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Contract Specialist

Employer
USAJobs
Location
Washington, D.C
Closing date
Jun 7, 2019
Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Acquisition and Contract Management (OCFO/OACM) of the Peace Corps. The incumbent serves as a Contracting Officer with up to unlimited signatory authority to obligate the government for a variety of requirements.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The Contract Specialist performs the following major duties:
  • Manage all aspects of the functional area of contract management, including contract formation, drafting and issuing solicitations, negotiations, cost and price analyst, award, contract administration, termination and close-out of various contract vehicles (including indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contracts, purchase orders, interagency agreements, blanket order agreements, etc.)
  • Examines and evaluates the contractor's prospective cost estimates or price proposals to determine the necessity, fairness, and reasonableness of proposed contract costs.
  • Serves as the lead negotiator, planning the negotiation strategy, coordinating strategy with the negotiation team and leading the negotiation conducted with contractors, negotiate with prospective contractors on pricing, performance, technical terms, and other provisions.
  • Negotiates contract modifications and the terms and costs of contract changes.
  • Monitors outstanding contracts to ensure satisfactory progress, to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract, and to identify problems that threaten contractor performance.
  • Reviews past performance reports and conducts reference checks to determine the financial and technical capability of award candidates for the purpose of assessing risk to the government for the successful attainment of program goals and to determine if the award candidate has an acceptable level of integrity and is financially and technically responsible.
  • Advises and assists program officials in the drafting of proposal analysis reports documenting the technical evaluation process for selecting sources.
  • Provides contract/procurement advice and assistance to program managers, technical and financial specialists, co-workers, and/or others on contract or procurement policies, problems, or issues.
  • Responsible for executing all procurement phases of the acquisition process.


Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
02

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Please refer to "Conditions of Employment".

Intelligence Background Information

Peace Corps Manual Section 611 is applicable to this position. This section prohibits the employment of certain persons previously engaged in intelligence activities or connected with intelligence agencies within the past 10 years. If you have ever worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), you are not eligible for employment at the Peace Corps in any capacity, and you should not apply for employment.

PC-1336 Form: Applicants who are found to be otherwise qualified will be required to submit upon request in the future a completed PC-1336 form , or narrative signed statement, indicating whether the applicant has been involved in or has had any connection with intelligence activities or related work and, if so, the nature and dates of his or her involvement. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the applicant being rated ineligible for further consideration. If you have any other type of possible intelligence connection, your application will not be further considered until you submit this form. Except when the CIA or the National Security Agency (NSA) is involved (see below), if your connection with an Intelligence Agency involves an immediate family member who works or has worked in intelligence, the immediate family member should complete the form, not the applicant. Usually relying on memory is sufficient to answer most if not all of the questions. If you have an immediate family member who works or has worked for the CIA, you should not give them this form to complete. Please contact your relative in person-not by phone, email, social networking, or any other means that is not in person- and ask him or her to contact the Office of General Counsel at the CIA.

If your intelligence connection involves the NSA, you (or, if the connection is with a family member, that person) must contact NSA's Office of the General Counsel at 410-854-3910 before submitting this form to Peace Corps.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above

  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.


  • In addition to the educational requirements, you must meet the specialized experience at the grade level(s) in which you choose to be considered by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the closing date of the announcement. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To ensure full credit for your experience, please indicate dates of employment by month, day, and year and the number of hours worked per week in your resume.

    This vacancy is being announced at two (2) grade levels:

    FP-2

    Qualifying experience for the FP-2 level includes one year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the FP-3 or GS-13 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Has applied contracting principles, laws, regulations and procedures applicable to pre-award and/or post-award actions sufficient to procure and/or administer contracts for major acquisitions, or experience in a procurement functional area sufficient to provide expert technical leadership, staff coordination, and consultation including responsibility for formulating guidelines, implementing new developments, and providing policy interpretation; used business strategies in implementing contracting procedures; used program or technical requirements to perform or direct indepth evaluations of the financial and technical capabilities, or the performance of the contractor.

