Contract Specialist (Contracting Officer)

Clarification from the agency

• Current Federal Employees nationwide • Former Federal Employees (Reinstatement Eligible) • Surplus and Displaced (CTAP or ICTAP) Federal Employees in the local commuting area • Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) • Current and Former Land Management employees eligible under Public Law 114-47 • Military Spouse under Executive Order 13832 • Division: Administration Division, Field Acquisition Office, Central Office, Washington, D.C. • Duty Location: Central Office, Washington, D.C.

Serves a Contract Specialist for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in the Administrative Division, Field Acquisition Office (FAO).

Responsible for soliciting, awarding and administering highly technical, complex, multi-year types of contracts.

Responsible for developing and making recommendations for the development of a contract program, including necessary resources and manpower to meet the goals of the centralized contracting program.

Prepares determinations and findings, justifications and approvals and solicitation documents.

Conducts pre-proposal or pre-bid conferences with prospective contractors to arrive at a clear understanding of solicitation requirements pertaining to
the specifications, terms, conditions, provisions and clauses of the solicitation.

Conditions of employment

Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must:

1. Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria;
2. Be rated well-qualified for the position, scoring at least half of the total possible points for the vacancy KSAs or competencies; and
3. Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility:
   • A copy of the agency notice (i.e., separation notice or agency RIF letter),
   • Most recent performance appraisal, and
   • Most recent SF-50 showing current/former position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location.
   • See USAJOBS' Career Transition Programs for more information.

EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental
status, military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here: U.S Department of Justice - Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

Key Requirements:

• U.S. Citizenship is Required.
• See Special Conditions of Employment Section.

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following:
Basic Requirements:
GS-12:

A. A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field.

NOTE: A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is defined as possession of a bachelor's degree conferred or approved by an
accredited U.S. college or university based on a 4 year course of study. Simply being enrolled and working toward a degree does not meet the
qualification standard.

OR

B. At least 24 semester hrs in any combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics,
industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management.

NOTE:When academic credit is expressed in contract months, units, or other items that differ from conventional semester or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the appropriate institution in order to equate them to the semester or quarter hours specified in the standard.

Exceptions: GS-12: Employees currently occupying a GS-1102 position at grades 5-12 since January 1, 2000, is considered to have met the basic requirements for other GS-1102 positions up to and including those classified at the GS-12 level. This includes positions at other agencies and promotions up through grade 12. However, employees must meet specialized experience requirements when seeking another position.

GS-13:
A. Completion of all mandatory training prescribed by the head of the agency for progression to GS-13 (the Bureau of Prisons has defined mandatory training to be FAC-C Level II or a BOP Level III warrant) 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 GS-12 level of the position, and must have provided the qualifications to perform successfully the work of the position.

NOTE: ALL applicants MUST submit a legible Copy of their FAC-C Level II or a BOP Level III warrant. The FAC-C Level II
or BOP Level III warrant MUST be electronically uploaded at the time you apply.

NOTE: Applicants are responsible for submitting appropriate documentation when requesting certification for GS-1102 positions at grades GS-13 and above, e.g. college transcripts, course syllabus, etc.

AND

B. 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester or 36 quarter hrs in any combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization & management.

Acceptability of Higher Education: Education such as foreign education, home study and correspondence courses, academic credit for work experience, military education, continuing education units, life experience, etc., is acceptable to the extent that it is determined to be equivalent to conventional higher education programs of U.S. institutions. Such education must be accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university.

NOTE: Applicants that meet the basic education requirements for Grades 5-12 only and are applying for a position with promotion potential to the GS-13 can be non-competitively promoted to the GS-13 level once ALL basic requirements for the GS-13 have been met.

Exceptions: GS-13: Employees currently occupying a GS-1102 position at certain grade (i.e., GS-13 or higher) since January 1, 2000 is considered to have met the basic requirements for other GS 1102 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.

Waiver: GS-13: When filling a specific vacant position, the Senior Procurement Executive of the selecting agency (agency is defined as Department of Justice), 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.

