This position is located at the National Cemetery Administration in Washington, District of Columbia or Quantico, VA.

Duties

This is a bargaining unit position. This position is represented by AFGE. Please note that as provided for in the AFGE/VA Master Agreement the FIRST area of consideration for this position will be permanent employees of the local facility in which this position is being filled, the SECOND area of consideration will be employees at other VA facilities, and the THIRD area of consideration will be all other eligibles. The purpose of this position is to serve as a Contract Specialist for the National Cemetery Administration with responsibility for performing professional work involving the procurement of supplies, construction, and services using procedures outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulations, VA Acquisition Regulations, Public Laws, and Agency policy. The incumbent assists the requiring activities by serving as a member of acquisition planning teams. In this role the incumbent aids requiring activities in performing market research, reviewing specifications and statements of work, and approving acquisition milestone plans. Incumbent is responsible for advertising all applicable requirements and preparing the solicitation document using agency contract writing systems for issuance, insuring regulatory and legal sufficiency, and promoting maximum competition. Coordinates with the Small Business Administration (SBA) Small Business Liaison on matters relevant to all aspects of socioeconomic goal requirements. Conducts public bid openings, reviews bids and determines responsiveness and responsibility of low bidder in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements when using sealed bidding. Resolves protests, mistakes in bids, late bid situations and coordinates with the Small Business Administration for Certificate of Competencies (COC's). If warranted, serves as the Source Selection Authority (SSA) and establishes Technical Evaluation Boards (TEB) to determine acceptability and ranking of technical proposals. Identifies appropriate negotiation team members; formulates pre-negotiation objectives; and facilitates the negotiation as the team leader and chief negotiator. Serves as contract administrator on awarded contracts. Conducts post-award conferences with Contractor and Government personnel to provide information and to clarify standard and special contractual provisions of the contract. Assesses liquidated damages for days of delay and resolves matters relating to excusable delays. Administers payment provisions of the contract for partial payments, progress payments and final payments using the applicable VA invoicing system. Work schedule: Monday through Friday, flexible business hours. Staff may be required to work overtime, weekends and holidays when necessary to meet the needs of the cemetery. Occasionally staff may be called back to the facility to perform emergency overtime work. Compressed/Flexible Schedule: May be Available Telework: May be available Remote/Virtual: This is not a virtual or remote position. Position Description Title/PD#: Contract Specialist/PD829186 The full performance level of this position is GS - 12. At the level GS-09, you will perform similar duties but under closer supervision. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Salary: GS-09: $68,405 - $88,926 GS-11: $82,764 - $107,590 GS-12: $99,200 - $128,956 Relocation Expenses: Not Authorized Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Required

Requirements

• Subject to a background/security investigation.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all specialized experience and time in grade requirements within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement, 03/20/2024. 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 within 45 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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 your most recent non-award 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 non-award SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. To qualify for this position at the GS-111 and GS-12 levels, you must possess a FAC-C Professional or equivalent certification. You must provide proof to be considered. There is a Basic Education Requirement for GS-9 through GS-12 positions in the GS-1102 Contracting Series. You must have: 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field OR 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. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED You may qualify based on your education and/or, as described below: GS-09 level Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: conducting contracting representative work; acting as a subject matter expert, developing, preparing, and presenting terms and conditions in bids or proposals related to the award of contracts; negotiation; legal practice involving participation in negotiating, awarding, or administering contracts, or the analysis of procurement policies and procedures. Performing cost analysis; preparing reports and documentation; evaluating technical and audit reports, forecasting price trends, evaluating economic factors, estimating production efficiencies, and evaluating methods of allocating costs through various types of overhead and general and administrative expense. OR GS-09 Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D. To qualify for GS-1102 positions on the basis of graduate 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.. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR GS-09 Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 18 semester hours of graduate-level education earned. GS-11Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience include: Experience in and knowledge of government contracting procedures with a minimum experience of two or more contract functions (such as negotiation, administration, or termination). (Evidence of this specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of like duties performed in positions held on your resume). OR, GS-11 Education: To qualify for GS-1102 positions based on graduate 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. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR, GS-11 Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the 36 semester hours of graduate education earned. (TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED) GS-12 Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience include: Experience in and knowledge of government contracting procedures with a minimum experience of two or more contract functions (such as negotiation, administration, or termination). (Evidence of this specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of like duties performed in positions held on your resume). You will also need to provide work experience information such as hours per week, salary, and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish you have one (1) full year of specialized experience. There is no educational substitution for the GS-12 level. However, the basic education requirement must be met. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationContract AdministrationContracting/ProcurementNegotiationPre-Solicitation 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; 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: The employee's work is sedentary. Typically, the employees may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there is occasional walking, standing, bending, carrying light items such as reports or files, or driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Education

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

GS-12: There is not educational substitute at this level.

PLEASE NOTE: 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 (particularly positions with a positive education requirement). Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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.

Contacts

• Address National Cemetery Administration 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: NCA Human Resources Center
• Phone: (317)916-3660
• Email: [email protected]