CONTRACT SPECIALIST (GS-13)

Summary

This position is part of the US International Development Finance Corporation. As a CONTRACT SPECIALIST you will serve as a warranted Contracting Officer and execute acquisition policy based on expert knowledge of contracting regulations, laws, principles and legal research.

Duties

Provides advice and guidance to program managers and Contracting Officer's Representatives on contracting procedures, including providing assistance in the development of acquisition packages. Plans, negotiates, leads, and administers procurements of goods and services, which may include specialized, state-of-the-art, critical or scarce requirements using Federal Acquisition Regulation procedures. Performs procurement planning and provides advice to program officials in the development of procurement objectives, constructing the contractual vehicle, and facilitating creation and maintenance of acquisition plans, appropriate milestone charts and related schedules while providing acquisition progress updates to stakeholders. Advises on performance objectives to be used and assists in the preparation of requirements documents, such as performance work statements, statement of objectives, and statements of work. Serves as sole negotiator for program customer on procurement actions. Plans and coordinates negotiation strategy and leads the negotiations to develop contract prices and terms. Performs contract administration: Responsibilities typically include incremental funding, preparation of rate and price adjustments, redirection of effort, coordination of time extension, incorporation of change orders, issuance of stop work orders, issuance of cure notices or show cause letters, final payment, and contract closeout. Researches and interprets various federal acquisition laws, regulations (i.e., Federal Acquisition Regulations and agency directives), policies, procedures and applies findings to acquisition work products. Develops technical correspondence and reference materials to document discussions, decisions, and contracting actions throughout the contract life cycle including determinations, findings, and, solicitations or request for quotes/proposals. Please Note: This is a Bargaining unit position represented by AFGE, local 1534.

Qualifications

Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level). Applicants must meet all eligibility and qualification requirements no later than the closing date of this announcement. TIME-IN-GRADE: Current career or career-conditional employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). BASIC REQUIREMENT A. 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 grade level in the Federal service, 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. Note: Transcripts must be submitted at the time of application for consideration. B. 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. NOTE: The agency may obtain a waiver for any individual not meeting the above requirements mentioned in A or B. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT In addition to the basic requirements for the 1102 series at the GS-13 and Above, applicants must meet the specialized experience noted below. You may qualify at the GS-13 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement: Applicants must also possess at least one year of specialized experience that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the GS-12 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience must include the following: Soliciting, evaluating, negotiating, and awarding contracts using GSA ordering, simplified, and negotiated acquisitions Federal Acquisition Regulations procedures; Administering contracts by assuring compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations and contract terms and conditions; Analyzing, negotiating, and settling contract termination claims and proposals; Analyzing and evaluating cost/price proposals; planning, establishing, or reviewing contracts, programs, policies, or procedures; AND Developing acquisition strategies and independently directing or managing procurements. NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or related applicable assessment) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. Note: Education does not substitute for specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level. 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. This announcement may be used to fill similar positions, if additional vacancies occur.

Education

ARE YOU USING YOUR EDUCATION TO QUALIFY? You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement. Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating. PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society. GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. FOREIGN EDUCATION is education acquired outside of any State of the U.S., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or any territory or possession of the U.S. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification and/or eligibility requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency (a U.S. private organization's interpretation that such education has been deemed at least equivalent to conventional U.S. education programs or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university) with your application in order to receive credit for that education. (Foreign education transcripts will not be accepted). For more information regarding evaluation of foreign education for federal employment, please visit the U.S. Department of Education webpage on the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.

How you will be evaluated

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. If you are found to be among the top qualified candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration. 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 Contracting/Procurement Legal, Government, & Jurisprudence Technical Documentation 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. You may preview the Application Questionnaire at: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13100579

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Read the Eligibility questions carefully. The questions address if you are eligible to apply to this JOA. Your responses will affect your consideration for the position. You may qualify for more than one eligibility, so please choose carefully. You will only be considered under the options you have selected. If you respond that you do not meet any of the eligibility questions, you will not be considered for this position. Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc. If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content (e.g. SSN or DOB), your resume will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you will not be considered for this vacancy. Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility. Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted prior to the closing date of the announcement.

Other information

Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp). Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): To be eligible for a VEOA appointment under Merit Promotion procedures, you must be a preference eligible or a Veteran separated after 3 years or more of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions. Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities: For more information on appointment authority eligibility requirements: Persons with Disabilities-Schedule A Special Hiring Authorities for Veterans Special Hiring Authority for Certain Military Spouses Other Special Appointment Authorities OPM Interchange Agreement and Other Miscellaneous Authorities Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/verify/). Telework Suitability: The duties of this position is suitable for telework. The selectee may be allowed episodic or emergency telework with supervisor approval and if they meet the eligibility criterion in the 2010 Telework Act. Stipulations of Employment: Selection may require completion of a 1-year probationary period. Work Schedule: This position allows for a flexible work schedule. Miscellaneous: DFC uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. Recruitment incentives may be authorized for this position. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/careers/fairchanceact for more information. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.