or better based on your responses to the competencies and associated questions listed within the assessment).

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. For additional information visit www.sss.gov.

Consistent with work requirements and current SBA Policy, and all applicable provisions of the collective bargaining agreement with AFGE the SBA offers employees opportunities to perform work at an alternative location (e.g. home).

Telework may be available. For information on Telework visit: http://www.telework.gov/

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants meeting basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on the information provided in the Occupational Questionnaire. To preview this questionnaire, click on the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12476545. You will be rated based on your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The occupational questions relate to the following Competencies required to do the work of this position:

  • Accountability
  • Acquisition Strategy
  • Attention to Detail
  • Contracting/Procurement
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Requirements Analysis
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Your application will be evaluated under the Category Rating method based on your responses to the assessment questions. You will receive a score based on the responses to the assessment questions. If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. If you meet basic requirements for the position, your application will be evaluated and placed into one of three categories:

1. Best-Qualified: highly proficient with an overall comprehensive level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.
2. Well-Qualified: competent in the position with an overall accomplished level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, training, and education as applicable, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.
3. Qualified: an overall basic level of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the job based on a complete review of experience, education, and training, as described in an applicant's responses to the assessment questions and resume.

Candidates eligible for veterans' preference will be placed ahead of other candidates in the appropriate category for which they have been rated. Additionally, preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent and who meet Minimum Qualification Requirements will automatically be placed in the Best Qualified Category.

Career and InterAgency Career Transition Assistance Programs: To receive selection priority for this position, you must:
1. meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria as described under "Additional Information" above; and
2. submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility claim which can be found under the Required Documents section of this vacancy announcement.

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