Job opening: Contract Specialist
Salary: $132 368 - 172 075 per year
Published at: Jul 11 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of the Under Secretary for Management, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Office of Selective Acquisitions (OSA). The primary purpose of this position is to serve as a senior contract specialist by planning, directing, and administering the most complex and major Department-wide acquisitions for classified and sensitive products and services.
Non-BU: This is a non-bargaining unit position.
Duties
As a Contract Specialist, GS-1102-14, your typical work assignments may include:
Serving as point of contact for program officials on acquisition and administrative matters affecting major procurement supplies and services, and as a senior contract specialist responsible for pre-award and post award.
Managing the planning and the administration of the most complex Department-wide acquisitions for classified and sensitive products and services, including research and development using formal advertising or negotiation procedures and evaluating the most important cost and price proposals.
Ensuring that all requirements of law, executive orders, regulations and other applicable procedures including clearances and approvals have been met.
Providing authoritative recommendations to improve procurement operations and customer service.
All DHS-HQ announcements have a 5 business day open period due to the number of applications received. This announcement will be open for 5 business days OR until the first 100 applications have been received, whichever happens first.
View common definitions of terms found in this announcement: Common Definitions.
Requirements
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
- Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
- You must successfully pass a background investigation.
- You must submit to a pre-employment drug test.
- You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
- Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.
- You must be able to obtain a (TS/SCI) Security Clearance.
- You will be required to complete an OGE 450, Confidential Financial Disclosure Form.
Qualifications
Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic AND Minimum Qualification requirements as noted below.
A. Basic Requirements: A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field 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; AND completed 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 with at least 1 year of that experience satisfying the specialized experience for the grade level you are applying to, as described further below in this qualifications section.
B. Exception: 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 (waiver information provided below). Note: SF-50(s) must be submitted to support claim.
C. 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. 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; AND
Specialized Experience:
You qualify for the GS-14 grade level if you possess one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal government, performing duties such as:
Planning, directing, and administrating the most complex and major Department-wide acquisitions;
Providing authoritative and expert guidance and advice on contracting matters, including cost and pricing, and conducting compliance reviews of procurement matters across an organization; AND
Performing contract administration functions.
Substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience may not be used for this grade level.
This position has a Selective Placement Factor (SPF). If you do not upload the required certification/documentation as described below, you will be rated ineligible. The SPF for this position is:
Applicants must hold an active Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Level III or FAC-C (Professional) or DAWIA equivalent.
For Department of Defense applicants seeking to meet the certification requirements for FAC-C Level III through an equivalency determination, the incumbent must possess the following and provide the required verification documents:
Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Contracting Level III Certification, or
Acquisition Career Record Brief (ACRB) showing proof of a DAWIA Level III certificate, or
Department of Defense Contracting Professional/Foundational Certification along with your DAU transcript.
All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
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.
Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. 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.
Education
This position requires specific coursework to meet the basic education requirement. You must submit an official or unofficial transcript which list courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Your transcript(s) must clearly demonstrate the course(s) listed in the qualification requirement section. If the transcript(s) does not clearly demonstrate this, you must submit a copy of the course description and/or other documentation demonstrating that the courses are equivalent.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications; applicant's resumes and supporting documentation should only reflect education received from schools accredited by such institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following Website:
https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home.
If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send 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) with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. 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.
Contacts
- Address Department of Homeland Security Headquarters
OCHCO/HRMS/MS #0170
6595 Springfield Center Drive
Springfield, VA 20598-0170
US
- Name: Tiana Carrington
- Email: [email protected]