Contract Specialist

Tour of Duty: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Position Description Title/PD#: Contract Specialist / PD# 11007-A
Compressed/Flexible Schedules: Eligible
Telework: Eligible
Virtual Position: No

This recruitment is for one position with the VHA Regional Procurement Office RPO) West, Network Contracting Office (NCO) 22-Long Beach, located at Long Beach, CA or Loma Linda, CA. Vacancies can be filled at any of the duty locations listed.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

Basic Requirements for GS-11

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.

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.

Specialized Experience (GS-11):

Applicants must have One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-9) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience interpreting Federal Acquisition Regulations, Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulations, contract law, and procedures applicable to acquisition and contract administration. Experience with cost/price analysis techniques used in evaluation of contractor proposals, change order proposals and to conduct negotiations. Experience with 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. Experience with negotiation techniques sufficient to negotiate prices, terms and conditions, contract modifications and settlements. Experience with contract administration principles and practices sufficient to monitor contractor performance and compliance with all terms and conditions of the contract.
-OR-
3 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
-OR-
A combination of education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level.

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.

Additional information on the qualification requirements are outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/classifying-general-schedule-positions/

Responsibilities:

Contract Specialist / PD# 11007-A

Responsibility 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. Required to perform all contract work up to the point of contract award. Serves as contract administrator on awarded contracts. 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. Closes out contract upon completion of the contract, resolution of all conflicts, and final disposition of payment and obtains adequate release of claims documents to protect the agency. assists the requiring activities by serving as a member of acquisition planning teams. Performs market research, reviews specifications and statements of work, and approves acquisition milestone plans. Solely responsible for selecting the appropriate method of procurement i.e. simplified acquisition procedures, sealed-bidding, negotiations. Performs a complete review of recommended sole-source requirements and conducts necessary market analyses to test the noncompetitive assumptions of requisitions. Utilizes electronic systems for contract writing (i.e. eCMS), contract management, contract reporting (i.e. FPDS). financial management (i.e. IFCAP), in accordance with Agency policies. Performs other duties as assigned.

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