Clarification from the agency

Internal agency employees; including agency temporary employees, eligible agency Experts, and eligible agency personal services contractors. Recently Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and qualified Returned Peace Corps Response Volunteers with Peace Corps Eligibility.

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The Procurement Analyst (Overseas) performs the following major duties:

Contract/Procurement Advice and Assistance

• Advises Overseas Contracting Officers (OCOs) and other post and headquarters staff on matters pertaining to contracting actions.
• Prepares and provides training to Overseas Contracting Officers (OCOs) and other staff at post and headquarters involved in the overseas contracting process on procurement requirements, correspondence, instructions, briefings, etc. covering essential information captured from analysis and decisions which extensively impact procurement actions.
• Acts as a Contract Specialist for either an assigned group of contracts and interagency agreements for supplies and services benefiting overseas posts.
• Performs contracting analysis and identifies the impact of contracting operations to provide situational awareness and recommendations to senior leaders, sufficient to support informed decision-making and directed actions.

• Manages an overseas contracting operations review program under the direction of the Chief of the Overseas Contracting Division within OCFO/ACM with possibilities for in-person and remote reviews.
• Conducts and/or lead reviews in accordance with developed procedures. Identifies, documents and reports problems, deficiencies, and recommends practices in accordance with the Overseas Contracting Handbook to enhance overseas contracting and procurement support.
• Coordinate with reviewer(s) and post(s) on requirements for the reviews and/or conduct and/or lead reviews.

• Participates in the formulation of policies and procedures for overseas contracting operations. Develops criteria and guidance pertaining to compliance, data on proposed procurements, etc.
• Provides expert policy analysis to the supervisor in order to meet contracting and procurement policy objectives and define issues of concern.
• Interprets and provides guidance to others regarding existing policies and procedures as well as participates in the researching, planning, formulating, and implementing new or updated policies and procedures related to the Overseas Acquisition at Peace Corps.

Conditions of employment

Please read this announcement in its entirety prior to submitting your application.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen.
• You must be at least 18 years of age.
• All Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so. For additional information, see www.sss.gov.
• You must complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
• You must go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. These documents must be unexpired originalor certified copies.
• You must successfully complete a background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination.
• Prior to employment, and in compliance with statutes 5 USC 3322 and 22 USC 2507b, Peace Corps will conduct a check of Peace Corps records for both Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and former Peace Corps employees.
• All new employees are required to certify and submit a state of understanding acknowledging adherence to the Peace Corps condition of employment prior to day 1 of employment with the Peace Corps.
• This position requires a public trust background investigation.
• This position requires the filing of a Financial Disclosure report.
• This is not a bargaining unit position.
• A one-year probationary period is required.
• This position is eligible for additional reappointments, per 22 USC §2506 (a)(8). The initial appointment is a term of five years and subsequent reappointments are in terms of up to five years.

Qualifications

All qualification requirements must be met by 10/09/2024 (the closing date of the announcement). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To ensure full credit for your experience, please indicate the start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and the location of employment in your resume. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

Basic Requirement for the 1102 Job Series (FP-02 / GS-14 Level): In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below:

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~

Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) from an accredited educational institution authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees, 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. *NOTE: Failure to provide transcripts will result in you being rated ineligible for this position.

~OR~

Exemption: You are exempt from the education requirements above if (A) you are a current civilian employee who occupied GS-1102 positions or contracting positions with authority to award or administer contracts above the simplified acquisition threshold in an Executive Department on or before September 30, 2000; OR (B) you are a current military member who occupied a similar occupational specialty to the GS (or equivalent)-1102 on or before September 30, 2000.

~AND~

Specialized Experience:

This vacancy is being announced at one grade:

Specialized Experience at the FP-02 (GS-14): To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-02 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP-03 or GS-13 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes at least three of the following:

• Carrying out procurement pre-award, administration, and close-out tasks.
• Advising program offices on tasks such as acquisition planning, preparing procurement request package documents, completing market research, evaluating vendors, and carrying out technical oversight of the contract.
• Advising the contracting office on the creation or updating of procurement policies and procedures.
• Providing training on procurement policies and procedures in formal and on-the-job settings
• Ensuring compliance of operational contracting staff with procurement regulations, policies, procedures, and guidance.

~AND~

Selective Placement Factors:

Must hold a Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Professional certification. If a waiver is received, must obtain FAC-C Professional certification within 12 months of beginning the position.

Must have served an overseas contracting officer at Peace Corps.

Time-in-Grade (TIG) Requirements:

Current or Formal Federal employees, including current Peace Corps employees, must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the FP-09 (GS-05) grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position to which you are applying.

All current or former Federal employees (including internal employees) must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), "Notice of Personnel Action" that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

Please note:

• Past experience that satisfies the Specialized Experience MUST be well documented within your resume. Failure to provide this information in your resume with corresponding start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and location of employment may result in disqualification from further consideration.
• Specialized Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector, or through volunteer work done with National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) or other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).
• One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.
• Additional information on qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site.
• Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. The FP pay plan does not follow the same structure as the GS pay plan. In the FP pay plan, as the grade-level numbers decrease the level/pay for the position increases. The FP-09 is the lowest entry-level grade and the FP-01 is the highest senior-level grade.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applications will be reviewed once the vacancy announcement closes. We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:

1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications

We will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated or falsified your qualifications, education, eligibility claims, and/or experience, this is cause for disqualification. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements.

2. Rating and Ranking

If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required experience by comparing your submitted resume and documents against your responses to the occupational questionnaire and the specialized experience at the grade level(s) for which you are applying. The occupational questionnaire is the list of questions in the automated system that you will have an opportunity to answer once you apply for the position. Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be assigned a numerical score (out of 100 possible). If your responses to the occupational questionnaire are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be disqualified from receiving further consideration.

3. Referral and Selection

If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

• Compliance
• Contracting/Procurement
• Teaching Others
• Technical Competence