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Contract Specialist

Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency

Summary

The ideal candidate for this position has experience executing and administering complex contract actions under tight deadlines for commercial and non-commercial services. The candidate must also have experience in Federal/Agency procurement policies and contract review procedures, including implementation of procurement policies.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted yesterday · Apply by 06/10/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 10, 2026
This job will close when we have received 100 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
9 vacancies in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$143,913 - $187,093 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Promotion potential
14
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
Yes
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
FEMA-VS-12972805-DH
Control number
871067100

Duties

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What will I do in this position if hired?

IIn this position, you will serve as a Contract Specialist.

Typical assignments include:

  • Managing major procurement programs/initiatives.
  • Assisting customer in developing statements of work and procurement strategy.
  • Developing evaluation plans, pricing methodologies, and administration plans as well as develop and recommends streamlining initiatives.
  • Independently managing a workload of multiple requirements/contracts that are in various stages of the acquisition process.
  • Ensuring that all requirements of Law, executive orders, regulations and other applicable procedures including clearance and approvals have been met.

What else do I need to know?

At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Public Trust - High as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Key Requirements:
  1. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
  2. You must successfully pass a background investigation.
  3. Selective Service registration required.
  4. Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
  5. You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
  6. You must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time.
  7. Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements.

Qualifications

Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The qualification requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for this position at the GS-14 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following:

  • Identifies and determines guidelines and requirements to procure and/or administer complex, high dollar value contracts which includes pre- and post-award functions;
  • Evaluates contracts to ensure that the required terms are included based on procurement policies and procedures;
  • Prepares solicitation documents, analyzes proposals, negotiates with potential contractors
In addition to the minimum qualifications described above, you must meet the following requirement(s) to be considered qualified for the position:

Individual Occupational Requirements Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above
  1. 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
  1. 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.
  2. Exceptions:EmployeesinGS-1102 positions willbeconsideredtohavemetthe standard for positions they occupy 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.
  1. 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.
**Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C} or equivalent certification is required. Documentation must be attached to the application package.

Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:
  • Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.
  • Please limit your resume to two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages.
  • Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.

Are you qualifying based on your work experience?
  • Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you held each grade level.
  • Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/DAE employee? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.
  • Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified."
  • 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 provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

Positive Education Requirement: This position has a positive education requirement, as outlined in the "requirements" section. You must submit a copy of your transcripts (unofficial are acceptable) with your online application. Once selected and prior to appointment, applicants must provide official college transcripts.

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. Visit the Department of Education's Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information.

Additional information

  • If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
  • The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security and its Components from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to FEMA-Misconduct@fema.dhs.gov.
  • DHS uses E-verify, an internet based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.
  • The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR § 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR § 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.
  • A one-year probationary period is required for new Federal competitive service employees and new supervisors and managers.
  • Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.
  • During the application process you will have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
  • This is a Non-Bargaining Unit position.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

Direct Hire authority will be used to fill this position. Veterans' preference, category rating and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to positions filled under this announcement.

1. Communication
2. Customer Service
3. Representing the Agency
4. Teamwork & Collaboration
5. Technical Proficiency

CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet eligibility criteria for CTAP; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position; and, 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility (see "Required Documents" section of this announcement). Well-Qualified is defined as those applicants who are rated with a minimum score of 85.00 for this position.

Interview Requirement: Interviews may be required for this position. Failure to complete the interview may result in removal from further consideration.

Based on the review of your resume for the specialized experience required for this position, you may be referred to hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview.

After FEMA completes its hiring, the resumes of the remaining candidates referred for selection consideration may be shared with other DHS Components and other federal agencies. During the application process, you may choose to opt-in if you would like your name, application material, and assessment results to be shared. There is no guarantee of further consideration, and you continue to explore other job opportunity announcements.

Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling on those who want to help protect American interests and secure our Nation. DHS Components work collectively to prevent terrorism; secure borders and our transportation systems; protect the President and other dignitaries; enforce and administer immigration laws; safeguard cyberspace; and ensure resilience to disasters. We achieve these vital missions through a workforce spanning hundreds of occupations. Make an impact; join DHS.

FEMA is calling all problem-solvers, relationship builders, and humanitarians! FEMA is a mission-driven, people-focused Agency. Our mission is to help people before, during, and after disasters. We coordinate with other federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to make sure America is equipped to prepare for and respond to disasters.

Everyday FEMA employees are inspired by that mission and are working tirelessly to make a difference.

Come join us in a rewarding career where you can help make our nation safer, stronger, and more prepared! Visit www.careers.fema.gov for more information.

Agency contact information

Kim Rogers

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Federal Emergency Management Agency, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

http://www.fema.gov/

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