Job opening: Acquisitions Specialist
Salary: $69 107 - 183 500 per year
Published at: Oct 01 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
These positions are to be filled under the OPM Government-Wide Direct Hire Authority Certain STEM Positions for grades GS 11-15. This serves as a public notice for the use of the Direct Hire Authority in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3327 and 3330 and 5 CFR 330. Under this recruitment procedure, applications will be accepted for each location/ installation identified in this Public Notice. There may or may not be actual/projected vacancies at the time you submit your application.
Requirements
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
- This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
- Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
- Subject to satisfactory security and suitability requirements.
- May be required to successfully complete a 1-year probationary period.
- Positions are located agency-wide and may be filled as permanent, term, or temporary with a full-time or part-time work schedule. Pay will vary by geographic location.
- Appointments made with this authority may be processed as a new appointment into the Civil Service.
- The vacancies filled through these appointments have varying levels of background investigative requirements, up to a Top Secret - DOE "Q" clearance.
- Positions may be covered by a bargaining unit. Bargaining unit will vary by departmental element, grade, and/or location.
- Must successfully complete all mandatory training for 1102 series positions within 24 months of hire, failure to do so may result in removal.
- Positions may be a Testing Designated Position (TDP) subject to applicant testing and random drug testing thereafter. Failure to test or a positive result on random drug tests conducted after appointment may result in removal from Federal employment.
- Positions may require submittal of a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450, Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of entering the position and annually.
- This position does not support 100% remote work. You will be required to report physically to the official reporting worksite as specified by the supervisor, but no less than 2 days per pay period.
Qualifications
You must meet both the Basic Requirement and the Specialized Experience to qualify for this series as described below. The Basic Requirement is listed in the Education section.
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
The specialized experience listed are the minimum requirements for the series, each particular vacancy may have additional experience necessary to meet the applicable grade level.
A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for these positions are defined as:
GS-11: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-09). Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting at least 2 of 4 of the following:
Assisting with conducting pre-award activities;
Preparing determinations and findings of fact relative to negotiations and pricing actions;
Analyzing problem situations relating to acquisitions such as incomplete specifications, deficient property, material shortages, or terminations for convenience;
Reviewing completed official contract files to determine that the contract is complete and ready to be closed.
OR
3 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; your education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. For this position, this is defined as a degree in accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, organization and management, or similarly related major.
OR
Combination of education and experience as described above. Less than one year of specialized experience may be combined with graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level (i.e., credit hours beyond the first two years of full-time study may be credited).
GS-12: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-11). Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting at least 2 of 4 of the following:
Performing market or price analysis to determine availability of products or producers or reasonable of prices;
Conducting necessary pre-award activities;
Monitoring contractor performance in relation to the completion schedule required by the contract and issuing change orders occasioned by changes in mission requirements, defective specifications, changed site conditions, or changes in furnished property;
Reviewing procurement requests to determine whether the procurement can be performed by small businesses and locating and furnishing information on capable small and disadvantaged business firms for consideration as potential sources for current and future acquisitions.
GS-13: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-12). Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting at least 3 of 6 of the following:
Independently conducting preaward activities for complex equipment, services, and/or construction including reviewing requests, preparing solicitation documents, analyzing proposals for conformance with the solicitation, and negotiating with potential contractors;
Performing industry analysis to identify technological and performance changes in products;
Performing various contract administration functions, such as verifying evidence of contractor's progress for approval of progress payments; reviewing and making recommendations on dicing reports; reviewing and negotiating spare parts orders; reviewing and providing recommendations on contractor proposals resulting from change orders; negotiating delivery schedule changes; monitoring contractor's compliance with contract, regulatory, and statutory provision, such as patent and royalty, duty and customs, small business and labor surplus, and reporting requirements; monitoring expenditures on cost, incentive, and certain fixed-price contracts requiring funds control; reporting on anticipated deviations from estimated costs; and performing preaward surveys upon request;
Forecasting price trends, economic factors, and efficiencies in production for future accounting periods using analytical techniques such as random sampling, computerized cost models, statistical graphs and learning curves; evaluates the effects on cost of multiplant operations, fluctuating production volume engineering, tooling, preproduction costs, compensation, pensions, and purchasing practices;
Advising management and contracting officers on matters pertaining to contracting policies and procedures;
Developing guidance material or conducting training for contracting personnel.
