The Acquisition Utilization Specialist works for the Engineering Service and serves as the Medical Center liaison and advisor on contract related services focusing on critical clinical and healthcare services, product acquisition, and support services required by project managers, program managers, upper management, and stakeholders on all aspects of procurement for a wide variety of items to include specialized services.

Duties

Develops procedures, policies, and supporting artifacts to ensure procurement activities are consistent with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), VA Acquisitions Regulations (VAAR) and other federal procurement laws and regulations. Coordinates with Network Contracting Activity (NCA) and VA HCS leadership, clinical service customers, Contracting Officers Representatives (CORs), logistics staff, and other stakeholders to develop and execute acquisition strategies. Conducts analyses and recommends courses of actions to ensure that various clinical and administrative service requirements have addressed considerations such as construction, budgeting, supporting manpower and other factors. Develops local policies, procedures, SOPs, and associated training materials ensuring they align with federal procurement laws and regulations. Provides training to the facility CORs on procurement policies and new processes procedures related to procurement within the Federal government. Establishes, expedites, and reviews consolidation of, all procurement packages, including unique, emergent, and complex requirements, to meet timely and technical needs of assigned acquisitions. Independently develops performance work statements and objectives, cost benefit analysis, gap analysis, sole source justifications, past performance, quality assurance surveillance plans (QASP), market research, independent government estimates, evaluation criteria, options, funding, delivery schedules, lead times, and reporting requirements. Reviews procurement documents for accuracy, adequacy, and completeness, and assists service line managers as needed to ensure the final documents are acceptable. Develops and implements processes and procedures as changes are made to the VHA Procurement Manual. Develops and conducts presentations/recommendations to VA HCS senior leadership as well as other internal and external stakeholders. Establishes and maintains controls to ensure that contracts are executed in accordance with terms. Works independently with various personnel to resolve problems occurring in the administration of the contract. Monitors the procurement process from pre-award to final delivery of requirements. Advises on all phases of negotiation with the contract specialist/contracting officer for contract modifications, change orders, supplemental agreements, and delivery order processes including requirements, definition, justification, and approval for service contract extension, method of contracting, evaluation of proposals, and all phases of contract administration. Recommends subsequent modifications/changes, settlement of claims and disputes, and termination for convenience. Reviews contracts, work directives, and other ordering instruments to extract schedules of deliverable items and services and maintains records of performance and delivery against those schedules. Monitors quality assurance surveillance plans to ensure that contracted services meet the expectations and needs of the facility. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Acquisition Utilization Specialist/PD79574A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/19/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of an Acquisition Utilization Specialist, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Qualifying specialized experience is defined as: handling contract related services, product acquisition, and procurement of items in a healthcare environment; overseeing contracts including pre-award and post-award; preparing procurement packages with unique, emergent and complex requirements including development of requirement documents (e.g. performance work statements and objectives, cost benefit analysis, gap analysis, sole source justifications, past performance, market research, etc.); developing sole source justifications; developing and analyzing reports to make recommendations on acquisition and contracting issues; participating in negotiations with other officials throughout all phases of contract administration; and monitoring expenditures and reporting on deviations from contract terms. -OR- EDUCATION - A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. -OR- COMBINATION - An equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience, as described above, which meets the total qualification requirement for the GS-11 grade level. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationContracting/ProcurementControl of FundsNegotiationReasoningTechnical CompetenceExperience 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary in nature. Requires occasional travel to conduct inspections of contract facilities or motor vehicles providing contracts for healthcare resources to ensure joint commission and safety requirements are met. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Tennessee Valley HCS - Nashville 1310 24th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37212 US
• Name: Jason Beverung
• Phone: 423-926-1171 X2231
• Email: [email protected]