Contract Specialist

Clarification from the agency

Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position. The 'Rule of Three', Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

This position is located in the Acquisitions and Special Programs Division, Office of Management, Office of Inspector General (OIG), Department of Homeland Security (DHS).Typical assignments include:

• Plans, develops, and establishes contractual strategy.
• Determines the type of contract and authority best suited to the requirements; develops special clauses and metrics, as necessary, to clearly convey expectations and evaluate contractor performance.
• Prepares statements of work in collaboration with program personnel and prepares appropriate file documentation, as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), including justifications.
• Appoints and oversees the contracting officer's representatives in all OIG procurement actions and ensures that benchmarks for projects are met and that contracts receive prompt payment for deliverables.
• Directs the full range of contract administration actions required for the acquisition program, including the issuance of contract modifications, negotiation of changes, exercise of options, investigations and resolution of contractor delays, contractor performance appraisals, subcontractor surveillance, disposition of claims, and similar matters.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position
• You must successfully pass a background investigation
• You must be able to obtain Secret security clearance
• Financial disclosure is required
• Selective Service registration required
• Completion of one year probationary period may be required
• Submission of Performance Appraisal is mandatory

Qualifications

BASIC QUALIFICATION 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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

NOTE: If you are currently employed with an agency other than DHS and seeking a lateral transfer AND you were promoted to an 1102 position at or above the GS-13 level (or equivalent) after 12/31/99 based on a waiver of the agency's training requirements, you will need to be approved for another training waiver before you can be hired into a GS-1102 position at or above the GS-13 level with DHS. If you were hired into your current GS-1102-13 or higher level position, with a non-DHS agency, based on an educational waiver, you will still have to meet the educational requirements stated in Qualification Requirements #1.

Minimum Qualifications for GS-14: You qualify for the GS-14 position if you possess one year of specialized experience at the equivalent to GS-13 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience at this level includes:

• Administers the full range of contracts for various goods and services from small purchases to multi-million dollar procurements that entail a number of different processes or elements.
• Manages, administers, and oversees all contracting activities of the agency.
• Develops and provides oversight of policies and procedures with regard to the contracting process and acquisition planning and strategy.

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, 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.

The qualification requirements listed above must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Current federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade level or equivalent grade band in the federal service. The time-in-grade requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. Your experience, education, and training will be rated using a job questionnaire that is based on the following competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform this job:

• Accountability
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

1. Best-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF) and appropriate Quality Ranking Factors (QRF) as determined by the job analysis.
2. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.
3. Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.

If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. Preview the job questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13032591.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not ICTAP eligible. View information about ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered eligible under ICTAP, you must be placed in the well-qualified category for this position, as described above. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this announcement.

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:

Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length.

1. Your resume NOTE: For what to include in the resume, click on the link.
2. Your responses to the job questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13032591
3. Are you a current or former federal employee? Submit a copy of your most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action that demonstrates your eligibility for consideration, e.g., length of time you have been in your current grade; your highest grade held; your current promotion potential; proof of permanent appointment if applying based on an interchange agreement. Examples of appropriate SF-50s include promotions, with-in grade/range increases and accessions.
4. Are you qualifying based on education? Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) or a list of coursework with hours completed. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information.
5. Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP)? Submit a copy of your:
- Agency notice,
- Most recent performance rating, and
- Most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, noting your current position, grade level, and duty location.
6. Are you a current or former political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee? Submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:
- Position title
- Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee)
- Agency
- Beginning and ending dates of appointment

Next steps