CONTRACT SPECIALIST

Summary

This position is part of the US International Development Finance Corporation. As a CONTRACT SPECIALIST you will serve as a warranted Contracting Officer and execute acquisition policy based on expert knowledge of contracting regulations, laws, principles and legal research.

Duties

Provides advice and guidance to program managers and Contracting Officer's Representatives on contracting procedures, including providing assistance in the development of acquisition packages. Plans, negotiates, leads, and administers procurements of goods and services, which may include specialized, state-of-the-art, critical or scarce requirements using Federal Acquisition Regulation procedures. Performs procurement planning and provides advice to program officials in the development of procurement objectives, constructing the contractual vehicle, and facilitating creation and maintenance of acquisition plans, appropriate milestone charts and related schedules while providing acquisition progress updates to stakeholders. Advises on performance objectives to be used and assists in the preparation of requirements documents, such as performance work statements, statement of objectives, and statements of work. Serves as sole negotiator for program customer on procurement actions. Plans and coordinates negotiation strategy and leads the negotiations to develop contract prices and terms. Performs contract administration: Responsibilities typically include incremental funding, preparation of rate and price adjustments, redirection of effort, coordination of time extension, incorporation of change orders, issuance of stop work orders, issuance of cure notices or show cause letters, final payment, and contract closeout. Researches and interprets various federal acquisition laws, regulations (i.e., Federal Acquisition Regulations and agency directives), policies, procedures and applies findings to acquisition work products. Develops technical correspondence and reference materials to document discussions, decisions, and contracting actions throughout the contract life cycle including determinations, findings, and, solicitations or request for quotes/proposals. Please Note: This is a Bargaining unit position represented by AFGE, local 1534.

Qualifications

Status candidates must meet time-in-grade requirements (52 weeks at the next lower grade level). Applicants must meet all eligibility and qualification requirements no later than the closing date of this announcement. TIME-IN-GRADE: Current career or career-conditional employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). BASIC REQUIREMENT A. 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 or equivalent to work at the next lower grade level in the Federal service, 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: Transcripts must be submitted at the time of application for consideration. B. 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. NOTE: The agency may obtain a waiver for any individual not meeting the above requirements mentioned in A or B. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT In addition to the basic requirements for the 1102 series at the GS-13 and Above, applicants must meet the specialized experience noted below. You may qualify at the GS-13 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement: Applicants must also possess at least one year of specialized experience that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the GS-12 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience must include the following: Soliciting, evaluating, negotiating, and awarding contracts using GSA ordering, simplified, and negotiated acquisitions Federal Acquisition Regulations procedures; Administering contracts by assuring compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations and contract terms and conditions; Analyzing, negotiating, and settling contract termination claims and proposals; Analyzing and evaluating cost/price proposals; planning, establishing, or reviewing contracts, programs, policies, or procedures; AND Developing acquisition strategies and independently directing or managing procurements. NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or related applicable assessment) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. Note: Education does not substitute for specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level. 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. This announcement may be used to fill similar positions, if additional vacancies occur.

Education

ARE YOU USING YOUR EDUCATION TO QUALIFY? You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or 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. 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. PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society. GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-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 requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. FOREIGN EDUCATION is education acquired outside of any State of the U.S., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or any territory or possession of the U.S. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification and/or eligibility requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency (a U.S. private organization's interpretation that such