Contract Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/25/2024. 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 as a 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. Basic Requirements: Applicants must meet the basic requirement for this position. To meet the basic requirement for Contract Specialist GS-13 and above positions, applicants must have: 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. Note: The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) does not grant Academic degrees; therefore courses completed at the DAU are not creditable towards meeting the 24 semester hour requirement, in the fields identified above, unless the coursework has been evaluated by an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, and appears on a college or university transcript. Specialized Experience GS-13: Applicants must also meet the specialized experience for the GS-13 grade. In order to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet 5/7 of the following examples of specialized experience. 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 includes experience with: Serving as senior or lead Contract Specialist for an agency/department, recommending the appropriate contract type or contract method for the product or service being procured. Providing guidance regarding complex contracts to other Contract Specialists in a contracting office to include simplified acquisitions, sealed bidding, negotiations, cost sharing, multiple awards, commercial items and special provisions, as well as firm-fixed price, firm-fixed price with economic price adjustments and cost reimbursement. Utilizing and training other Contract Specialists on electronic systems for contract writing, contract management, contract reporting, and financial management in accordance with agency/department and Federal (or similar) policies. Negotiating with vendors to acquire products or services or to address technical requirements, cost/pricing, or other terms and conditions. Interpreting and applying Federal laws (or similar), acquisition regulations, policies, contract law and procedures applicable to acquisition and contract administration which includes change orders, supplemental agreements, terminations, claims, and close out of contracts. Establishing and monitoring acquisition milestones to ensure progress toward award. Serving as contract administrator on awarded contracts and conducts post-award conferences to negotiate required changes to contract conditions to protect the agency/department. Education: There is no education substitute for the GS-13 grade. 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. For more information on these qualification standards, visit the United States Office of Personnel Management’s website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.
The purpose of this position is to serve as a Contract Specialist for the US Department of Veterans Affairs with the responsibility for performing professional work involving procurement of supplies and services using procedures outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulations, VA Acquisition Regulations, Public Laws, and agency policy. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: Contracting Specialist – Total Rewards