U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Contract Specialist
This job is now closed
Job Description
- Req#: 731720400
- A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field. OR,
- 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.
- Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience includes experience with: Federal Acquisition Regulations (or similar), VA Acquisition Regulations (or similar), contract law, and procedures applicable to acquisition and contract administration including change orders, supplemental agreements, terminations, claims, and close out of contracts; Various types of contracts, including firm-fixed price, firm-fixed price with economic price adjustments, and cost reimbursement, and contract methods to include simplified acquisitions, sealed bidding, negotiations, cost sharing, multiple awards, commercial items, and special provisions; Cost/price analysis techniques used in evaluation of contractor proposals, change order proposals and to conduct negotiations; Negotiation techniques sufficient to negotiate prices, terms and conditions, contract modifications and settlements; Commercial and industrial business practices to identify sources, analyze cost and pricing data; Program objectives, technical terminology, and uses of equipment, architect engineering services, or construction services to be procured to plan, negotiate and administer the contract; Contract administration principles and practices sufficient to monitor contractor performance and compliance with all terms and conditions of the contract.
- Education: There is no education substitute for the GS-12 grade.
The purpose of this position is to serve as a Contract Specialist for the US Department of Veterans Affairs with the responsibility for performing professional work involving procurement of supplies and services using procedures outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulations, VA Acquisition Regulations, Public Laws, and agency policy.
This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT. See "Additional Information" below for details.Duties
Major duties and responsibilities include: Responsible for performing professional work involving the procurement of supplies and services using procedures outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulations, VA Acquisition Regulations, Public Laws, and Agency policy. Assists the Acquisition Team Supervisors in coordinating contracting activities, performs contract reviews and provides guidance regarding complex contracts administered by other contract specialists, identifies special training needs, and conducts mentoring and contract training. Aids requiring activities in performing market research, reviewing specifications and statements of work, and approving acquisition milestone plans. Performs a complete review of recommended sole-source requirements and conducts necessary market analyses to test the noncompetitive assumptions of requisitions. Conducts public bid openings, reviews bids and determines responsiveness and responsibility of low bidder in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements when using sealed bidding. Conducts negotiations for competitive and noncompetitive procurements. Conducts cost and/or price analysis of offerors' proposals, reviews auditors' reports for adequacy of analysis and conclusions, and considers all information in developing an overall pricing negotiation strategy. Prepares detailed price negotiation memoranda, outlining in writing the details of negotiations with contractors in competitive and noncompetitive negotiations. Provides signatory authority and executes contract awards within warrant authority, as requested by supervisor. Conducts post-award conferences with Contractor and Government personnel to provide information and to clarify standard and special contractual provisions of the contract. Negotiates required changes to contract conditions to protect the agency. Performs cost/price analysis on change order proposals and analysis of delivery requirements. Negotiates prices and/or additional time required for performance and consideration on behalf of the Government. Shall fully utilize contract writing system (i.e., Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS)), contract reporting system (i.e., Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)), financial management system (i.e., Integrated Funds Distribution, Control Point Activity, Accounting, and Procurement (IFCAP)) and prosthetics application suite (i.e., Graphical User Interface (GUI)), in accordance with Agency policies. Performs other related duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Tour of Duty is 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Compressed/Flexible Schedules: Available
Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Remote: This is a remote position. (Remote refers to work performed on full-time basis anywhere other than a VA facility or using VA-leased space.)
Virtual: This is not a virtual position. (Virtual refers to work performed on full-time basis using VA-leased space or at a VA facility other than the facility that hired the employee.)
Position Description/PD#: Contract Specialist/PD14006A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
Retention Incentive: Authorized 10% after 90 days of fully successful (or better) performance and supervisor approval.
Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary in nature. There are no special physical requirements. The work is performed primarily in office areas or conference rooms and similar environments. However, it may require some traveling and visits to Government and/or contractor's facilities and other contract-related performance sites.Requirements
Conditions of Employment:
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements at the time the application is submitted.
Basic Requirements: Applicants must meet the basic requirement for this position.To meet the basic requirement for Contract Specialist GS-05 through GS-12 positions, applicants must have:
Note: The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) does not grant Academic degrees; therefore courses completed at the DAU are not creditable towards meeting the 24 semester hour requirement, in the fields identified above, unless the coursework has been evaluated by an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, and appears on a college or university transcript.
Specialized Experience GS-12: Applicants must also meet the specialized experience for the GS-12 grade. You may qualify based on your experience described below for the GS-12 Contract Specialist position:
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; religions; 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.
Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.
For more information on these qualification standards, visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.About the company
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with integrating life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 1700 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the country.