NOTE: The Agency has made a determination that a waiver may be granted for education only as described in Paragraph B of GS-13 Basic Requirements.

Bureau of Prisons employees currently occupying a Contract Specialist position on an approved waiver submit a copy of the waiver prior to the closing date of this announcement. Contract Specialists who do not possess a 4 yr degree and the required 24 semester hrs, may apply and be considered for a waiver of the educational requirements. The waiver is discretionary tool available to the Procurement Executive as such does not constitute automatic approval.

NOTE: Current federal employees not employed by the Bureau of Prisons and former Bureau of Prisons' Employees MUST submit documentation (i.e., SF-50(s) covering the period from January 1, 2000) for verification of the above referenced exception criteria to receive consideration. Failure to provide these documents will result in non-consideration for this vacancy.

AND

In addition to the basic requirements, you must have one of the following:

Education:

There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this grade level.

OR

Experience:

In addition to the basic requirements, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

GS-12:

• Experience preparing initial agency position on protests from unsuccessful offers and renders or recommends a decision.
• Experience in formally advertised procurement, ensure bid schedules are properly structured, prepare the solicitation, determine sources to be solicited, etc.
• Experience negotiating settlements for changes and approves contract payments.
• Experience assisting in the administration of contracts, including performance of termination actions.

GS-13:

• Experience soliciting, awarding, and administering highly technical, complex, multi-year types of contracts.
• Experience conducting pre-proposal or pre-bid conferences with prospective contractors to arrive at a clear understanding of solicitation requirements pertaining to specifications, terms, conditions, provisions and clauses of the solicitation.
• Experience functioning as the resident technical expert for contracting issues when developing and coordinating pre-negotiation strategy with technical specialists and representative from the respective program area.

AND

Quality Ranking Factor:

• Bureau of Prisons Warrant is preferred.

Applicants must clearly address these factors in their resume and provide a copy of certification at the time they apply.

NOTE: The above quality ranking factor is preferred. Therefore, applicants who possess the quality ranking factor can be ranked above those who do not, but no candidates can be rated ineligible solely for failure to possess a quality ranking factor.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hrs worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

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

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

There are several parts of the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application:

• Your resume, which is part of your USAJOBS profile;
• Your responses to the eligibility questions;
• Your responses to the online assessment;
• Your supporting documentation, if required.

Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

If you applied to more than one grade level, BE ADVISED that you may be selected at ANY grade level for which you applied and are found qualified (i.e., if the job is announced at the 9/11 grade levels and you apply for the GS/GL-9 and the GS-11, and you are found qualified at BOTH grade levels, you may be selected at either grade level).

Due Weight for Performance and Awards: Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. Please submit:

1. a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation; and
2. a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13028009

Failure to provide legible required documents and/or follow the prescribed format often results in removal from consideration. If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD-214, or Transcripts.

• Resume (limited to 2 pages) must include your name, contact information, and relevant experience (cover letter optional).
  • Experience that would not normally be part of the Federal employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence of qualifying experience (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, Human Resource Manager, SF-52, MOU, etc.).
  • If providing a memorandum, it must follow the format below AND clearly cite the duties performed.
  • To receive credit for experience, your resume and/or any satisfactory evidence must include:
    • Start date and end date in month/year format (MM/YYYY) AND
    • Number of hours worked per week.
• SF-50: Current or former Federal employees NOT employed by the Bureau of Prisons MUST submit a copy of their SF-50 Form which shows competitive service appointment, tenure group, and salary. If you have promotion potential in your current position, please provide proof. If you are applying for a higher grade, and your experience was gained at a Federal agency other than the Bureau of Prisons, you MUST provide the SF-50 Form which verifies the length of time you have been in your highest grade and supports your claim for time in grade.
• Employees applying with an interchange agreement must provide proof of their permanent appointment.
• A copy of your latest yearly performance appraisal/evaluation.
• Proof of CTAP or ICTAP eligibility, Click Here, if applicable.
• College transcript: includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree, and Date Awarded (if applicable).
  • NOTE: If you are selected, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.

For more help, visit USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job?

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