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CONTRACT SPECIALIST

Development Finance Corporation
Office of Contracting and Corporate Services

Summary

This position is part of the US International Development Finance Corporation. As a CONTRACT SPECIALIST you will serve as a warranted Contracting Officer and execute acquisition policy based on expert knowledge of contracting regulations, laws, principles and legal research.

Overview

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This job will close when we have received 150 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
FEW 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
$121,785 - $158,322 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Promotion potential
None
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
Yes
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
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
27-OCCS-ST-13100579-CA
Control number
891086800

Duties

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  • Provides advice and guidance to program managers and Contracting Officer's Representatives on contracting procedures, including providing assistance in the development of acquisition packages.
  • Plans, negotiates, leads, and administers procurements of goods and services, which may include specialized, state-of-the-art, critical or scarce requirements using Federal Acquisition Regulation procedures.
  • Performs procurement planning and provides advice to program officials in the development of procurement objectives, constructing the contractual vehicle, and facilitating creation and maintenance of acquisition plans, appropriate milestone charts and related schedules while providing acquisition progress updates to stakeholders.
  • Advises on performance objectives to be used and assists in the preparation of requirements documents, such as performance work statements, statement of objectives, and statements of work.
  • Serves as sole negotiator for program customer on procurement actions. Plans and coordinates negotiation strategy and leads the negotiations to develop contract prices and terms.
  • Performs contract administration: Responsibilities typically include incremental funding, preparation of rate and price adjustments, redirection of effort, coordination of time extension, incorporation of change orders, issuance of stop work orders, issuance of cure notices or show cause letters, final payment, and contract closeout.
  • Researches and interprets various federal acquisition laws, regulations (i.e., Federal Acquisition Regulations and agency directives), policies, procedures and applies findings to acquisition work products.
  • Develops technical correspondence and reference materials to document discussions, decisions, and contracting actions throughout the contract life cycle including determinations, findings, and, solicitations or request for quotes/proposals.
Please Note: This is a Bargaining unit position represented by AFGE, local 1534.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
  • Must submit resume and supporting documents (See How To Apply)
  • Suitability for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation
  • May be required to successfully complete a probationary period
  • Within 30 days of your start date, you will be required to file a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450)
  • This position may require travel (to include overnight) away from your normal duty station for official business on military or commercial aircraft.
  • This position is required to obtain and maintain a Federal Acquisition Certification- Contracting Level III (FAC-C Level III or equivalent) certification.

Qualifications

Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level). Applicants must meet all eligibility and qualification requirements no later than the closing date of this announcement.

TIME-IN-GRADE
: Current career or career-conditional employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b).

BASIC REQUIREMENT

A. 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 grade level in the Federal service, and must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the work of the position AND 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. Note: Transcripts must be submitted at the time of application for consideration.

B. Exceptions: Employees in GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the 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.

NOTE: The agency may obtain a waiver for any individual not meeting the above requirements mentioned in A or B.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT

In addition to the basic requirements for the 1102 series at the GS-13 and Above, applicants must meet the specialized experience noted below.

You may qualify at the GS-13 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement: Applicants must also possess at least one year of specialized experience that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the GS-12 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience must include the following: Soliciting, evaluating, negotiating, and awarding contracts using GSA ordering, simplified, and negotiated acquisitions Federal Acquisition Regulations procedures; Administering contracts by assuring compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations and contract terms and conditions; Analyzing, negotiating, and settling contract termination claims and proposals; Analyzing and evaluating cost/price proposals; planning, establishing, or reviewing contracts, programs, policies, or procedures; AND Developing acquisition strategies and independently directing or managing procurements.

NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or related applicable assessment) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Note: Education does not substitute for specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level.

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.

This announcement may be used to fill similar positions, if additional vacancies occur.

Education

ARE YOU USING YOUR EDUCATION TO QUALIFY?

You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement. Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

PASS/FAIL COURSES:
If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

FOREIGN EDUCATION is education acquired outside of any State of the U.S., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or any territory or possession of the U.S. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification and/or eligibility requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency (a U.S. private organization's interpretation that such education has been deemed at least equivalent to conventional U.S. education programs or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university) with your application in order to receive credit for that education. (Foreign education transcripts will not be accepted). For more information regarding evaluation of foreign education for federal employment, please visit the U.S. Department of Education webpage on the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must:
1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria;
2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and
3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility.
For more information: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp).

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): To be eligible for a VEOA appointment under Merit Promotion procedures, you must be a preference eligible or a Veteran separated after 3 years or more of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities: For more information on appointment authority eligibility requirements:

Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/verify/).

Telework Suitability: The duties of this position is suitable for telework. The selectee may be allowed episodic or emergency telework with supervisor approval and if they meet the eligibility criterion in the 2010 Telework Act.

Stipulations of Employment: Selection may require completion of a 1-year probationary period.

Work Schedule: This position allows for a flexible work schedule.

Miscellaneous: DFC uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.

Recruitment incentives may be authorized for this position.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/careers/fairchanceact for more information.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA 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, based on your adjudication decision. 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 RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. If you are found to be among the top qualified candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Accountability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork
  • Contracting/Procurement
  • Legal, Government, & Jurisprudence
  • Technical Documentation

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.


You may preview the Application Questionnaire at: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13100579

Development Finance Corporation

Become part of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation! The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), established in 2019 with bipartisan support under President Trump, is America's development finance institution. DFC partners with the private sector to advance U.S. foreign policy and strengthen national security by mobilizing private capital around the world. DFC invests across strategic sectors including critical minerals, modern infrastructure, and advanced technology - fostering economic development, supporting U.S. interests, and delivering returns to American taxpayers.

Agency contact information

Caroline Adams
Email
Caroline.Adams@dfc.gov
Address
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION
1100 NEW YORK AVE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20527
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Development Finance Corporation, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/careers

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