Acquisition & Utilization Specialist

Full Job Description

As the Acquisition Utilization Specialist you will serve as the medical center liaison and advisor on contract related services focusing on critical clinical and healthcare services, product acquisition and support services required by project managers, program managers, upper management and stakeholders on all aspects of procurement for a wide variety of items to include specialized services.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet Time-In-Grade and Specialized Experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 02/18/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9.

The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement.

In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-9 Qualifications: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade, GS-7, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: assisting with contract related services, product acquisition, and procurement of items in a healthcare environment; overseeing contracts; preparing procurement packages; developing and analyzing reports to make recommendations on acquisition and contracting issues; participating in negotiations with other officials throughout all phases of contract administration; and monitoring expenditures and reporting on deviations from contract terms.

Note: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B.

or J.D. in a related field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Note: Transcripts required.

OR, Combination: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed progressively higher-level graduate education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience, as described above, which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level.

The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

NOTE: If you select this option, you must submit a copy of your transcript with your application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Note: Transcripts required.

GS-11 Qualifications: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade, GS-9, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: handling contract related services, product acquisition, and procurement of items in a healthcare environment; overseeing contracts including pre-award and post-award; preparing procurement packages with unique, emergent and complex requirements including development of requirement documents (e.g.

performance work statements and objectives, cost benefit analysis, gap analysis, sole source justifications, past performance, market research, etc.); developing sole source justifications; developing and analyzing reports to make recommendations on acquisition and contracting issues; participating in negotiations with other officials throughout all phases of contract administration; and monitoring expenditures and reporting on deviations from contract terms.

Note: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study.

If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered as satisfying the one (1) year of full-time study requirement. Note: Transcripts required.

OR, Combination: An equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience, as described above, which meets the total qualification requirement for the GS-11 grade level.

Note: Transcripts required. Physical Requirements and Work Environment: Work is primarily sedentary in nature.

Requires occasional travel to conduct inspections of contract facilities or motor vehicles providing contracts for healthcare resources to ensure joint commission and safety requirements are met.

Work is performed primarily in an office setting with adequate lighting, heating, and ventilation.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Major Duties:

Major duties and responsibilities include: Develops procedures, policies, and supporting artifacts to ensure procurement activities are consistent with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), VA Acquisitions Regulations (VAAR) and other federal procurement laws and regulations; Conducts analyses and recommends courses of actions to ensure that vision clinical and administrative service requirements have addressed considerations such as construction, budgeting, supporting manpower and other factors; Provides training to the facility Contracting Officers on procurement policies and new processes and procedures related to procurement; Establishes, expedites and reviews consolidation of all procurement packages including unique, emergent and complex requirements to meet timely and technical needs of assigned acquisitions; Develops and conducts presentations/recommendations to leadership and other stakeholders to explain regulations and procedures; Negotiates performance requirements among multiple sites and service lines in order to obtain agreement, standardize enterprise equipment, supply and/or service requirements in support of strategic acquisition plans; Establishes and maintains controls to ensure that contracts are executed in accordance with terms; Advises on all phases of negotiation with the contract specialist/contracting officer for contract modifications, change orders, supplemental agreements and delivery order processes including requirements, definition, justification and approval for service contract extension, method of contracting, evaluation of proposals and all phases of contract administration; and Monitors quality assurance surveillance plans to ensure that contracted services meet the expectations and needs of the facility.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met.

Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm MST Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Acquisition & Utilization Specialist/PD99810S and PD99492S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.