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Supervisory Contract Specialist - UNICOR

Department of Justice
Justice, Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
09/29/2025 to 10/21/2025
Salary
$105,383 to - $137,000 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Locations
2 vacancies in the following locations:
Forrest City, AR
Coleman, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Greenville, IL
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
25% or less - Travel may be required for training and/or work related issues.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
Yes
Announcement number
N-2025-0087
Control number
846802600

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

• BOP Employees nationwide. • DOJ Surplus and Displaced (CTAP) Employees in the local commuting area. • Division: Procurement Business Group, Federal Prison Industries, Central Office, Washington, DC • Duty Location: To Be Determined (TBD) during selection (FCC ALM, FCC COA, FCI GRE, FCC HAZ, FCI MAR, FCI TAL, FCC THA, FCI WAS, FCC FOR, FMC LEX, FCI GIL, FCI MAN, or FCC YAZ) • NOTE: Pay rates are based on Rest of the U.S. but could change depending on the location of the position.

Duties

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Serves as a Supervisory Contract Specialist for Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (trade name UNICOR), a wholly owned Federal Government Corporation.

Responsible for the contract from the time of assignment after award through close out and final payment.

Proposes policy and regulations doe management of complex procurement actions, and provides legal interpretation, counseling, training, and guidance in all areas of contracting and procurement.

Responsibilities are commensurate with the mission of Federal Prison Industries and Bureau of Prison policy and institution needs to afford maximum employment and training opportunities for the incarcerated.

Responsible for considering facts and circumstances related to a particular procurement when reviewing files.

Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with the responsibility for maintaining security of the institution.

The staff's correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed on a regular and recurring basis.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is Required.
  • See Special Conditions of Employment Section.

Career Transition Programs (CTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must:

  • 1. Meet CTAP eligibility criteria;
  • 2. Be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above based on scoring at least half of the total possible points for the vacancy KSAs or competencies; and
  • 3. Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility.

NOTE: Applicants claiming CTAP eligibility must complete all assessment questions to be rated under the established ranking criteria.

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following:

Basic Requirements:

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 of 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.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

  • Experience soliciting, awarding, and administering highly technical, complex, multi-year types of contracts.
  • Experience with pre-award and post-award functions, including price/cost analysis, negotiation, and administration for services, materials, and equipment associated with research, development, test, evaluation and/or production activities of one or more organizations.
  • Experience in reviewing requests for procurement of complex equipment, services, and/or construction to include analyzing the requirement, recommending revisions to the statement of work or specifications as necessary, and deciding on the type of contracts, milestones, and procurement plan, reviewing justifications for sole source and other required clearances and preparing documentation.
  • Experience performing contract administration which included incremental funding, preparation of rate and cost 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, monitoring of Government property reporting, approval of progress payments, final payment and contract closeout.

AND

B. A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester or 36 quarter 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: Applicants are responsible for submitting appropriate documentation when requesting certification for GS-1102 positions at grades GS-13 and above, e.g. college transcript, course syllabus, etc.

NOTE: When academic credit is expressed in contract months, units, or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the appropriate institution in order to equate them to the semester or quarter hours specified in the standard.

A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is defined as possession of a bachelor's degree conferred or approved by an accredited U.S. College or university based on a 4-year course of study. Simply being enrolled and working toward a degree does not meet the qualification standard.

C. Exceptions: Employees currently occupying a GS 1102 position at certain grade (i.e., GS 13 or higher) since January 1, 2000, is considered to have met the basic requirements for other GS 1102 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.

NOTE: Current federal employees not employed by the Bureau of Prison and former Bureau of Prison Employees MUST submit documentation (i.e., SF-50(s) covering the period from January 1, 2000) for verification of the above referenced exception criteria to receive consideration. Failure to provide these documents will result in non-consideration for this vacancy.

D. Waiver: When filling a specific vacant position, the Senior Procurement Executive of the selecting agency (agency is defined as Department of Justice), 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.

