Summary

This position is located in U.S. Department of Agriculture's Departmental Administration, Office of Contracting and Procurement, Procurement Operations, within a contracting division. Divisions may include but are not limited to Service and Supply, Construction and Architecture, Information Technology, or Land Management and Stewardship. This announcement may also be used to fill vacancies in the Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Commodity Procurement Program (more info in Education section).

Duties

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• As the subject matter expert in contracting and in the Branch's assigned program of work, the employee is responsible for exercising independent judgment to accomplish a myriad of contracting responsibilities in support of the USDA mission.
• Serves as a contracting officer with signatory authority for lower-grade subordinates, which may include awarding contracts for critical acquisition programs.
• Oversees all aspects of contracting including requirements development, evaluation and award, pre and post award, administration, and closeout.
• Conducts internal reviews of pre- and post-award contract files within the Branch, in accordance with the guidance provided by the procurement compliance team in OCP.
• Maintains responsibility for ensuring the quality and accuracy of all contract file reviews for the Branch.
• Reviews Branch data from automated systems for accuracy, timeliness, and completeness and takes appropriate corrective action, when necessary.
• Applies a wide range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods to assess and improve operational effectiveness and/or complex management processes, projects, and systems.
• Regularly communicates with Branch customers regarding the quality of their procurement packages, providing them opportunities for feedback on the Branch's procurement operations and level of service.
• Works with other Branch Chiefs to identify process improvements and operational challenges and develops solutions for a more efficient organization.
• Supervises a group of contracting professionals performing all aspects of the contracting process for a variety of types of acquisitions.
• Provides administrative and technical supervision and training necessary for accomplishing procurement
  operations.
• Ensures subordinates are trained and fully comply with the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and acquisition policies and initiatives.
• Job duties may vary slightly depending on assigned mission area. For additional information regarding mission areas participating in this recruitment effort, please review the Education section.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• If selected, you may be required to serve a probationary or trial period as applicable to appointment type. Refer to Next Steps section for additional information.
• Subject to one year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period.
• Incumbent must obtain a Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) within six months of entry to the position and must maintain this certification throughout their tenure.
• If assigned to Information Technology (IT) contracting, the incumbent will also be required to obtain a FAC-C Digital Services specialization within 12 months and maintain this certification throughout their tenure.
• Depending on the nature of the work and forthcoming Federal Acquisition Institute credentials, the position may also be required to obtain and maintain other Contract Specialist credentials as needed.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, 1102 Occupational Series individual occupational requirement, AND specialized experience, as defined below.

Time in grade: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

1102 Contracting Series Individual Occupational 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 or equivalent to work at the next lower level of the position, and must have provided 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 under Paragraph D.
4. Waiver: When filling a specific vacant position, the senior procurement executive of the selecting agency, at his or her discretion, may waive any or all of the requirements of Paragraphs A and B above if the senior procurement executive certifies that the applicant possesses significant potential for advancement to levels of greater responsibility and authority, based on demonstrated analytical and decision making capabilities, job performance, and qualifying experience. With respect to each waiver granted under this Paragraph D, the senior procurement executive must document for the record the basis of the waiver. If an individual is placed in a position in an agency on the basis of a waiver, the agency may later reassign that individual to another position at the same grade within that agency without additional waiver action.

Minimum Qualifications: Applicants must meet the Specialized Experience and/or Education requirements as shown below. If qualifying based on experience, your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the specialized experience requirements. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

For the GS-14 level

Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-13 level) which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience performing all of the following: providing technical and policy advisory support to direct reports and clients; coordination of the full range of operational procurement and contracting activities for a large organization, including serving as a warranted Contracting Officer; evaluating complex contracting and procurement actions to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, executive orders and agency policy; and, performing the full range of technical and administrative supervisory duties.

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 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

All applicants must meet the educational requirement for the Contracting Series, 1102 as outlined in the above Qualifications section. Transcripts must be supplied with application materials.

The following mission areas will be participating in this Shared Recruitment effort, mission area descriptions are as follows -

Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP) is responsible for providing a full range of cradle-to-grave contracting support to all USDA agencies, with contracts ranging from simple to complex, high dollar contracts for services, supplies, construction, architecture and engineering, IT, and stewardship.

MRP Commodity Procurement Program (CPP) contracts for various agricultural products and related services that support nutrition assistance, humanitarian food aid, market support, and disaster assistance programs. CPP acquisition activities support nutrition and food aid programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period.

For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as 30 percent disabled veterans, certain military spouses, Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Refer to PUBLIC LAW 114-47-AUG. 7, 2015 for more information.

The salary ranges vary according to the geographic area locality adjustments; therefore, rates advertised represent base pay only as pay will depend upon the selectee's duty location. Please see the 2026 General Schedule (GS) Pay Tables for more information.

Incentives may be authorized.

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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.

Benefits

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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.

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.