Duties

Summary

As a contract specialist, you will serves as a senior Contract Specialist in a team of contract specialists for contracts within the Professional Services and Human Capital Categories.

Location of position: Washington, DC; Auburn, WA; Atlanta, GA and/or Fort Worth, TX

We are currently filling a few vacancies, but additional vacancies may be filled as needed.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

This position will be in GSA, Federal Acquisition Services (FAS), Professional Services and Human Capital (PSHC). The Office of Professional Services and Human Capital Categories (PSHC) is responsible for the strategic leadership, oversight, and management of FAS's professional services, human capital services, and charge card management programs and contracts. Responsibilities include leading, mentoring, coaching, providing training as well as reviewing and signing contracting actions for Unwarranted contract specialist

• Serve as Senior Contract Specialist within the Professional Services and Human Capital Categories. Has total responsibility for all pre-award, award and post award functions for assigned acquisitions. Develops and recommends acquisition decisions which follow all applicable laws, Comptroller General decisions, the FAR and GSA regulations.
• Serve as lead negotiator. Plans the negotiation strategies for complex, high dollar value contracts, coordinates strategy with negotiation team and leads the negotiations. Awards the contract. Performs cost and price analysis. May be required to negotiate equitable settlements.
• Perform contract administration on complex, high dollar value acquisitions and established contracts. Determines appropriate actions to take when contractor's performance is not in accordance with contract requirements. Where applicable, terminates assigned contracts, partially or in total for the convenience of the Government or for default.
• Provides sound contractual advice and assistance to Government agencies, program offices and team members in carrying out their requirements. Acts as the technical advisor to Government program officials and team members.
• Represent the PSHC to outside agencies and conferences, with industry and trade associations as a procurement expert for acquisitions. Assists the supervisor in providing acquisition training and guidance to other members of the team. May serve as the branch supervisor in the absence of the supervisor. Reviews and signs as Contracting Officer on their own work and reviews work of other negotiators. Works with marketing personnel in performing market based research.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• US Citizenship or National (Residents of American Samoa and Swains Island)
• Meet all eligibility criteria within 30 days of the closing date
• Meet time-in-grade within 30 days of the closing date, if applicable
• Register with the Selective Service if you are a male born after 12/31/1959

If selected, you must meet the following conditions:

• Receive authorization from OPM on any job offer you receive, if you are or were (within the last 5 years) a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch.
• Serve a one year probationary period, if required.
• Undergo and pass a background investigation (Tier 2 investigation level).
• Complete a financial disclosure report to verify that no conflict, or an appearance of conflict, exists between your financial interest and this position

Qualifications

For each job on your resume, provide:

• the exact dates you held each job (from month/year to month/year)
• number of hours per week you worked (if part time).

If you have volunteered your service through a National Service program (e.g., Peace Corps, Americorps), we encourage you to apply and include this experience on your resume.

For a brief video on creating a Federal resume, click here .

The GS-13 salary range starts at $97078.00 per year.

To qualify, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level or higher in the Federal service.

1102 Qualifications GS-13 & above:

You must meet the requirements in 1, 2, or 3 below:

All of the following: (a) Completion of Training listed in Level I & II of FAC-C Course Requirements ; or FAC-C Level II or III, or a DAWIA level II or III certification. If your certification is over 2 years old, 80 hours of Continuous Learning Points are required to maintain certification. (b) At least 4years of experience in contracting or related positions including 1 year of specialized experience at or equivalent to work at the level described below; and (c) Completion of 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.

Exception: If you were in a GS-1102 position on January 1, 2000, you will be exempt from meeting the educational requirements for the grade level of that position. However, to be promoted you will have to meet Option 1 or 3.

Waiver: GSA's senior procurement executive has the discretion to waive any or all of the requirements in 1 above.

Specialized experience is one year of experience equivalent to the GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is progressively responsible experience in performing the full range of pre-award and/or post award activities utilizing various types of contracts such as fixed price, various cost types, requirements, performance based and multiple award schedules) and evidence of professional potential, business acumen, and drive for results, relationship building, and self-motivation in order to procure a variety of complex or specialized products and/or services; OR experience requiring sufficient knowledge of contracting regulations, policies, and procedures and an organization's program and technical requirements in order to conduct reviews of contracts or contracting actions, recommend or plan improvements to an organization's procurement program.

This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcript(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcements to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment.

Education

Note: 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://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

Bargaining Unit Status

Bargaining Unit status: TBD

Relocation Not Paid

Relocation-related expenses are not approved and will be your responsibility.

Management Rights

Additional vacancies may be filled from this announcement as needed; through other means; or not at all.

Additional vacancies may be filled through this announcement in this or other GSA organizations within the same commuting area.

The GSA is planning to move its office, located in Auburn, Washington to downtown Tacoma, Washington in the summer of 2021. See " About GSA Region 10 " for more information.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

You will be scored on the questions you answer during the application process, which will measure your possession of the following competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities. Your responses to these questions must be supported by your resume or your score may be lowered.

• Thorough knowledge of applicable regulatory and advisory guidelines and source materials. Knowledge of procurement policy and related fields of law, accounting, auditing and quality management; and has the ability to interpret laws, regulations, principles and policies.
  
• Skill in negotiation techniques to serve as lead negotiator in conducting negotiations in both the acquisition of the service and the post award functions of the contract involving contract changes and modifications; and to meet and deal with high level business, industry, and/or Government officials.
  
• Mastery of contract administration sufficient to administer a group of sensitive, service contracts requiring economic price adjustment provisions, and termination procedures sufficient to analyze termination settlements.
  
• Knowledge of Acquisition planning. Knowledge of contract types and methods of contracting.
  
• Skill in oral and written communication to award and administer contracts; and to develop business strategies and perform in depth evaluations of contractor performance.
  

Additional assessments may be used, and, if so, you will be provided with further instructions.

If you are eligible under GSA's Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) , you must receive a score of 85 or higher to receive priority.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)

Trust determination process
Credentialing

Required Documents

ALL required documents must be submitted before the closing date. Review the following list to determine what you need to submit.

GSA OIG Employees: Submit latest SF 50 (other than award SF 50)

If you are CTAP eligible - submit a, b, and c: (a) proof of eligibility including agency notice; (b) SF-50, and (c) most recent performance appraisal.

Current or Former Political Appointees: Submit SF-50.

College transcripts: If you are using some or all of your college education to meet qualification requirements for this position, you must submit a photocopy of your college transcript(s). If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment. For education completed outside the United States, also submit a valid foreign credential evaluation that substantiates possession of the required education.

Contracting Documentation: Submit A or B:

(A) List of completed courses as described in the requirements section of this announcement. The list must include: official course title, course number, training provider, training hours completed, and the date completed

(B) Proof of contracting certification: FAC-C or DAWIA Level II or higher certification (copy of certificate)

If certification is over 2 years old, also submit (a) or (b) below:

(a) Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) history identifying the completion of 80 CLPs every two years. The 80 CLPs every two years must be from the issuance date of certification to the current period.

(b) If you are a FAITAS member, you may submit your Continuous Learning Achievement Certificate from FAITAS. On your "My Continuous Learning" page, click on the "approved" link under Achievement Status to print a copy of your most recent certificate.

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.