The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is hiring for contract specialist positions located in the Office of Acquisition and Grants Management. The positions support awarding and administering complex acquisition portfolios for various program areas throughout FHWA and the Department of Transportation. 

Duties

As a Contract Specialist, you will:

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must (1) meet the grade level requirements, AND (2) meet the additional Individual Occupational Requirement for the series (see educational information section), AND (3) provide a copy of transcripts for verification (see educational information section).  (1) Specialized Experience: To further determine eligibility, review the following grade specific details. You will be asked a few questions as part of your application but make sure to verify how you meet these grade levels in your resume.  For the GS-11: You qualify for this grade level if you meet one of the following: On Experience, at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-09 grade level, which included: Experience awarding, administering, and closing out contracts, task orders and/or purchase orders. On Education, you must have: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. Or, you can also qualify based on a combination of higher level graduate education and experience. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application. For the GS-12: You qualify for this grade level if you have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-11 grade level, which included: Experience awarding, administering and closing out a variety of contract types to include firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials, and/or cost reimbursement type contracts using acquisition regulations as a regular and recurring part of your job; AND Experience with best value source selection techniques. For the GS-13:You qualify for this grade level if you have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-12 grade level, which included:  Experience independently awarding, administering and closing out multi-million-dollar contracts to include firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials, and cost reimbursement type contracts using acquisition regulations as a regular and recurring part of your job; AND Experience in several areas of the FAR especially FAR Part 15, "Contracting by Negotiation" and FAR Part 16, “Types of Contracts” including best value source selection techniques and cost/price analysis. You cannot qualify on education at grades 12 and 13, you must have specialized experience.  KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following area: Technical Skills Contracting/Procurement - Knowledge of various types of contracts, techniques, or requirements (for example, Federal Acquisitions Regulations) for contracting or procurement, and contract negotiation and administration. Acquisition Strategy - Knowledge of the principles and methods for developing an integrated acquisition management plan that describes the business, technical, and support strategies, including the relationship between the acquisition phases, work efforts, and key program events(for example, decision points, contract awards, test activities). Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. For all types of consideration, 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. 

Education

(2) All applicants must meet the basic requirements to qualify for applying to a position under series 1102:

BASIC MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GS-11-12:

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.

Graduate Education: To qualify for GS-1102 positions on the basis of education, graduate education in one or a combination of the following fields is required: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management.

Note:  For positions at GS-07 through GS-12, applicants who are qualifying based on experience must possess at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to work at the next lower level, that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the work of the position, in addition to meeting the basic requirements in paragraph A or B, above.

• 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 MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR GS-13: 

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 level of the position, and must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the work of the position. 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: 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.

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.

For additional reference, refer to the OPM qualifications standard for GS-1102: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1100/contracting-series-1102/

(3) Upload the appropriate document(s) to your application for verification purposes.

Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of the closing date of this announcement. If selected, the final transcript must be received before your start date. Other applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Contacts

• Address DOT, FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION Submit Application and Documents Online 1200 New Jersey Ave SE / HAHR - 50 Washington, District of Columbia 20590 United States
• Name: Automated Staffing Office
• Phone: 000-000-0000
• Email: [email protected]