Contract Specialist

Full Job Description

The position serves as a Contract Specialist responsible for the full range of procurement duties from inception to close-out.

Contracts may be for various kinds of services, supplies, equipment, construction, information technology, and/or commodities.

This announcement may be used to fill additional like vacancies within additional USDA organizations (more info in Education section).

We anticipate filling 1 position in Boise, ID and many positions across remaining duty stations advertised.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, 1102 Occupational Series individual occupational requirement, AND specialized experience, as defined below.

Time in grade: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

1102 Contracting Series Individual Occupational Requirements: 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 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.

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.

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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: Applicants must meet the specialized experience requirements shown below.

If qualifying based on experience, your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the specialized experience requirements.

Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

For the GS-13 level Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 level) which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

For this position, specialized experience is experience in the application of contracting policies, regulations, and guidance used to plan, conduct market research, solicit, evaluate, negotiate, award, administer and closeout a variety of contract types; experience supporting customers through the contracting process to achieve mission results; and, experience utilizing innovative methods to solve contracting problems.

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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Major Duties:

• Determines the type of contracts to be employed to best fulfill the proposed program requirements.
• Develops and prepares solicitations, ensuring compliance with acquisition requirements.
• Reviews contractor proposals/quotes, prepares appropriate Price Negotiation Memorandums, and conducts analysis ensuring reasonableness of price/costs for labor, materials, and profit.
• Serves as an advisor to program officials in procurement planning by participating in meetings, strategic planning, and providing technical support and assistance to lower-grade personnel.
• Negotiates procurements that may be high-dollar, high sensitivity, and/or highly visible within the agency.
• Awards contracts in accordance with Contracting Officer warrant. Ensures all administrative contractual actions are done timely and properly, to include, but not limited to invoice processing, deobligations, unliquidated obligations, and close-outs.
• Negotiates modifications necessitated by changes in mission requirements, defective specifications, changed site conditions, or changes in Government-furnished property.
• Provides interpretation of contract requirements. Interfaces directly with Program Executive Offices and Contractor Program Staff to ensure contract requirements are fulfilled.
• Coordinates with technical, budget, and program personnel for the execution of contract actions and approvals.
• Job duties may vary slightly depending on assigned mission area. For additional information regarding mission areas participating in this recruitment effort, please review the Education section.