This announcement is issued under the Direct Hire Authority (DHA) to recruit for positions for which there is a critical hiring need. Selectee(s) will receive a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service and may be required to serve a one year probationary period. First time hires to the Federal government salaries are normally set at the beginning of the salary range listed above.

Duties

In this position, you will serve as a/an Contract Specialist in the Management Bureau, Office of Acquisition and Assistance (M/OAA). In this position, you will: -Be responsible for all pre-award and post-award functions involving highly complex negotiated procurements of significant importance to the Agency. Requirements of the contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, inter-agency agreements are typically highly specialized and involve complex systems or sensitive international programs. -Conduct reviews of highly specialized contracts and contracting plans and monitor all acquisition strategy and documents and instruments for a variety of highly specialized, complex, and unique contracts for a variety of programs that involve a broad spectrum of systems. -Monitor and ensure contractor's performance complies within contract, regulatory, and statutory provisions through telephone conversations, correspondence, reports, vouchers, and visits. -Perform procurement planning activities in assigned organizations, which may include reviewing and clearing project papers and representing M/OAA at program planning meetings.

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet both the Basic AND Minimum Qualification requirements, as noted below. Basic Requirement for the GS-1102 Contracting Series for the GS-11 and GS-12 grade levels. You must meet one of the items listed below: A. Have completed a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field from an accredited college or university. (Must provide transcripts to support claim). -OR- B. Have completed 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 from an accredited college or university. (Must provide transcripts to support claim). -OR- C. Exception. 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. (Must provide SF-50 to support claim (This exception only applies if you held a GS-1102 position prior to January 1, 2000. If you have not held a GS-1102 position prior to this date, this exception does not apply to you). In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, you must also meet the following requirements: To qualify at the GS-11 grade level you must meet one of the following: A. You must demonstrate demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-09 level in the Federal service that included: 1) Procuring items or services for which adequate price competition is available; 2) Preparing solicitation documents; 3) Recommending actions when the contractor is not in compliance with contract provisions; and 4) Participating in contract administration sufficient to ensure contract terms and conditions are met. (Note: The contents of your resume must support this claim) -OR- B. Have completed 3 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in one or a combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. (transcripts must be submitted to support claim) -OR- C. Have a combination of the specialized experience as described above in letter A and graduate education as described above in Letter B, that when combined equals 100% of the qualification requirement. NOTE: Only graduate education in excess of two years (generally 36 semester hours) may be used in this calculation. (transcripts must be submitted to support claim) To qualify at the GS-12 grade level you must meet the Minimum Qualifications: Applicant must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-11 level in the Federal service that included: 1) Preparing solicitation documents and conducting detailed analyses of cost in contractor proposals; 2) Independently reviewing contractor performance through site visits, correspondence, and telephone conversations for completion of applicable contract clauses; 3) Conducting policy or program studies following established methods, procedures, and guidelines; and 4) Analyzing and identifying procurement issues and policies and their impact on local procedures. (NOTE: Your resume must show where, when and how you performed these duties). In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience. Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the advertised grade level or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the dates worked and total number of hours per week. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

ARE YOU USING YOUR EDUCATION TO QUALIFY? You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.htm

Contacts

• Address US Agency for International Development 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20523 US
• Name: Philadelphia Services Branch
• Email: [email protected]