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Contract Specialist

Employer
USAJobs
Location
Wallops Island, Virginia
Closing date
Feb 8, 2023
Duties

This is an open continuous announcement for 180 days or until all positions are filled. It will be used to fill immediate and future vacancies for this agency. There will be multiple cut-off dates with the first being 15 days after the initial opening date of 12/7/2022. Additional 30-day cut-off dates will be established until all vacancies have been filled.

The first 100 qualified and eligible candidates who applied will be considered for referral to the selecting official. Additional candidates will be referred based on hiring needs and/or Hiring Manager request.

This position is eligible for 100% remote or up to maximum telework. For remote, selectee must reside within a 50-mile radius of a VA facility. For telework, selectee must reside within the local commuting distance of our Eatontown, NJ office. This position is being announced as both as remote and telework.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Available
Telework: Available
Position Description Title/PD#: Contract Specialist/ PD44208A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Required
Physical Demands: Work is generally sedentary with no special physical demands. Incumbent may be subject to stress due to changed requirements, short deadlines, limited information, and uncontrollable workload peaks.

Major Duties:
  • Ensure the technical evaluation factors and award criteria are clearly stated in the request for proposal.
  • Conduct market analyses to test the noncompetitive assumptions of requisition.
  • Issue solicitations for contracting requirements that lack historical precedent.
  • Analyze contracting requirements for suggesting revisions to the statement of work or specifications.
  • Determine the competitive range for negotiated solicitations.
  • Develop contracting milestones within established time frames.
  • Perform cost or price analysis to review cost breakdowns or determine reasonableness.
  • Explore new or innovative contracting approaches when lacking meaningful cost and price information.
  • Plan procurements by identifying large-scale subsystems, components, equipment, and services to be acquired by contract.
  • Prepare solicitation and award synopses using electronic systems.
  • Input contractor performance data in appropriate databases.
  • Develop a negotiation strategy using audits and pricing reports.
  • Develop procurement objectives regarding terms of competition and price range.
  • Recommend the appropriate method of procurement, i.e. simplified acquisition procedures, sealed-bidding, negotiations.
  • Analyze proposals for conformance with the solicitation.
  • Review justifications for sole source clearances.
  • Determine responsiveness and responsibility of low bidder in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.
  • Serve as an advisor to program officials in procurement planning meetings.
  • Conduct pre-proposal conferences with perspective contractors to clarify contract requirements.
  • Conduct post-award conferences to provide information and clarify provisions of the contract.
  • Conduct debriefings with unsuccessful offerors or bidders.
  • Prepare required documentation during legal proceedings.
  • Prepare post-clearance documentation after an agreement has been reached.
  • Prepare price negotiation memoranda outlining the details of negotiations with contractors.
  • Prepare justification documentation for sole source clearances.
  • Prepare documentation in issuing terminations for convenience or default.
  • Prepare documentation associated with the elimination of unacceptable proposals.
  • Coordinate the establishment of a technical evaluation committee to determine acceptability of technical proposals.
  • Coordinate with small business liaisons on socio-economic goal requirements.
  • Develop strategies to resolve protests, mistakes in bids, and late bid situations.
  • Negotiate additional time required for contractor performance.
  • Notify offerors concerning further negotiation or elimination from competitive range.
  • Provide technical advice to senior acquisition personnel or program offices on complex contracting assignments based on regulatory compliance.
  • Assess contractual issues on moderate to complex acquisitions providing regulatory and business advice to non-contracting personnel.


Requirements

Conditions of Employment

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


Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

OPM Individual Occupational Requirements - Contracting Series -1102

Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above

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.

NOTE: The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) does not grant Academic degrees; therefore, courses completed at the DAU are not creditable towards meeting the 24-semester hour requirement, in the fields identified above, unless the coursework has been evaluated by an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and appears on a college or university transcript.

GS-13 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes:
  • Administering contracts cradle to grave; contract law; acquisition and contract administration including change orders, supplemental agreements, terminations, claims, and close out of contracts
  • Principles of acquisition planning; contract administration and termination techniques sufficient to administer and close out contracts
  • Cost/price analysis techniques to evaluate contractor proposals, change order proposals
  • Knowledge of various types of contracts, including firm-fixed price; economic price adjustments, and cost reimbursement
  • Contract methods - simplified acquisitions, sealed bidding, negotiations, cost sharing, multiple awards, commercial items and special provisions
  • Negotiate prices, terms and conditions, contract modifications and settlements
  • Knowledge of the market and sources to include identification of offerors in specific socio- economic categories.
  • Technical complexity of commodities or equipment; commodity shortages; lack of competition among vendors; and in-depth price analysis.
There is no educational substitution for the GS-13 level.

Preferred: Incumbent must meet all the eligibility requirements to receive and maintain a Level III FAC-C certification.

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.

Competencies:
  • Contracting/Procurement
  • Acquisition Strategy
  • Communication
  • Customer Service


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.

Additional information

COVID-19 Pandemic Expanded Telework Program - Due to COVID-19, VA is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement. Management officials will provide information about returning to the official, pre-pandemic worksite, when applicable. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework depending upon the terms of your organization's telework policy and the duties of the position.

VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

The following will be communicated to applicants for VA employment in a testing designated position and will also be included in all VA vacancy announcements for such positions: All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drugs use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/ .

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

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