Clarification from the agency

This position is open to all current Department of Energy (including employees of BPA, WAPA, SEPA, SWPA, NNSA) employees on a career or career-conditional competitive service appointment. DOE employees participating in either the OPM or DOE Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) are not eligible to apply for this announcement. DRP participants are not considered active DOE employees because they have agreed to separate from the agency.

As a Contract Specialist, you will:

• Serve as the agency's technical authority for contracting issues.
• Provide guidance on regulatory and policy development for Department of Energy acquisition groups and senior leadership.
• Audit major acquisitions, present findings, and recommend corrective actions to senior management.
• Serve as a Senior Advisor to the Department of Energy senior leadership and office directors on a variety of policy, accountability, management, regulatory, and other issues.
• Evaluate proposals, bids responsiveness, contractor responsibility, and contractor performance.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• 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. See www.sss.gov.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
• If selected, your appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position is not remote, the selectee will be expected to report to the duty station(s) listed. If selected, military spouses, veteran caregivers, and spouses of foreign service employees may be eligible for applicable workplace flexibilities.
• You are required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450, Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of entering the position and annually.
• This position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP) subject to applicant testing and random drug testing thereafter. Failure to test or a positive result on random drug tests conducted after appointment may result in removal from Federal employment.
• This position has been designated as Non-Critical Sensitive and requires a security clearance at the Tier 5 level. The incumbent is required to obtain and maintain this clearance; failure to do so may result in separation from federal service.
• Occasional travel is required for the position.
• This is an acquisition position. This position requires you to possess a Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representative (FAC-C) level III certification within 24 months of hire and failure to do so may result in removal.
• This position may be included in a Bargaining Unit.
• This position may be authorized for SITUATIONAL telework, as approved by the supervisor and consistent with agency guidelines.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENT:
All applicants must meet the OPM Basic Requirement for this position as follows:

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 grade level of the position in federal service, 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 24semester 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: Applicants may request that the senior procurement executive of DOE, at his or her discretion, waive any part of the requirements above. The senior procurement executive must certify 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 DOE on the basis of a waiver, DOE may later reassign that individual to another position at the same grade within DOE without additional waiver action.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-13 in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting 2 out of 3 of the following:

1. Leading the complete contract lifecycle for programs with values ranging up to $25 million.
2. Supporting the evaluation of contractor proposals to ensure it meets all regulatory requirements.
3. Utilizing systems such as the Strategic Integrated Procurement Enterprise System (STRIPES), G-Invoicing, Budget Formulation and Distribution System (BFADS), and Financial Accounting Support Tool (FAST) to support procurement and financial operations.

There are no substitution of education for experience for this position.

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.

Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications. Your full resume will be made available to the hiring manager if you are referred.

Time-in-Grade: Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement to receive consideration.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

Minimum Qualifications: Once the application process is complete, the Human Resources Offices or Subject Matter Expert (SME) will review the first two pages of your resume and supporting documentation to determine whether you meet the minimum job qualifications.

Structured Resume Review: After it has been determined that you meet the minimum qualifications, Human Resources Offices or Subject matter experts (SMEs) may review the first two pages of your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required competencies. Additional documentation (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume) may not be considered. Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements and current employees must have at least a fully successful or equivalent performance rating to receive consideration.

Once the announcement closes, we will conduct a review of your application package to verify your eligibility and qualifications. If you are found qualified, your application will move forward to additional phases of the review process.

Your application and resume should demonstrate that you possess the following competencies. Do not provide a separate narrative written statement. Rather, you must describe in your resume how your past work experience demonstrates that you possess the competencies identified below. Use specific examples of employment or experience contained in your resume and describe how this experience has prepared you to successfully perform the duties of this position.

• Contracting/Procurement
• Financial Management
• Process Control
• Technical Competence

Shared Certificates: The Department of Energy shares lists of applicants among its internal Departmental Elements and organizations. You may be referred for consideration to other DOE Hiring Managers throughout the Department for more than one position based on this application. By applying to this announcement, you understand your application materials may be shared with multiple Hiring Mangers throughout DOE. If additional positions are filled from this announcement conditions of employment may differ. You will be notified if you are referred for additional positions.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date ( 10/16/2025) of this announcement.

To preview the Applicant Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12814154.