NOTE: The Agency has made a determination that a waiver may be granted for education only as described in Paragraph B.

Bureau of Prisons employees currently occupying a Contract Specialist position on an approved waiver MUST upload a copy of the waiver at the time you apply.

Contract Specialists who do not possess a four year degree and the required 24 semester hours, may apply and be considered for a waiver of the educational requirements in order to be selected. The waiver is discretionary tool available to the Procurement Executive as such does not constitute automatic approval. If you have any questions about the waiver process, please contact the BOP Procurement Executive at (202) 307-3067.

Acceptability of Higher Education: Education such as foreign education, home study and correspondence courses, academic credit for work experience, military education, continuing education units, life experience, etc., is acceptable to the extent that it is determined to be equivalent to conventional higher education programs of U.S. institutions. Such education must be accepted for college level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university.

AND

Selective Placement Factor:

Applicants applying for this position, MUST also possess the following Selective Factor. In the event you do not possess the Selective Factors, you will be found ineligible for the position.

  • The applicants must have 2 consecutive years of experience in overseeing operations and certifying contracts for multi-product lines or large scale-based factories.

NOTE: All applicants must clearly address the Selective Factors in their resume.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here.

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

This position IS NOT included in the bargaining unit.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3307, a maximum entry age of 36 has been established for initial appointment to a position in a Bureau of Prisons institution.

The representative rate for this position is $115,922 per annum ($55.54 per hour).

NOTE: Salary reflected on this vacancy announcement is for the “Rest of the U.S.”; however, the selectee’s salary may be higher based on the worksite/duty station of the appointee. See Salary Tables for your location. 

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Initial appointment to a supervisory/managerial position requires a one-year probationary period.

The incumbent is subject to geographic relocation to meet the needs of the agency.

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit checks.

All applicants not currently working in an institution will be required to complete a qualification inquiry regarding convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence in order to be authorized to carry a firearm.

The Core Value Assessment (CVA) is an in-person assessment that must be facilitated at a Bureau of Prisons Human Resource Servicing office. On the day of the scheduled interview, a CVA will be administered. The applicant assessment must be completed within a 70 minute time period and a passing score of 68 must be obtained. Further employment consideration will not be extended if the applicant fails to complete the examination or fails to achieve a passing score. Note: The Core Value Assessment will not be administered to current BOP employees.

Successful completion of the "Introduction to Correctional Techniques," three-week training course at Glynco, Georgia is required.

The addresses listed on the USAJOBS account/resume must be the primary residence at the time of application. You may be required to provide proof of residence.

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

Although competitive and non-competitive applications are being accepted, the selecting official may elect to have only one group reviewed.

NOTE: Duty Location: TBD (FCC ALM, FCC COA, FCI GRE, FCC HAZ, FCI MAR, FCI TAL, FCC THA, FCI WAS, FCC FOR, FMC LEX, FCI GIL, FCI MAN, or FCC YAZ)

NOTE: Salary reflected on this vacancy announcement is for the “Rest of the U.S.”; however, the selectee’s salary may be higher based on the worksite/duty station of the appointee. See Salary Tables for your location.  Salary will be determined during selection.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

  • your performance and conduct;
  • the needs and interests of the agency;
  • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
  • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Exceptions may apply. See 5 CFR part 11.

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.

If your composite score exceeds the average score for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your online assessment responses and utilized to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement.  If your selections are not supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

There are several parts of the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application:

  • Your resume, which is part of your USAJOBS profile;
  • Your responses to the eligibility questions;
  • Your responses to the online assessment;
  • Your supporting documentation, if required.

Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

What Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are Required for this Position?

The following Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) are required:

  • Ability to interpret and apply procurement regulations.
  • Ability to communicate in writing.
  • Ability to communicate orally.
  • Knowledge of procurement techniques and contract formulation/administration.
  • Ability to make decisions regarding contracts.
  • Ability to develop and administer contract policies and procedures.
  • Ability to assign and delegate authority.

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