    FP-3

    Qualifying experience for the FP-3 level includes one year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the FP-4 or GS-11/12 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Has applied contracting principles, laws, regulations and procedures applicable to pre-award and/or post-award actions sufficient to procure and/or administer contracts for major acquisitions, or experience in a procurement functional area sufficient to provide expert technical leadership, staff coordination, and consultation including responsibility for formulating guidelines, implementing new developments, and providing policy interpretation; used program or technical requirements to perform or direct indepth evaluations of the financial and technical capabilities, or the performance of the contractor.

    Additional information on qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/ .

    Education

    Refer to the required Qualifications section for the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) for this position.

    Additional information

    Peace Corps (PC) Information
    • This is a Federal civilian job in the Excepted Service and Peace Corps employees are paid on the Foreign Service scale. Employment is limited NTE 5 years.
    • Additional hiring needs may be filled through this vacancy.
    • National Service (e.g., volunteer experience) refers to paid or unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.
    • Peace Corps is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors.
    • Peace Corps is a drug free workplace and promotes a drug free environment.
    • Peace Corps is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture. Our goal is to attract and develop the best and brightest from all lifestyles and backgrounds. Peace Corps strives to create a culture of inclusion where individuals feel respected and are treated fairly in all aspects of differences. Our commitment is to make a difference in the lives of people around the world.
    • Peace Corps provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Office of Human Resources by calling 202-692-1200 or the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity on 202-692-2139. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation are made on a case-by-case basis.
    Conditions of Employment
    • Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
    • You must successfully complete a background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination.
    • All male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must be selective service registered. If selected for this position, you must sign a statement certifying your registration, or you must demonstrate exempt status under the Selective Service Law.
    • Prior Intelligence Activity or Related Work: Individuals who have been engaged in certain intelligence activity or who have been employed by or connected with an intelligence agency are ineligible for employment with Peace Corps. Acceptance of employment with Peace Corps precludes employment by certain intelligence organizations for a specific period of time, determined by the employing agency, after Peace Corps employment ceases.
    • All Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
    • A one (1) year trial period is required.
    • This is not a bargaining unit position.
    • This position requires the filing of a Financial Disclosure report.
    If you have questions regarding this vacancy, you may contact peacecorpsjobs@peacecorps.gov . In the subject line of your e-mail, include the vacancy #, the position title, and the closing date.

    How You Will Be Evaluated

    You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

    Your application will be evaluated based on your resume, attached supporting documentation and your responses to the self-assessment questionnaire. Your materials will be evaluated to validate your possession of any required knowledge, skills, abilities (KSA) and/or competencies. The following competencies will be evaluated in the self-assessment questionnaire:
    • Acquisition Strategy
    • Contract/Procurement
    • Customer Service
    • Decision making
    • Problem solving
    • Negotiations
    Please note that a complete application is required for consideration; including any documentation that is being used for qualifications. Your resume and supporting documentation will be reviewed by a Human Resources Specialist, which must support the answers you provided. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for disqualification.

    To preview questions please click here .

    Background checks and security clearance

    Security clearance
    Other

    Drug test required
    No

    Required Documents

    In order to verify the information you submit electronically, a complete application package is required. This includes: a detailed resume, a completed electronic self-assessment questionnaire and the submission of any required documents.

    Resume: Include relevant work experience including job title, duties and accomplishments, employer name and address, supervisor name and phone number, start and end dates, hours per week & salary. If you are a current Federal employee or previous Federal employee, provide your pay plan, series and grade level (e.g. GS-0201-09).

    Veterans Documents: If you are claiming veterans' preference, you must attach all required documentation; including a DD-214 reflecting the type of discharge, the SF-15 and a VA Letter if applicable. For more information regarding veterans' preference, please review the OPM Vet Guide .

    Federal Employees: If you are a current or former Federal employee, please provide a copy of your most recent SF-50.

    Certificate: Federal Acquisition Certification Contracting (FAC-C) Level III certification or equivalent.

    Qualifications Based on Education or a Combination of Education and Experience: If you are qualifying based on education or a combination of education and experience, you must submit a copy of your transcript(s) or an appropriate course listing with a diploma. Education must be accredited by an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be used towards qualifications. Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by recognized institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website .

    If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

    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. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

    Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

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