Acquisition Planning Office Lead (O-6 Billet) Supervisory

Summary

The Acquisition Planning Office Lead role oversees requirements development, market research, cost estimates, performance work statements, and acquisition planning records; coordinates privacy, cybersecurity, and contract-governance needs; manages risks and schedules; and drives quality, accountability, and process improvement. This position is only open to current USPHS officers. USPHS Call to Active Duty (CAD) candidates are not eligible for this position.

Duties

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Supervises and leads a team of three Acquisition Program Managers responsible for acquisition planning, market research, requirements development, and related pre-award support activities. Establishes workload distribution, priorities, timelines, and quality standards for the office. Assigns acquisition portfolios and related pre-award workstreams to individual officers based on workload, organizational priorities, officer capability, and mission requirements. Reassigns portfolios and adjusts priorities as circumstances change to maintain continuity and timely completion of work. Directs the development and review of acquisition-planning documentation and supporting analyses, including requirements documentation, market research, independent government cost estimates, performance work statements, milestone schedules, and acquisition-planning records. Provides input to support planning, budgeting, and oversight of the IHSC health information technology acquisition portfolio. Identifies and assesses risks, dependencies, resource constraints, and potential schedule impacts; elevates significant issues to leadership with recommended actions. Works closely with Contracting Officers, requirement owners, program officials, system owners, and technical leads to ensure acquisition requirements accurately reflect operational needs, are technically feasible, and can be executed as written. Coordinates with the Cybersecurity Compliance Office to ensure privacy, cybersecurity, authorization, and related compliance considerations are incorporated during acquisition planning. Ensures that appropriate specialists are engaged early enough to identify and address requirements and risks before award. Coordinates with the Contract Governance Office to ensure awarded acquisitions transition to post-award governance with complete planning records, clearly defined contractor-performance expectations, measurable standards, and documented acceptance criteria. Ensures that acquisition planning supports the Government's ability to verify receipt of acceptable contracted services. Reviews requirements and performance expectations to ensure they are complete, measurable, documented, and aligned with mission needs. Represents APO in stakeholder meetings, workgroups, program reviews, and other forums associated with assigned acquisition portfolios. Ensures subordinate officers effectively represent their assigned portfolios and communicate acquisition status, risks, dependencies, and required actions. Develops and implements office operational plans, procedures, documentation standards, and process improvements necessary to achieve CAMS and HITU objectives. Captures and maintains institutional knowledge to support continuity through personnel transitions. Performs supervisory duties, including performance management, work planning, coaching, mentoring, employee development, and accountability for assigned officers. Identifies developmental needs and ensures completion of required position-specific training. Establishes and enforces documentation, recordkeeping, and information-protection practices for the office. Ensures appropriate handling of procurement-sensitive, proprietary, financial, privacy, cybersecurity, and source-selection information. Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Sit and/or stand for extended periods of time, generally six to eight hours. Perform repeated bending motions. Use average manual dexterity for computer operation. Use a telephone for extended periods. If the incumbent is a clinician, the incumbent may be required to perform temporary duty assignments in support of field operations for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of 30 days annually.

Education

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: Knowledge of the Federal acquisition lifecycle and the respective roles of Contracting Officers, requirement owners, program officials, system owners, technical staff, and other acquisition stakeholders. Knowledge of acquisition-planning practices, including requirements development, market research, independent cost estimating, performance work statement development, and acquisition documentation. Ability to lead and manage multiple concurrent acquisitions at differing stages of development while maintaining accurate status information and identifying dependencies, risks, and resource requirements. Ability to supervise, develop, evaluate, and hold accountable assigned professional staff; assign work by portfolio; and establish clear ownership and performance expectations. Working knowledge of privacy, cybersecurity, and authorization requirements affecting health information technology acquisitions sufficient to coordinate effectively with officials holding formal oversight authority. Ability to communicate concisely and effectively with executive leadership, including presenting risks, adverse information, and recommended courses of action. Ability to build and sustain productive working relationships with contracting, program, technical, oversight, and leadership partners across organizational lines. Ability to establish, maintain, and enforce documentation and recordkeeping standards while protecting sensitive acquisition information. Ability to exercise sound, independent judgment in managing sensitive, complex, and programmatic issues. Ability to adapt to changing priorities, schedules, workload requirements, and mission needs. Ability to develop, implement, and evaluate process improvements that improve acquisition-planning quality, efficiency, and continuity. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Applicants must meet the education and professional requirements applicable to their USPHS professional category. No specific academic discipline is required for this position. In addition, applicants must have at least two years of experience managing complex programs, projects, initiatives, or comparable multidisciplinary work. Qualifying experience or education may include acquisition or acquisition support, program or project management, requirements development, health care operations, information technology operations, or related complex work. Applicants with experience leading or supervising professional staff are preferred, but such experience is not required. Leadership, judgment, authority awareness, program-management capability, and demonstrated effectiveness in complex, regulated, or mission-driven environments are primary evaluation criteria. Additional specialty experience, Federal experience, coursework, professional training, advanced degrees, and certifications beyond the stated minimum qualifications may strengthen applicant preparation but are not independently required. If the incumbent holds a clinical license or certification, the incumbent is responsible for fulfilling the requirements of the applicable licensing or certifying body to maintain currency.