Contract Specialist III

Contract Specialist III

King County Metro Transit is looking for a high performing, strategic, proactive and savvy contract specialist to provide procurement and contract administration support of services for Metro's Flexible Services.

Contracted Services (CS) plays a central role in delivering King County Metro's services by managing a diverse portfolio of programs and partnerships that directly impact customers and communities. These include mobility services such as Community Transportation (DART, Metro Flex, Community Van, and CAT), Rideshare programs (Vanpool and Vanshare), Fleet Operations, and Access Paratransit services.

This recruitment will be used to fill one (1) Career Service Contract Specialist III classification vacancy. In addition, this selection process may be used to generate an eligibility pool for future Special Duty Assignment (SDA), Term Limited Temporary (TLT), and Career Service (CS) vacancies that may occur in this classification within this workgroup. The eligibility list will be retained for 12 months from the date of posting and may be used at the discretion of the hiring authority. We welcome applications from all interested candidates, including current King County employees and the public. Please note that first consideration will be given to internal King County employees.

As a Contract Specialist III you will:

• Determine bidding requirements, selection criteria, and general terms and conditions for contracts and procurements.
• Support development and review of scopes of work and specifications for contracts; write and edit scopes for major equipment, technical, and professional, procurements.
• Conduct market research, prepare acquisition plans, and establish milestones; develop solicitation strategy and determine phasing and weighting approaches.
• Prepare solicitation documents and manage the advertisement of solicitations; determine appropriate structure for RFPs and scopes of work.
• Prepare contract terms and conditions for execution, including documents for the sale of County-owned property and resources.
• Ensure contract compliance and reporting to appropriate contract administrators; negotiate and document contract change orders and review details with auditors to ensure Federal guidelines are met.
• Facilitate and support contract negotiations; help monitor contract compliance and performance.
• Hold evaluation meetings, interviews, pre-bid conferences, pre-proposal conferences, proprietary meetings, debriefs, and public presentations representing the County regarding procurement issues.
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, contract terms, policies, procedures, and Federal grant/loan requirements.
• Develop and implement procedures for consultant selection, major equipment purchases, and procurements for technically complex, unique, politically sensitive, and high value projects.
• Propose alternate procurement approaches and train department representatives on procurement code, policies, procedures, and waivers.
• Update and manage standard procurement process documents.
• Provide procurement guidance; educate and guide internal team members and customers through the procurement process; provide lead direction and training for project managers, team members, inspection personnel, administrative staff, and Contract Specialists.
• Support contract administration and management.
• Support strategic initiatives with Strategic Sourcing, Relationship Management, and Supplier Performance Management.
• Conduct continuous improvement of Metro contractual processes to reduce waste and increase efficiency.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Candidates must meet the following minimum qualifications:

• Experience of competitive procurement solicitations, contracting with public procurement process.
• Knowledge of contract law, regulations, procurement methods, industry principles and best practices.
• Ability to understand and align with the agency's goals and mission, and values and be able to incorporate into the daily work that is produced
• Ability to facilitate cross-functional discussions, resolve conflicts, and find resolutions.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, writing and customer service skills.
• Intermediate level of technology proficiency using MS Office Productivity tools in your daily work.
• Ability to manage your time and adapt to changing priorities, work on multiple priorities and projects simultaneously, meet quick deadlines, and produce timely and quality work products.
• Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to understand challenges or underlying concerns of others, share constructive ideas, and develop effective and appropriate responses
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and priorities and meet critical deadlines
• Ability to establish and maintain successful work relationships with staff, coworkers and the public
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and successfully with a diverse group of individuals from a variety of different positions and backgrounds, which includes seniors and persons with disabilities, community agencies, vendors and decision makers etc.
• Skilled in active listening, analytical thinking, and problem solving
• Skilled in planning, organizing and project management principles and practices
• Skilled in oral and written communication including conducting training and presentations
• Ability to contribute effectively to the accomplishment of team or work unit goals, objectives and activities.

Highly competitive candidates will have (desired, but not required):

• Oracle EBS and/or Oracle procurement Cloud or related experience utilizing procurement technology.
• Knowledge of King County contract laws, regulations, procurement methods and industry principles
• Procurement Certification(s): Such as CPPB (Certified Professional Public Buyer), Associate DBIA (Design-Build Professional) and/or Associate Design-Build Professional (Assoc. DBIA) or other relevant certifications.
• Experience with LEAN processes and principles.
• Experience with SharePoint, MS Teams and other collaborative online tools.
• Experience in transportation services, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or paratransit services.

Required Application Materials:

• A completed Job Application (go back at least 10 years if you have l0 years of employment (more to include all relevant). Resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed job application.
• Resume
• Complete the supplemental questions
• A cover letter that addresses why you are interested in this role and how your experience, skills and/or education have prepared you for this position.

Selection Process: Applications that do not include all of the required materials listed above will not be considered. Only the materials explicitly requested will be reviewedadditional documents or information will not be evaluated. Application materials will be screened for completeness and competitiveness. The most competitive candidates may be invited to participate in one or more interviews and possibly other selection process elements. Final offers are contingent on successful completion of reference checks and/or a record review.

King County offers a highly-competitive compensation and benefits package designed to meet the diverse needs of our employees and support our employees' health and well-being. Eligible positions receive the following benefits and have access to the following programs:

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage options: King County provides eligible employees with options, so they can decide what's best for themselves and their eligible dependents
• Life and disability insurance: employees are provided basic coverage and given the opportunity to purchase additional insurance for both the employee and eligible dependents
• Retirement: eligible King County employees may participate in a pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems and a 457(b) deferred-compensation plan
• Transportation program and ORCA transit pass
• 12 paid holidays each year plus two personal holidays
• Generous vacation and paid sick leave
• Paid parental, family and medical, and volunteer leaves
• Flexible Spending Account
• Wellness programs
• Onsite activity centers
• Employee Giving Program
• Employee assistance programs
• Flexible schedules and telecommuting options, depending on position
• Training and career development programs