Who May Apply: US Citizens
In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is
in this document.
Basic Requirement for Contract Specialist:
Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) from an accredited educational institution authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees.
OR
Exemption: You are exempt from the education requirements above if (A) you are a current civilian employee in DoD who occupied GS-1102 positions or contracting positions with authority to award or administer contracts above the simplified acquisition threshold in an Executive Department on or before September 30, 2000; OR (B) you are a current military member who occupied a similar occupational specialty to the GS (or equivalent)-1102 on or before September 30, 2000.
In addition to the Basic Requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below.
For GS-11:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes performing contracting and procurement work such as: procuring a wide variety of products and services; administering terms and conditions of contracts; follow-up with vendors on delivery, invoicing and payment; performing price/cost analysis to determine price reasonableness; or similar contracting work.. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09).
OR
A Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Business, Finance, Law, Contracts, Purchasing, Economics, Industrial Management, Marketing, or Organization and Management. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.)
OR
A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.(Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.)
For GS-12:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level which includes performing contracting and procurement work such as: pre-awarding functions which require the use of fixed-price, cost-reimbursement, or a combination of contract methods; conducting negotiations during the procurement process; performing post-award functions and price/cost analysis; or similar contracting work.
At the GS-12 level there is no education substitution, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.