Supervisory Contract Specialist

Clarification from the agency

Status Candidates (Merit Promotion and VEOA Eligibles) and those eligible for other hiring authorities.

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) provides leadership and oversight of the Agency's budgeting, financial management, strategic planning, contracting, internal controls, and enterprise risk management functions. The OCFO ensures fiscal integrity, promotes effective resource allocation, strengthens risk and performance oversight, and supports data-driven informed decision-making to advance the Agency's mission and strategic goals.

Position Overview

The Supervisory Contract Specialist will serve as the Manager of the Contracting Operations Section. They will be the subject matter expert on acquisition and the supervisor of a staff performing a full range of contracting and procurement operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, planning, overseeing, and supervising agency-wide acquisition and contracting functions. The Supervisory Contract Specialist is also responsible for developing plans, programs, and procedures relevant to acquisition and contracting.

Major Duties & Responsibilities

• Serve as the lead for the Agency's acquisition program, providing daily oversight to ensure comprehensive acquisition policies, guidelines, procedures, and oversight; ensuring integrity and compliance across the agency; performing contract oversight and review; overseeing professional acquisition training; and other related acquisition functions.
• Establish goals and objectives and implement controls and audit processes to ensure an effective Agency acquisition program.
• Supervise and lead a staff of professionals and technicians who perform a variety of contracting and procurement activities.
• Serve as a Contracting Officer with unlimited signatory authority for all contract actions in support of the Agency.
• Provide expert acquisition advice to all levels within the Agency.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Conditions of employment

• Status Candidates (Merit Promotion and VEOA Eligibles) and those eligible for other hiring authorities.
• SF 50's are required with the exception of current FHFA employees. Please include one showing your tenure and competitive status. You must provide an SF-50 that indicates your competitive eligibility. You will not be considered without this.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• May be required to successfully complete a one-year supervisory probationary period.
• Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
• Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level).
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
• Resume and supporting documents (See How To Apply).
• FHFA participates in e-Verify. All New hires must complete the I-9 Employment Verification form either on or before their first day of employment. If a discrepancy arises, you must take affirmative steps to resolve the matter.
• Bargaining Unit Status: Ineligible
• This is NOT a remote position; you MUST live within or be willing to relocate within a commutable distance of the duty location.
• If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.
• This position may be required to complete a financial disclosure report. All EL-15 and Executives (LL) are required to complete an annual financial disclosure report.
• Must possess or be able to obtain and maintain a fully active Contracting Officer’s Warrant.

Qualifications

You may qualify for your desired series and grade level if you meet the following qualification requirements:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

To be eligible for the 1102 series, you must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Education: 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.

-OR-

B. Exception: Applicants who have held an EL/GS-1102-15 or equivalent position since January 1, 2000.

In addition to meeting the above basic education or exception requirements, applicants must also meet the following minimum qualifications for their desired grade level:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Minimum Qualification EL-15: Applicants must have 52 weeks (one-year) of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level as described below.

Experience: I qualify for the EL/GS-15 because I have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience at the EL/GS-14 or equivalent demonstrating work experience with all the statements described below.

Examples of specialized experience include:

• Performing commercial contract actions (such as for IT products, commercial supplies, professional support services, and leases) and intra-governmental agreements in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, policies, standards, or procedures.
• Performing contract negotiations and terminations, evaluating contractor claims or settlement proposals, and executing settlement agreements including serving as an authority on the acceptability and applicability of contractual matters and actions.
• Advising on and conducting the procurement process from solicitation to award and through all post award phases of contracting, including modifications, processing payments, final invoicing, final evaluation, and closeout.
• Supervising functions and overall personnel management activities to include positions and pay, selection or participation in the selection of subordinate employees, performance and conduct management.
• Providing advice, training, guidance, and policy interpretation for a team on procurement regulations, policies, and procedures including guidance from the Federal Acquisition Regulation and General Service Administration Guidance.

**Failure to provide your transcripts, when required, for any of the options above will remove you from the hiring process**

Time-In-Grade: Current or former Federal government employees who have held an EL/GS position in the preceding 52 weeks, must meet the time-in-grade requirement.

• To be eligible for the EL-15 position, applicants must have served 52 weeks as an EL/GS-14 or higher in the Federal Service.

