Contract Specialist

Summary

GPO employees possess a diverse array of talent in many administrative fields and trades. We provide other agencies with innovative services for the printing, publishing, storage, and distribution of digital content. If you are an energetic, inventive, individual looking for a challenging, yet rewarding career opportunity, GPO may be the place for you.

This position is located in Agency Acquisitions, at the Government Publishing Office in Washington, District of Columbia.

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Duties

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• Determine contract type, set milestones, develop procurement strategies, prepare documentation, promote competition, solicit quotes/proposals, identify sources, and negotiate for better technical responses or more reasonable pricing.
• Process and negotiate a variety of complex acquisitions for paper, envelopes, cartons, supplies, equipment, construction, IT, and services from initiation of procurement to recommendations for the award of contract.
• Evaluate bids, perform cost/price analysis, obtain audits and pricing reports, negotiate price and/or technical issues, ensure contractor is eligible for award, and prepare documentation.
• Serve as Team Lead in direct support of the PG-14 Contract Specialist team supervisor.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Selectee must successfully pass pre-employment prior to appointment.
• Males born after 12/03/59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Selectee may be required to serve a one year probationary period.
• Selectee must be able obtain and maintain a Public Trust.
• You must have an FAC-C Professional or FAC-C level III level certifications in contracting.

Qualifications

THIS IS A DIRECT HIRE ANNOUNCEMENT. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Direct Hire Authority, authorized by 5 United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 3304 and 5 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 337, Subpart B. Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to the Direct Hire process.

Basic Requirements:

1. 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 the next lower level of the position, and must have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the work of the position.
   and
2. 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.
3. 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 as stated below.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE : In addition to the basic requirement stated above, you must have one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to work at the next lower grade level of the position to be filled.

PG-13 : your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the PG-12 grade level. Specialized experience includes the following:

1) overseeing the best methods to regulate policy and regulations while determining contract types, procurement strategies, and negotiating complex acquisitions

and

2) evaluating bids and cost price analysis.

Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website:

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.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement 09/15/2026 to be considered.

Education

To satisfy the education requirements as stated in Option A from above, you must provide your school transcripts:

School transcript(s) - official or unofficial. A transcript or list of completed courses is required. The information presented in the transcript must be verifiable; at the minimum the transcript or list of courses should contain the name of the institution, applicant's name, semester hours, and GPA. If you provided an unofficial transcript or list of completed courses at the time of application and you are selected you will be required to provide an official transcript prior to appointment.

Additional information

Employment of Relatives: Section 3110 of Title 5, U.S. Code, prohibits a Federal official from appointing, promoting, or advocating the appointment or promotion of a relative in the agency where the official is serving or exercises jurisdiction. In addition, Section 2302(b)(7) of Title 5, U.S. Code, makes it a "prohibited personnel practice" for a person in authority to "appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for the appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement of a relative." For further information visit: and

Separated Employees : If you have separated from Federal Government employment, you may obtain a copy of your SF-50 via: National Personnel Records Center, Annex, 1411 Boulder Boulevard, Valmeyer, IL, 62295; or visit the National Archives Website.

Background Investigation :

For a Public Trust:

To ensure the accomplishment of its mission, the GPO requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy; this position requires a moderate risk Public Trust background investigation. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully complete a background for a moderate Risk Public Trust. This review could include financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs; this process may take 6 weeks or longer. The Agency may rescind the tentative offer, if the candidate is unable to pass the background investigation.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments and the the candidate is unable to obtain an interim clearance.

The selectee will work shift 1.

The GPO offers Transit subsidy for commuters using public transportation (Metro Bus/Rail, MARC, VRE, etc.).

Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.