Contract Specialist

Full Job Description

This position is assigned within one of the service organizations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center, which is strategically aligned under the Office of Procurement, Acquisition & Logistics located in VA Central Office, Washington, D.C.

The Contract Specialist is responsible for the solicitation, analysis, negotiation, award and administration of a group of contracts and performs a full range of contract administration duties related to complex contracts.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/01/2026.

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 by the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level. 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.

See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirements: A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field; OR 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.

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the specialized experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Participating in acquisition planning, pre-award responsibilities and contract awards for major contracting elements; Serving as the contracting officer, contract negotiator, and contract administrator for high dollar value, contracts with a national scope; Making final determinations relative to price adjustment, deviations from contract terms and conditions, delivery schedules and changes, supplemental agreements, change orders, disclosures, and other related contract matters upon analysis; Resolving disagreements between auditors and contractors involving audit findings; Preparing proposals, conducting evaluations, and resolving contractual issues; Resolving complex procurement problems and providing expert advice on contractual matters.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Compliance Contract Administration Critical Thinking Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Writing 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week.

Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities.

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.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary in nature.

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

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.

To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy.

To be found well qualified, applicants' specialized experience must demonstrate the following:: Collaborating effectively across departments, external agencies, and with contractors to generate innovative ideas and streamline processes Drives continuous improvement initiatives, identifying opportunities for efficiency and innovation across organizational boundaries and long-standing policies and procedures Demonstrates exceptional problem-solving skills with minimal supervision, consistently proposing creative and non-traditional solutions Negotiating tough agreements successfully, leveraging strategic thinking and persuasive communication Conducting award and post-award negotiations, such as supplemental agreements or settlement actions, and to ensure compliance with all relevant guidelines and regulations Preparing contractual documents for higher-level review Conducting meetings, negotiations, and providing guidance to management officials, contract administrators, and subordinate contract specialists Resolving complex procurement problems and providing expert advice on contractual matters Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from the locations listed for this vacancy.

This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Acquisition Center offices at those locations. Major Duties:

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Participates in acquisition planning, pre-award responsibilities and contract awards for all major contracting elements for the National Acquisition Center (NAC) Serves as the contracting officer, contract negotiator, and contract administrator for high dollar value, contracts with a national scope Makes final determinations relative to price adjustment, deviations from contract terms and conditions, delivery schedules and changes, supplemental agreements, change orders, disclosures, and other related contract matters upon analysis Conducts negotiations that are precedent-setting, involve large sums of money, involve factual or legal disputes and/or are characterized by a strong lack of cooperation and/or display of hostility on the contractor's part Resolves disagreements between auditors and contractors involving audit findings Develops realistic and attainable milestones for the NAC's complex projects Monitors work in progress and assures timely accomplishment of assigned workload Takes appropriate action to fulfill requirements of contracts and/or agreements Closes out contracts and/or agreements, in a timely manner Conducts initial conferences with contractors to provide information and clarify special provisions of the contract Remains cognizant of socioeconomic contracting goals and accomplishments Explores initiatives which increase socioeconomic accomplishments for the NAC Preparing proposals, conducting evaluations, and resolving contractual issues Reviews and approves small and disadvantaged business subcontracting plans Establishes a negotiation position based on technical reviews and extensive knowledge of contractor's operations Negotiates directly with contractor personnel to obtain final settlements Prepares negotiation memoranda to explain rationale and methods used in arriving at the final settlement Participates in conferences and meetings with customers, industry, and various Government agencies and officials Provides detailed explanation of Federal Contracting procedures in relationship to contracts and agreements established and administered by the NAC Meets with contractors to explain the ramifications of various Public Laws.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: PD44076A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required