Clarification from the agency

Open to all U.S. Citizens. This position will be filled through Expedited Hiring Authority (EHA). All applicants who meet the basic qualification requirements will be forwarded to the Selecting Official for further consideration. The "Rule of Three", Category Rating, Veterans Preference, and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

You will serve as a senior Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer, and be responsible to plan and recommend for execution, all contractual actions and phases for assigned programs.

Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team. Typical work assignments include:

• Providing contracting expertise and business advice to programs, leadership, top management officials, policy makers, and non-governmental organizations and institutions in all contracting areas and on challenging, new developments in contracting and procurement initiatives. Collaborating with other government agencies and support development of interagency agreements.
• Working closely with and responsible for the full range of contracting actions required to support program/requiring office from project initiation to contracting closeout. Planning, managing, pre-award, award, post-award, and closeout of complex acquisitions. Negotiating acquisitions employing a variety of contract types such as: cost reimbursement, incentive, indefinite delivery, and firm-fixed-price.
• Conducting in-depth compliance reviews of solicitations and contracts appropriate contract type, pricing and other contract provisions, acquisition method, selection of source, clarity of contract terms, and propriety of cited funds.
• Conducts random routine Electronic Contract Filing System (ECFS) file audits on team, and reports findings to Supervisor to identify areas for improvement.
• Develops ideas to increase compliance with the contracting office's "Metrics that Matter". These metrics consist of meeting normally 90% to 100% quotas on compliance with: exercising Options timely, completing CPARS registrations and evaluations timely, approving FPDS-NG, CARs timely, awarding Closeouts timely, paying Invoices timely, and ensuring the complete and accurate file for every action over the Micro-Purchase Threshold is uploaded into ECFS.
• Prepares and hosts various trainings for team staff as needed, depending on noticed skill deficiencies staff may have, or to just share lessons learned.
• Assists Contract Specialists with creating and adjusting milestone plans, and hosts meetings with all stakeholders as needed.
• Researches and stays up to date on all FAR, HSAR, HSAM, and CGAP, Class Deviations, Acquisition Alerts, and local level guidance, to be prepared to answer stakeholder or industry questions, when the Contract Specialist is unfamiliar with the topic.
• Is flexible with alternating between taking mandatory trainings and ensuring the work is still done, so mission critical services and supplies are procured accurately and timely.
• Is the Acting Supervisor for contractual issues during the Supervisor's absences, and coordinates with Level Above Supervisor for other issues such as unexpected staff absences or HR related issues.
• Provides much advanced notice of planned leave requests and coordinates leave requests with Supervisor, so Supervisor can try to ensure that there is always at least 1 Contracting Officer working on each business day.
• Effectively communicate orally and in writing with the team, management, and stakeholders.

Conditions of employment

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Must complete all mandatory trainings, successfully obtain and maintain an Unlimited Contracting Officer Warrant conducted through a formal warrant board interview within 6 months from the date of hire.

Key Requirements:
All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

1. Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
2. Must be registered or exempt from the Selective Service. See www.sss.gov
3. A one-year probationary period may be required.
4. Unofficial Transcripts must be submitted at the time of application
5. This is not a Bargaining Unit position.

Qualifications

You must meet all three requirements listed below, unless you are covered by an exception:1) Completion of a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field, 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: The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) does not grant Academic degrees; therefore, courses completed at the DAU are not creditable towards meeting the 24-semester hour requirement, in the fields identified above, unless the coursework has been evaluated by an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and appears on a college or university transcript.

AND 2) Completion of at least 4-years of experience in a contracting or related position, 1 year of which was directly related experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service. Directly related experience must have involved the application of procurement and contracting principles, laws, regulations and procedures in planning, developing, implementing, and maintaining all aspects of the administration of one or more major systems contracts; applying knowledge of a procurement functional area sufficient to provide expert technical leadership, staff coordination, and consultation; formulating guidelines, implementing new developments, and providing policy interpretation; performing in-depth evaluations of the financial and technical capabilities, or the performance, of the contractor; planning and conducting on-site training to improve overall acquisition functions; coordinating the implementation of financial management business processes that impact contract operations; and assisting in the implementation of policies, programs and services related to acquisition information technology systems.

EXCEPTIONS TO QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Applicants who have been in a GS-1102 position, at or above the GS-13 level, since January 1, 2000 without a break in service only need to meet the 1-year of directly related experience in order to qualify. The educational, training and additional years of contracting experience requirements do not apply to these individuals.AND3) Training refers to the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Modernization Memo issued by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy on Jan. 19, 2023.

Applicants must meet the FAC-C (Professional) or DAWIA Contracting Professional requirements at the time of application. Possession of certification must be indicated as part of application submission. Certification requirements may be viewed at FAC-C (Professional) | FAI.GOV National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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. 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualification requirements for the position. Under the provisions of direct hiring authority, rating, ranking and veterans' preference does not apply; therefore, your responses to the questionnaire will not be used to determine a scored rating. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications in the job opportunity announcement, will be referred for selection consideration. While veterans' preference does not apply in EHA, preference eligible are encouraged to submit their supporting documentation (DD-214 stating disposition of discharge or character of service, VA letter, SF-15, etc.).

Applicants applying as CTAP or ICTAP candidates, and are determined CTAP or ICTAP eligible, must exceed the minimum qualification requirements to be referred under this selection priority placement program by attaining at least a rating of 85 out of 100. For those deemed eligible and who meet the minimum qualifications, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles who are not determined well-qualified will not be referred under the CTAP/ICTAP selection priority placement program; however, will be referred for selection consideration with other minimally qualified applicants.

The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies, please do not provide a separate written response.



Prefers applicant to currently possess an Unlimited Contracting Officer Warrant. However, as stated in the Requirements section of this announcement, an Unlimited Contracting Officer Warrant is required to be obtained within 6 months from the date of hire.
Veterans' preference does not apply.

Recruitment Incentive - Selectee(s) for this position who are newly appointed to a permanent position are authorized to receive a one-time recruitment incentive of 10% of the salary, including locality for this position. Receipt of the bonus will require a 12-month service agreement.

"Newly appointed" refers to the first appointment (regardless of tenure) as an employee of the Federal Government, an appointment following a break in service of at least 90 days from a previous appointment as an employee of the Federal Government, or, in certain cases, an appointment following a break in service of less than 90 days from a previous appointment as an employee of the Federal Government.

Relocation Incentive - Selectee(s) for this position who are current federal employees on permanent appointments and will be moving outside of the current commuting area of their current position to accept this position are authorized to receive a one-time relocation incentive of 10% of the salary including locality for this position. Receipt of the bonus will require a 12-month service agreement. The employee must establish a residence in the new geographic area prior to payment.

Student Loan - Selectee(s) for this position who are newly appointed to a permanent or term position may be eligible for student loan repayment up to $10,000 (pre-tax) for one calendar year. More than one loan may be repaid if the combined repayments do not exceed $10,000. Receipt of this incentive will require a three-year service agreement.