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

For this position, you will be required to complete a narrative assessment through your responses to the prompts in the questionnaire portion of the announcement. If you meet the minimum qualification requirements and are eligible for the position, your narrative assessment responses will be evaluated by a panel of subject matter experts. Through your narrative assessment responses, you will be measured on the following competencies:

Competencies:

• Acquisition Management
• Stakeholder Relations
• Evaluation and Critical Analysis
• Leading People and Holding Employees Accountable

To fulfill the requirements of the narrative assessment, applicants must provide a written response to the following prompts in their assessment questionnaire:

1. Please describe an experience you have had addressing a performance issue with a vendor. How did you identify the issue and what steps did you take to remedy or address the issue with that vendor?
2. Please describe your experience developing internal agency policy covering contracting, procurement, purchasing, or other related issues. What issues did the policy need to address and how did you address those? Who was involved in reviewing and finalizing the policy?
3. Please describe your experience managing a team of professionals in the procurement space. How have you dealt with or addressed interpersonal conflicts or other performance issues with your team to maintain high performance standards?

We recommend that you preview the online questions for this announcement before you start the application process. To preview the assessment questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12952297

All of the information you provide will be verified by a review of the work experience and/or education as shown on your application forms, by checking references or through other means, such as the interview process. This verification could occur at any stage of the application process. Any exaggeration of your experience, false statements, or attempts to conceal information may be grounds for rating you ineligible.

In accordance with the Fair Chance Act, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) may not request, in oral or written form, that an applicant for an appointment to (FHFA) disclose criminal history record information before the appointing authority extends a tentative offer to the applicant. Allegations of FHFA violations of this Act may be submitted to fairchanceactcomplaints@fhfa.gov or to Fair Chance Act Complaints, Office of Human Resources Management, Employee Relations Branch, FHFA 400 7th Street, SW Washington DC 20219 within 30 days from the agency employee's alleged non-compliance with the law.

FHFA's application process has been specifically developed to ensure that we only ask you for the information we absolutely need to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility. All applicants are required to submit the following supportive documents:

1. Your Resume: Whether you have written a federal resume before or not, you may want to check out the new USAJOBS Help Center links (USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job?), as they detail what you should, and should not, include in your resume. Below you will find some of the required information that you should include in your federal resume:

• Contact Information: Your name and the best way to contact you.
• Relevant work experience: Job experience should include employer name, job title, start and end dates (month/year), the number of hours worked per week and descriptions that explain how you meet the required qualifications in the job announcement.
• Education, certifications or licensures: If the job announcement requires any education, certifications or licensures, make sure you include the required information on the resume.

Other important information regarding your resume:

• As a part of the Executive Order 14170 titled, "Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service", all applicant resumes must be 2 pages or less. The long-form Federal resume style is now prohibited under this Executive Order. To be compliant with this guidance, please limit your resume to 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.
• Due to the new 2-page resume limitation, finalists for this position may be asked to provide additional previous employment information for pay setting purposes.

2. SF-50's are required with the exception of current FHFA employees. Please include an SF-50 that shows your tenure (1 or 2 in Block 24) and competitive status (1 in Block 34). You will not be considered without this. The SF-50 should show highest grade held on a permanent basis in the competitive service. You must provide an SF-50 that indicates your competitive eligibility.

3. Required, if applicable: This position requires a minimum level of education or a combination of education and experience. Please submit your transcripts (official or unofficial) along with your application if you choose an option that requires transcripts. Failure to provide transcripts, when required, will result in removal from the hiring process. Note: If you are selected for a position, an official transcript will be required before onboarding.

4. Required, if applicable: CTAP/ICTAP documentation (a copy of a separation notice or other proof of eligibility for priority selection; a copy of an SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, showing current position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location; AND a copy of your most recent performance appraisal.)

5. Required, if applicable: Veteran's Preference Documentation (DD-214, Member Copy 4 or other documentation containing dates of service and character of discharge. Disabled veterans and other applicants eligible for 10-point Veteran's Preference please include: documentation to validate your claim - VA letter, SF-15, etc.).

6. Other Supporting Documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Schedule A letter, if applicable

Important Notes:

• Utilize the preview feature of USA Jobs to view your documents and ensure the formatting remains and all documents are legible.
• Additional materials will not be accepted after the announcement closes (e.g. updated grades, updated resume, etc.).
• Your full name must be clearly visible on all documents.
• Do not submit encrypted documents.
• Tips: Encrypted documents do not transmit properly through USA Jobs. We recommend, you save the document as a new PDF or Print to PDF to ensure the document comes through properly and is displayed properly using the USA Jobs preview feature.
• If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying on the basis of education, you need to list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study. If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume. Do not include a photograph or video of yourself, or any sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter. We will not access web pages linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualification.

Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

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