Contract Specialist – DIRECT HIRE job with USAJobs

Duties

Summary

This position is located in a Field Office, Office of Acquisitions , Office of the Associate Administrator for Administration, Maritime Administration (MARAD).

This position is established to provide a variety of functions relative to the procurement of supplies and services in support of MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force (RRF) Program and other field activities inclusive of Fleet Sites.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The Contract Specialist:

• Serves as a Contracting Officer, with responsibility for independently performing a full range of contracting functions for assigned contracts. ·
• Exercises responsibility for planning, coordination, and execution of the solicitation, award, administration, and close-out of all assigned procurement actions.
• Exercises authority as Contracting Officer of up to unlimited warrant authority and signs all types of contracts subject to the limitation of the Certificate of Appointment.
• Performs the full range of contract management activities consistent with DOT and MARAD policy and FAR guidance until final delivery and payments are completed and the contract is closed and retired. Interprets contract provisions for contractors and for officials of the agency, providing appropriate advice and guidance.
• Personally monitors contractor performance through telephone conversations, correspondence, reports, vouchers , and visits for status of contract performance, scheduling, problems that have arisen and proposed solutions, verification of deliveries, and similar activities.
• Ensures compliance with prime/sub contracting provisions under the assigned Ship Manager contracts and coordinates past performance information and Quality Assurance evaluations with divisional personnel.
• Reviews incoming requisition documents for clarity and completeness. Discusses details of requirements with personnel from the requisitioning offices and/or other support activities. Obtains revised or additional work statement material if necessary.
• Analyzes cost and/or pricing data submitted by contractors to substantiate direct and indirect costs and profit relative to contracts assigned. Determines reasonableness of prices offered. Analyzes marketing data and terms and conditions of previous contracts.

The ideal candidate will have experience in the full range of acquisition planning, contract award, contract negotiation, and contract administration techniques.

Travel Required

25% or less – Some travel will be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel. A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
• PCS/RELOCATION/RECRUITMENT: Permanent Change of Station (PCS), Relocation, and Recruitment Incentive authorization varies by position/selection.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: Applicants may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the mandatory education and specialized experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

To qualify for the Grade 12, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-11 it must include:

• Experience performing pre-award and post-award functions for a variety of products and services.
• Experience reviewing incoming requisitions documents for clarity and completeness.

To qualify for the Grade 13, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-12, it must include:

• Experience interpreting contract provision for contractors and for officials of the agency, providing appropriate advice and guidance.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

For all types of consideration, 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.

For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:

Basic Requirements for GS-5 through GS-12:

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, quantitativemethods, or organization and management.

Applicants who meet the criteria for Superior Academic Achievement qualify for positions at the GS-7 level.

Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above:

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

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.

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.

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.

Additional information

This vacancy may be used by any DOT agency to fill similar positions within 90 days.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the basic qualifications for this position, specifically the educational and specialized experience requirements.

Applicants will not be rated or ranked. Veteran’s Preference does NOT apply.

All applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated by a resume. If, upon review, it is determined that your resume and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be removed from consideration.

Ultimately, the Automated Staffing Office is responsible for determining an applicant’s eligibility. Please ensure that your resume provide enough detail to support your answers to the Vacancy Specific Questions.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

A USAJobs built resume is required to apply

ALL Applicants must provide a resume that fully supports the required specialized experience and was created within USA Jobs Resume Builder and respond to the vacancy questions by the closing date of the vacancy. Formatted resumes can be uploaded when you arrive at the DOT application system. For assistance with the resume builder, please visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/documents/resume/build/

The following is a list of documents that are only required based on the type of position and consideration for which you are applying.

RESUME – Needs to be created within USA Jobs Resume Builder. It must show relevant experience, education and fully support the required specialized experience.

TRANSCRIPTS – Transcripts are REQUIRED as there is a stated education requirement for the series. The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

• If you are applying to an engineering position and are qualifying based on possessing a current Professional Engineer (PE) license, or passing the Engineer in Training (EIT) exam, please provide a copy of PE license or written documented proof of passing the EIT.
• If you have previously held a government position in the same series as this position, you may be able to provide an SF-50 showing that you have already qualified and worked in the federal service in this series.

NON COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS: If requesting concurrent consideration for Non-competitive (NC) appointment eligibility, you must provide the appropriate SPECIAL APPOINTING AUTHORITY DOCUMENTS, such as PCS orders (military spouse) describing move & marriage certificate; letter from VA or DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse; letter from State Vocational Office certifying disability (schedule A), etc. For more information, visit military spouse NC appointments or Persons with Disabilities NC appointments.

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

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.