GS-14: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-13). Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting at least 3 of 6 of the following:
Serving as lead negotiator for contracting activities, including planning the negotiation strategy, coordinating strategy with negotiation team, and leading the negotiations which are conducted with contractors to develop the contract prices and terms;
Serving as advisor to program officials in procurement planning meetings including advising program officials of the procurement objectives to be used, and assisting in the preparation of statements of work;
Developing and maintaining systems to evaluate and monitor contractual performance related to such areas as delivery, cost, amount of progress or advance payments, effective use of furnished property, scheduling and usage of facilities, and management of overhaul or maintenance and repair efforts;
Negotiating forward-pricing rates agreements after analyzing elements such as the various expense pools, labor rates, contractor's business volume forecast, economic conditions, business trends, union agreements, local labor market conditions, and inflation rates;
Initiating, developing, and recommending contracting policies and procedures for the guidance and control of subordinate contracting activities;
Reviewing, evaluating, and providing specific guidance concerning contracting policies and procedures relative to facilities, special tooling, special test equipment, component breakout, warranties, recovery of nonrecurring costs, high dollar spare parts breakout program, industrial preparedness, production planning, and/or interorganizational coordinated procurements.
GS-15: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-14). Specialized experience for this position is defined as meeting at least 2 of 3 of the following:
Directing the full range of contract administration actions required for an acquisition program, including the issuance of contract modifications, negotiation of changes, exercise of options, investigation and resolution of contractor delays, contractor performance appraisal, subcontractor surveillance, disposition of claims, and similar matters;
Planning, developing, and establishing the contractual strategy for an overall acquisition program.
Serving as principal contracting advisor to the program management office, and represents the company/agency as the program's contractual authority at conferences and meetings.
NOTE: There is no substitution of education for specialized experience at the GS-12 through GS-15 levels.
OPM Qualification Standards for the GS-1102 series can be found at the following website: OPM Qualification Standards for the GS-1102 series.
CTAP/ICTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section.
This public notice may be used to fill multiple positions as needed; therefore, applicants must meet the qualifications at the time certificates are requested.
Education
BASIC REQUIREMENT FOR GS-11 THROUGH GS-12
A. A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field;
OR
B. 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. Employees who occupy GS-1102 positions at grades 5 through 12 will be considered to meet the basic requirements for other GS-1102 positions up to and including those classified at GS-12. This includes positions at other agencies and promotions up through grade 12. However, employees must meet specialized experience requirements when seeking another position.
BASIC REQUIREMENT FOR GS-13 AND ABOVE
A. Applicants must have 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 of the position in federal service, as defined under Specialized Experience below.
AND
B. 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.
C. Exceptions: Applicants holding a GS-1102 position in federal service will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupied 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.
D. Waiver: Applicants may request that the senior procurement executive of DOE, at his or her discretion, waive any part of the requirements above. The senior procurement executive must certify 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 DOE on the basis of a waiver, DOE may later reassign that individual to another position at the same grade within DOE without additional waiver action.
This vacancy has a positive education requirement. In order to be rated as qualified, you must provide copies of your college transcripts. Failure to provide copies of your college transcripts may result in a rating of "Ineligible".
If substituting education for specialized experience you must submit proof of your qualifying education. Failure to provide college transcripts may result in a rating of 'Ineligible'.
Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website.
Contacts
- Address Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer
P.O. Box 5088
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
US
- Name: DHA Questions Government-Wide Direct Hire
- Phone: 000-000-0000
- Email: [email protected]