Contract Specialist

U.S. Coast Guard

$85K — $100K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in any field or 24 credit hours in relevant coursework (e.g., accounting, business)
  • At least 1 year of specialized experience at the GS-09 level or higher for GS-11 applicants
  • At least 1 year of specialized experience at the GS-11 level for GS-12 applicants
  • Strong background in procurement planning and contract administration
  • Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Professional certification within 36 months of hire

Responsibilities

  • Serve as a technical consultant for complex acquisition questions
  • Collaborate with project officers to develop acquisition strategies
  • Develop and implement acquisition strategies for construction and renovation of facilities
  • Communicate information clearly in both written and verbal formats
  • Review acquisition documents for clarity and adherence to regulations

Benefits

  • Student loan repayment opportunity up to $10,000 for eligible new hires
  • Mandatory training provided for professional development
  • Access to a structured career advancement path within the Coast Guard
  • Stable federal employment with job security
  • Comprehensive federal benefits package available to all employees
Full Job Description
Summary

This vacancy is for a GS-1102-11/12, Contract Specialist located in the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, SILC Contracting Division in NORFOLK, Virginia.

Duties

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You will serve as a Contract Specialist and be responsible for developing and implementing acquisition strategy for the design, construction, maintenance and repair of facilities for some of the most diverse and significant activities in the Coast Guard and preparation and execution of contract documents assuring adherence with acquisition procedures prescribed by applicable regulations..

Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team. Typical work assignments include:

  • Serving as a technical consultant to the Contracting Officer and the Supervisory Contract Specialist on complex acquisition questions.
  • Collaborating with project officers to plan and develop long and short-range acquisition plans, strategies and realistic approaches for program goals
  • Developing and implementing acquisition strategy for the design, construction, and major renovation of facilities.
  • Ability to communicate information and ideas clearly and concisely both verbally and in writing and reviewing other acquisition documents for conciseness.


Mandatory training is required which must be successfully completed and other training may occur as necessary for success in the position.

A. Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers Level I (FAC P/PM-I) or management determined equivalent within 36 months of entry into the position.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

Do NOT include the following types of information in your resume:

  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Date of Birth (DOB)
  • Photos of yourself (if included on your resume you will not be considered for this position)
  • Personal information: such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.


Key Requirements:

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen.
  • Must be registered or exempt from the Selective Service. See www.sss.gov
  • A one-year probationary period may be required.
  • Under provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act, first time supervisors and/or managers will be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
  • To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully pass a background investigation. This position does not require a clearance.
  • This is not a Bargaining Unit position.
  • All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit.
  • Selectee must meet position requirements for Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Professional certification within 36 months as of entrance on duty.


The Office of Personnel management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule, C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

USA Hire Assessment: After submitting your application, if an additional assessment is required, you will receive an email invitation. Please note that this assessment must be completed within 48 hours of the vacancy closing date and as specified in the email.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience or substitution of education for experience or combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements:

EDUCATION:
Completed a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field;

OR

Completed 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 - For positions at GS-7 through GS-12, applicants who are qualifying based on experience must possess at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to work at the next lower level, that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the work of the position, in addition to meeting the basic requirements in paragraph A or B, above.

Exceptions: Employees in GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupy on January 1, 2000. Employees who occupy GS-1102 positions at grades 5 through 12 will be considered to meet the basic requirements for other GS-1102 positions up to and including those classified at GS-12. This includes positions at other agencies and promotions up through grade 12. However, employees must meet specialized experience requirements when seeking another position.

AND

To qualify at the GS-11 grade level, applicants must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the federal sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.Specialized experience must include the following:

  • Performing procurement planning
  • Developing procurement objectives in terms of competition and price range, and constructs the contractual vehicle including use of pricing arrangements, subcontracting policy, setting aside polices and similar considerations
  • Providing advice to project personnel on effective implementation and time frames required
  • Developing new or innovative acquisition plans, source selection plans, and contract terms, conditions, or financial arrangement.


OR

Applicants at the GS-11 level may also meet the additional requirement through substitution of education for experience as follows: Completion of 3 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, if related OR combination of education and experience. To qualify for GS-1102 positions on the basis of graduate education, graduate education in one or a combination of the following fields is required: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management.

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, 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. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

In addition to basic requirements: GS-12: Applicants must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the federal sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.Specialized experience must include the following:

  • Performing procurement planning
  • Developing procurement objectives in terms of competition and price range, and constructs the contractual vehicle including use of pricing arrangements, subcontracting policy, setting-aside polices and similar considerations
  • Providing advice to project personnel on effective implementation and time frames required
  • Developing new or innovative acquisition plans, source selection plans, and contract terms, conditions, or financial arrangement
  • Performing contract administration activities; conducting extensive and sophisticated cost and financial analysis; and serving as lead negotiation for contract modifications for programs involving several interrelated contracts.


NOTE: Education can be substituted for experience at the GS-11 grade level only.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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

This position does have a positive education requirement. If you are including education on your resume, report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Required Documents section for detail.

Are you qualifying based on education? Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) from an accredited institution. Once selected & prior to appointment, applicants must provide an official college transcript. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. (see FOREIGN EDUCATION below).

College Transcript: If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Transcripts should be legible and detailed, showing course number and department (i.e., bio 101, math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours, and grade earned. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications click here

Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

Student Loan -
Selectee(s) for this position who are newly appointed to a permanent or term position may be eligible for student loan repayment up to $10,000 (pre-tax) for one calendar year. More than one loan may be repaid if the combined repayments do not exceed $10,000. Receipt of this incentive will require a three-year service agreement.

Additional information

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