Clarification from the agency

See "Who May Apply" in the "Qualifications" section for more information on who is eligible to apply for this position.

JOB SUMMARY:

1. Acquisition Key Billet Project Managers are chartered to provide materiel capabilities to Army or Joint customers. Project Managers are allocated resources to develop materiel solutions that achieve user requirements. They lead, direct and control the overall planning and execution of the work and resources required to develop, produce and sustain the programs, systems and associated products.

2. Acquisition Key Billet Directors are leaders of major acquisition contracting or testing organizations. Contracting organizations can have either geographical responsibilities or provide in-plant oversight to a major Defense contractor responsible for producing materiel for Army and joint Customers.
Testing organizations are responsible for providing and operating facilities in order to conduct tests, which ensure materiel solutions meet program or end user requirements.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a US citizen.
• Must be Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certified Advanced in Acquisition Functional Area (AFA) A (Program Management) or certified Professional in AFA C (Contracting) with four years of experience in a contracting coded position, at time of application.
• Must complete one of the following Military Education Level -1 (MEL-1) trainings prior to assignment to a CSL COL/GS-15 position: Senior Service College through War College and/or the National Defense University - Eisenhower School, Defense Acquisition University-Senior Service College Fellowship (DAU-SSCF) Program.
• Position requires a Tenure Agreement
• Position requires a Secret or Higher Security Clearance.
• Position requires Financial Disclosure statement OGE 450.

Qualifications

Who May Apply:

• Applications will be accepted only from current DoD competitive civil service Federal employees who are civilian DoD members serving on Career/Career Conditional appointments.
• Current DoD civilians eligible for promotion/re-promotion to GS15 or equivalent broadband converted grade.
• Current DoD civilians interested in lateral to GS15 or change to lower grade from an equivalent broadband converted grade or SES.

NOTE: The nature of action (promotion, reassignment, or change to lower grade) will be determined after the Selection Board convenes and you are paired to a participating organization covered by the General Schedule or Acquisition Demonstration Project. Your pay plan and grade for General Schedule organizations will be GS-15 and for organizations covered by the Acquisition Demonstration Project your broadband and grade will be NH- 04

DUTIES:

• Project Manager: Responsible for all matters relating to cost, schedule and performance for assigned program/system. Exercises technical and administrative program control and authority through various phases of systems development. Manages long range planning activities that include multiyear work plans. Exercises discretional authority to approve the allocation and distribution of funds within the organization's budget to best meet the program's objectives. Manages programs with risks and complexities characterized by compelling and conflicting requirements. Manages long range activities that include multi-year work plans that are products of subordinate organizational managers.

• Acquisition Director (Contracting): Provides acquisition life cycle and readiness/ sustainment support to Program Executive Offices, Program Managers, and Service/Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) buying Commands. Manages contractor cost, schedule and performance as the single face to industry for recapitalization, modernization, technology insertion and Warfighter operational readiness support. Provides source selection support, past performance, industrial base assessments, financial analysis, engineering, earned value and software validation, production and acceptance/delivery of spares, and components assemblies for major weapon systems. Provides full range of acquisition management and command support. Manages industrial surge contract accelerations, alternate sourcing and mission critical direct deliveries to Warfighters during national emergencies or critical military shortages.

• Acquisition Director (Testing): Leads a Major Range and Test Facility Base (MRTFB). Plans, conducts, and reports the results of technical, developmental and operational testing of the full spectrum of DoD materiel, foreign materiel and commercial items. Responsible for integrating the workforce of civilian employees, military personnel, and contractors, augmented during testing with civilian employees, contractors, and active-duty Army Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines. Manages an annual multimillion dollar operating budget.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:
To qualify, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to that of a GS14, step 1 pay grade.

Specialized experience is defined as experience that relates to matters in cost, schedule and performance for programs and/or systems. Applicants with program management certification must possess two years of cost, schedule, and performance responsibilities in a program office or similar organization. Applicants with contracting certification must possess at least four years of experience in a contracting coded position. Prior supervisory experience is required. Prior supervisory experience must be from either a COL/GS15 or LTC/GS14 Centralized Selection List or Board Acquisition Key Billet.

