Contract Specialist

Summary U.S. Marshals Service- Arlington, VA The selectee of this position serves as a Contract Specialist. You will be responsible for developing and evaluating contracts associated with the procurement of goods and services to mainly support United States Marshals Service Headquarter Division offices. Responsibilities As a Contract Specialist at the GS-1102-13 level, some of your typical work assignments may include: Planning, developing, and establishing the best contractual strategy for an acquisition, soliciting responses from contractors, performing detailed analysis, negotiating, and awarding different types of contracts, such as definite and/or indefinite quantity, requirements based, multi-year, task/delivery orders, purchase orders, etc. Interpreting acquisition regulations and policies within the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Justice Acquisition Regulation (JAR), while working under general supervision (based on the individual's experience and grade level) and exercising reasonable initiative and independent judgment throughout the procurement process. Participating and/or coordinating with technical team members in various working group teams (e.g., integrated product teams, negotiation teams, committees, or contract review boards) to ensure the best possible acquisition outcome is produced. Administering the procurements of goods, systems, or services through the use of formally advertised and negotiated procurements, conducting reviews of procurement actions to determine cost effectiveness and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Performing various contract administrative functions, such as post-award actions, that consistently complies with FAR and other applicable regulations (e.g. JAR, General Services Administration Acquisition Manual (GSAM), etc.), policies, and procedures. This responsibility includes the thorough completion of different contractual actions, such as cost adjustments, incremental funding, issuance of stop work orders/cure notices, or show cause letters, appropriately designating a COR, ensuring compliance with the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), and Agency electronic reporting requirements for contract awards and modifications. EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, 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 factor. More information can be found here: Requirements Conditions of Employment Must pass a pre-employment security investigation and drug screening. Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust background investigation. May be required to successfully complete a trial/probationary period. Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service. Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE POSITION: Must be able to obtain and maintain appropriate Federal Acquisition Certificate in Contracting (FAC-C) level to allow for appropriate assignment of warrant authority representation of the agency. Qualifications You may qualify at the GS-1102-13 level, if you fulfill the following qualifications: MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you meet the Basic Requirements, and possess the Specialized Experience for the respective grade level to which you are applying. Basic Requirements: A. Must have successfully completed 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 of 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. NOTE: Applicants must submit a copy of their transcripts for verification. OR B. Must have an exception to this requirement based on the following: 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, you will have to meet the basic requirements and specialized experience requirements in order to qualify for promotion to a higher grade. (You must submit a copy of your SF-50(s) to verify). AND In addition to the Basic Requirements for the GS-13 listed above, applicants must also possess the following Specialized Experience to be considered minimally qualified: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one year (12-months) of full-time specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal Service performing duties which include the following: 1) Awarding, administering, and terminating a variety of service and maintenance contracts, and specialized procurements; 2) Leading contract negotiations to find mutually acceptable terms, and resolve differences; 3) Conducting conferences with contractors to interpret terms and conditions and resolve problems; AND 4) Preparing contracting documents to carryout pre-award and post-award procurement actions. (NOTE: Your resume must CLEARLY demonstrate this experience). Applicants may not qualify for this position based on education in lieu of specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level. You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). 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; 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. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience Education ARE YOU USING EDUCATION TO QUALIFY? Education must be from an accredited school or institution. Please refer to the following website to locate your school and/ or institution 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 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 requirements 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: Additional Information The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified (score of at least 85) for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified or better category using established category rating criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. For more information about ICTAP eligibility click here. The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified (score of at least 85) for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified or better category using established category rating criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. For more information about CTAP eligibility click here. Note: Multiple selections may be made from this announcement. Recruitment incentive may be authorized. Relocation incentive may be authorized.