Clarification from the agency

Current federal civilian employees in the competitive service on permanent career or career-conditional appointments; Former federal employees with reinstatement eligibility; Current federal employees eligible under Interchange Agreements; and, Applicants eligible under special hiring authorities (Schedule A, etc.)

Fraud doesn’t stop, and neither do we. We’re the Office of Inspector General, an independent oversight office within the U.S. Department of Education (ED) charged with identifying and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse, and ensuring accountability and effectiveness within ED programs. If you want to help fight fraud and make a difference for America’s students, schools, and taxpayers, we may have the career for you! We offer competitive salaries, opportunities for rapid and substantial salary increases and career growth, great benefits, employee recognition programs, and more.

We’re the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Inspector General (OIG). Often referred to as America’s watchdogs, it’s our job to help ensure that the hard-earned tax dollars that fund ED programs and operations are used as intended by law, achieve the desired results, and reach the intended recipients.

The OIG conducts audits and reviews of issues involving Federal student aid, K–12 schools, charter schools, special education, vocational education, adult education, and more. When our work identifies problems, we propose solutions. Our work has resulted in improvements to ED programs and changes to some of the most important Federal education laws in our country.

We conduct criminal and civil investigations into suspected fraudulent activities by schools, colleges, universities, contractors, subcontractors, school officials—any entity or individual that participates in ED programs or receives ED funding. Through our work, we have unraveled multimillion-dollar fraud schemes by people placed in positions of trust to educate our children. We’re also on the cutting edge of cybersecurity, using the latest technology and techniques to discover and defeat current and emerging threats from cyber and economic crime.

We tackle new and emerging issues head-on and continually work to improve our techniques and capabilities. We consistently expand our expertise by training and developing our staff. This dedication has enabled the OIG to become a leader in the Federal government in the areas of audits, investigations, and fighting cybercrime.

Whether you are just entering the workforce or are a seasoned professional, if you’re looking for a career rather than just a job, and shaping the next generation of American’s tackling tomorrow’s challenges, consider joining our team.

As a Supervisory Contract Specialist, the major duties include but are not limited to:

Workload Management: 

• Works with staff, relevant stakeholders, and customers to mitigate risk, resolve workload issues, and manage contract actions.
• Ensures that contract management activities are undertaken consistent with internal protocols.
• Builds and maintains relationships with internal and external customers to facilitate the timely delivery of goods and services.

Acquisition Planning and Solicitation:

• Meets with program officials early in the requirements development stage to provide strategic business advice to ensure that program and procurement objectives are met.
• Develops innovative strategies that have a broad and long-range impact on programs.
• Documents an acquisition strategy in coordination with the relevant stakeholders fully compliant with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Memorandum of Understanding with the Contracts and Acquisition Management (CAM) office, and Departmental regulations, policies, and procedures.

Contract Negotiation and Source Selection:

• Coordinates the technical evaluation of offers and participates in technical panel consensus meetings to ensure compliance with solicitation requirements.
• Evaluate business proposals based on the evaluation techniques set forth in FAR and develop the negotiation objectives in conjunction with program officials.
• Leads the Government’s negotiating team by facilitating discussions between the Department and potential vendors creating solutions that present win-win scenarios for all stakeholders.

Supervision:

• Supervises a staff whose responsibility is to execute purchases in support of the OIG. Plans and schedules the work to be accomplished by the team and sets priorities based on schedules and goals set by the Inspector General (IG).
• Evaluates subordinates’ performance; approves leave; recommends promotions, reassignments, and disciplinary measures. Keeps employees informed of OIG goals and objectives. Approves all formal documents associated with recruitment and placement, position classification, performance standards, training, appraisals, awards, leave and disciplinary actions.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a US Citizen
• Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
• You must complete a background investigation and fingerprint check.
• Verification of Employment eligibility in the United States is required.
• Statement of Employment & Financial Interest is required .
• You may be subject to serve a one-year supervisory probationary period.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week. 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). 

Qualifications

Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above

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

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.

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.

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.

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement above, the incumbent must also meet the minimum qualification requirement below: 

Applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

• Experience negotiating contracts with industry officials and to resolve problems that arise during the performance of contracts.
• Experience in performing contracting functions (i.e. pre-award, post-award, cost/price analysis, negotiations, or administration) for the acquisition of goods or services.
• Experience interpreting and applying Federal contracting laws, regulations, principles, policies, and procedures to develop and issues solicitations and contracts.
• Experience working with stakeholders to assess their needs, offering solutions that will meet or exceed their expectations and providing quality products and services in a timely manner.
• Experience leading debriefings with unsuccessful offerors and responds to protests.

In Addition, applicants experience must also demonstrate that the candidate possesses the following qualities:

• Ability to assign, review, and supervise others;
• Objectivity and fairness in judging people on their ability, and situations on the facts and circumstances;
• Ability to adjust to change, work pressures, or difficult situations without undue stress;
• Willingness to consider new ideas or divergent points of view; and 
• Capacity to "see the job through."  

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).

1. Knowledge of a wide range of contract types, methods, and techniques and in applying innovative ways to achieve better value procurement.
2. Knowledge of Federal Acquisition laws, regulations and procedures.
3. Ability to effectively communicate with stakeholders (internal/external) at all levels of the organization or agency regarding contractual and/or acquisition matters.
4. Skill in negotiation techniques to conduct contract negotiations and to meet and deal with high-level internal and external stakeholders.

How you will be evaluated

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

We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:

1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications

Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements.

2. Rating and Ranking

If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by comparing your submitted resume and documents against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. (The occupational questionnaire is the list of questions in the automated system that you will have an opportunity to answer once you apply for the position). You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications and competencies listed in this vacancy announcement (if applicable). Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the Monster Competency Based Assessment(s) required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

Supervisory: Oral Communications, Interpersonal Skills, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Customer Service, Leadership, Planning and Evaluating, Influencing/Negotiating, Strategic Thinking and Human Capital Management.

Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be assigned a numerical score (out of 100 possible). If your responses to the occupational questionnaire are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.

3. Referral and Selection

If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.

You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):

A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire. 

Please limit your resume to 2 pages with the font size no smaller than 10 points.  If your resume is more than 2 pages, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed and considered for the qualification determination. 

If you are a current or former federal employee (including current U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit:

• A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility. To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34). Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments. If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential. Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions.
• A Copy of your most recent Performance Appraisal and Awards, as applicable. Your performance appraisal and awards are requested to further assess the quality of your experience should your application be referred to the selecting official.

If you are claiming eligibility under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), you must submit: 

• A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR
• A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR
• The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference.

If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit: 

Adequate proof of your eligibility (e.g., Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility as a Military Spouse, returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility for employment under Schedule A as a person with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities).

If you are requesting special employment consideration under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or CTAP, you must provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP or CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP or CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy.

To be well-qualified you must meet the following: OPM qualification requirements for the position, all selective factors, where applicable; special OPM approved qualifying conditions for the position; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate, to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and receives a rating of at least “well-qualified” on the questionnaire.  You must provide proof of eligibility with your application to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP or CTAP eligibility, or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information regarding ICTAP or CTAP eligibility is available from Career Transition (opm.gov).

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