Education Requirement: Must possess, at a minimum, an accredited undergraduate degree.

Time in Grade Requirement/Restriction: These are DoD Demonstration Project positions. Under the Defense Authorization Act, personnel management demonstration programs are operating in numerous Army activities and various other organizations supported by Army civilian personnel centers. Under the streamlined personnel operations for demonstration projects, the familiar 15 General Schedule grade structure is replaced with broad pay bands that typically encompass a range of grades.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

The Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) Centralized Selection Board (CSL) will convene June 8 - 12, 2026. Personal appearance before the selection panel is not allowed.

OTHER INFORMATION:

• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• You must submit all required information by the closing date. If materials are not received, your application will be evaluated solely on the information available, and you may not receive full consideration or may not be considered eligible.
• The materials you send with your application will not be returned.
• You may be required to complete annual Financial Disclosure statements.
• You may be required to travel to overseas locations, including current theaters of operation.
• Individuals selected from Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and other DoD agencies will become Army employees upon placement in the Position and will be reassigned within the Army after completion of the 3 (three) year assignment. [Note: ACAT I programs require tenure of at least four years.]
• The Army Acquisition Professional Development System (AAPDS) will enable those that are interested and eligible to "opt-in" to the CSL and Centralized Selection Board (CSB) opportunities using one portal and one application packet.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS (ALL APPLICANTS): To ensure adequate time to build an account and allow for completion of the CSL application package, the applicant should supply the required information via AAPDS no later than two weeks prior to the announcement closing date. The following documents comprise the application for these positions and must be submitted in the prescribed order. No other documents are required or considered.

If you fail to provide all documents specified in the announcement, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package, and your application will not be considered. Additional information on the preparation, signature requirements etc. is posted below.

• Acquisition Career Record Brief (ACRB): The latest version of your ACRB will automatically be pulled into your application. Ensure your ACRB is updated and correct prior to submission of application. Applicants may update and correct specific fields of their ACRB using the edit functions within the Career Acquisition Personnel and Position Management Information System (CAPPMIS). For the areas in the ACRB that cannot be changed by the Applicant, please request assistance using our Army Director Acquisition Career Management (DACM) Office online help desk request at the following link: https://apps.asc.army.mil/camp. Click on Career Acquisition Management Portal (CAMP) tab, look mid-way down the right side of the following page, click on Ask an Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) to submit your request electronically.

• Resume: Your resume must follow the template provided here: https://asc.army.mil/web/wp- content/uploads/2016/11/Resume-Template.pdf.
  • Use 12-point Times New Roman with 1 inch margin and a maximum of 3 pages. Do not include a photograph, it will not be used to make eligibility and/or qualification determinations and will not be provided to the board. For purposes of qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment for each position listed (i.e., Hours per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete, and you will not receive consideration for this position. The resume is crucial to portraying the applicant's potential as a senior leader in Army Acquisition. Applicants should expound on and highlight their accomplishments in leading and managing human and fiscal resources, materiel acquisition and project milestones with a focus on cost, schedule, and performance, and/or the ability to provide direction in planning, coordination, control, and direction of all contracting functions. This is the applicant's opportunity to highlight leadership/supervisory experience, relevant work experiences, skills, educational achievements and accomplishments, which are key indicators to the preparation for and success as a supervisory acquisition professional.

• Performance Appraisals: Last three signed performance evaluations.
• Senior Rater Potential Evaluation (SRPE): Most recent SRPE must have been completed within one year of the close date of the announcement. A minimum of one SRPE is required; however, any completed SRPEs will be included in the applicant's file.
• Significant Award Certificates: for awards not evident on the ACRB.
• Regional Preference Form and Position 1-N Form: These forms will be used during the slating process of selectees. Upon receipt of the list, you will indicate your position preference from 1-N, by number: number 1 (one) being the position you most desire. You must rank all positions according to the level of desire for that position. If you rank one position in a particular region, you must rank all positions within that region.
  • Regional Preference Form: Required to complete at time of application. You may download from the CSL Website Here under the Additional Information Tab.
  • Position 1-N Form: This form is not required at the time of submission of the application. However, the CSL Program Manager will contact applicants to submit this form prior to the Board convening.

Next steps