Contract Specialist

Full Job Description

VA is one of the largest procurement and supply agencies of the Federal Government.

Pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and equipment, subsistence, and other critical patient care items are procured and distributed to VA's health care facilities and other Government agencies comprising the largest health care delivery system in the country.

Supply support is provided to VA activities, State Veterans Homes, Canteen Service, as well as other Government agencies.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/15/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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: Contracting Series, 1102, 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.

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 1 and 2 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, 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.

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-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Applying a wide range of contracting methods, contract types, regulations, policies, procedures, and requirements.

Conducting pre-solicitation and solicitation principles, requirements, and processes including acquisition planning for large programs. Experience applying source selection principles and techniques.

Evidence of this specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of like duties performed in positions held on your resume.

You will also need to provide work experience information such as hours per week, full-time/part-time status, and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish you have one (1) full year of specialized experience at the required grade level.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork 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.

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 must meet the following qualifications: Demonstrate knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and other Federal acquisition regulations such as VAAR, DFAR, GASAAR, etc.

Knowledge of acquisition principles, policies and processes pertaining to a major acquisition program, a major supply chain, logistics or health care organization Experience with a variety of contract types and purchasing types and reviewing other contracting officers work Mentoring and training contract officers and extensive experience in analyzing, formulating and recommending new policy/ program enhancements Demonstrate ability to identify issues, recommend improvements, implement and deliver good customer service Demonstrate excellent skills in conducting detailed analysis of complex functions and work processes, adapting analytical techniques and evaluation criteria to the measurement and improvement of programs/ organizations Extensive experience in dealing with complex issues which require courtesy and effective communication skills in dealing with a variety of management officials within and outside a major logistics or health care organization 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 Hines, IL or Golden, CO .

This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 1st Avenue, One Block North of 22nd Street, Building 37, Hines, IL 60141 or 555 Corporate Circle, Golden, CO 80401 Major Duties:

Performs the full range of contracting functions from the initial customer inquiries to market research, to development of solicitations, proposal evaluation, contract award, through contract administration and contract close-out.

Contract administration functions include but are not limited to cost/price adjustments, consideration of time extensions, change orders, stop work orders, cure notices, show cause letters and contract close- out.

Negotiates with offerors/contractors for best prices, terms and conditions, and explores new and innovative approaches to contracting.

Responsible for all functions and issues all notices required by the contracts and finalizes close- out of the contracts and program Advises the Chief, Service Director, VA Medical Centers, VA Central Office officials and any other pertinent officials and/or customers on acquisition related matters and acts as a partner and consultant in purchase descriptions and/or statements of work.

Prepares Determination and Findings, Price Negotiation Memorandums and source selection plans for negotiated acquisitions and solicitation documents.

Implements program changes and provides advice on policy and regulations.

Responsible for ensuring a good knowledge of all contracting programs and for having a well-rounded knowledge of the various programs and program offices that interact and affect the contracts under his/her area of responsibility.

Provides advice, guidance and training to lower-graded personnel.

Perform other duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: May be available Telework: Available - Ad Hoc telework (situational telework) as determined by the agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: PD20523A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Required