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Contract Specialist

Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency
This job announcement has closed

Summary

In this position you will work as a member of the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Acquisition Operations Division. The ideal candidate for this position will have experience writing contracts for evaluating cost estimates, price proposals, negotiating contract modifications, monitoring and administering contract performance.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/10/2025 to 07/21/2025
Salary
$120,579 to - $156,755 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Locations
1 vacancy in the following locations:
Washington, DC
Emmitsburg, MD
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
T5-OCPO-JD-12760052-IMP
Control number
840335200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This job is open to Internal Employees - current FEMA employees on a career/career conditional appointment in a competitive service position; current FEMA employees who have previously held a career/career conditional appointment in the competitive service; current FEMA employees who are DRRA Eligible; and FEMA Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP Eligibles) only.

Duties

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What will I do in this position if hired?

In this position, you will serve as a Contract Specialist responsible for soliciting, evaluating, negotiating, awarding administering, analyzing, advising on, and/or terminating contracts for the procurement of supplies and services for complex contracts. Typical assignments include:

  • Performing all pre-award functions (e.g., issues solicitation documents, reviews bids, determines financial responsibilities and performance capability for bidders) in compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations and Agency policy.
  • Performing all post-award functions (e.g., administering contracts following award, monitoring contractor's performance, advising on payment of costs) in compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations and Agency policy.
  • Utilizing contract writing tools for simplified acquisitions, grants, cooperative agreements, interagency agreements, contracts, delivery orders, blanket purchase orders.
  • Preparing solicitation documents, analyzing proposals, and negotiating with contractors.
  • Using contract methods that include cost reimbursement, cost-plus fixed-fee firm-fixed price, incentive, etc., to procure large, complex systems, programs, or services.

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 a Moderate Risk/Public Trust clearance 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

Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above: This position has a positive education requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience in order to be found minimally qualified.

  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

  2. 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.

  3. 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 under Paragraph D.

  4. 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.

AND in addition to the above individual occupation requirements, you must also meet the specialized experience statements below:

Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The time-in-grade and qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 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:

  • Identifying and determining procurement guidelines and requirements to execute deadlines for complex or high-value contracts and;
  • Reviewing and evaluating contract performance (e.g., cost and price proposals, negotiating modifications, monitoring agreements) to ensure contracts comply with procurement policy and procedures.

AND

This position will require FAC-C certification which is mandated by DHS policy for Contract Specialist series 1102 positions. DAWIA Certification Conversion: DHS recognizes current DAWIA certifications as equivalent to FAC-C at the same level as long as the individual has met the education and experience requirements. (Please upload a copy of your FAC-C or equivalent at time of application)

Candidates must currently possess a FAC-C certification or equivalent certification.

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 five pages. If more than five pages are submitted, only the first five pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications.
  • 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/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE)? 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 Bargaining Unit position.
  • Candidates must currently possess a FAC-C Certification or equivalent.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your experience, education and training will be rated using a job questionnaire that is based on the following competencies needed to perform this job:

  • Communication
  • Customer Service
  • Representing the Agency
  • Teamwork & Cooperation
  • Technical Proficiency

If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview.

We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process.
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12760052

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not eligible. View information about 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 or 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.

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