Acquisition & Utilization Specialist

The duties of the Acquisition and Utilization Specialist consist of but are not limited to the following:

• Develops procedures policies and supporting artifacts to ensure procurement activities are consistent with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) VA Acquisitions Regulations (VAAR) and other federal procurement laws and regulations.
• Conducts analyses and recommends courses of actions to ensure that vision clinical and administrative service requirements have addressed considerations such as construction budgeting supporting manpower and other factors.
• Provides training to the facility Contracting Officer Representatives and Program Managers on procurement policies and new processes and procedures related to procurement.
• Establishes expedites and reviews consolidation of all procurement packages including unique emergent and complex requirements to meet timely and technical needs of assigned acquisitions.
• Develops and conducts presentations/recommendations to leadership and other stakeholders to explain regulations and procedures.
• Negotiates performance requirements among multiple sites and service lines in order to obtain agreement standardize enterprise equipment supply and/or service requirements in support of strategic acquisition plans.
• Establishes and maintains controls to ensure that contracts are executed in accordance with terms.
• Advises on all phases of negotiation with the contract specialist/contracting officer for contract modifications change orders supplemental agreements and delivery order processes including requirements definition justification and approval for service contract extension method of contracting evaluation of proposals and all phases of contract administration.
• Monitors quality assurance surveillance plans to ensure that contracted services meet the expectations and needs of the facility.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 02/06/2026.

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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07

Additionally

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-09.

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. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade as required by the this instance you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.



You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-09 Grade Determinations:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:

• handling contract related services product acquisition and procurement of items in a healthcare environment;
• overseeing contracts including pre-award and post-award;
• preparing procurement packages with unique emergent and complex requirements including development of requirement documents (e.g. performance work statements and objectives cost benefit analysis gap analysis sole source justifications past performance market research etc.); developing sole source justifications;
• developing and analyzing reports to make recommendations on acquisition and contracting issues;
• participating in negotiations with other officials throughout all phases of contract administration;
• monitoring expenditures and reporting on deviations from contract terms.

OR

Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a masters or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.



OR

Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described above which meets the total qualification requirement for the GS-9 grade level.

GS-11 Grade Determinations:


Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:

• handling contract related services product acquisition and procurement of items in a healthcare environment;
• overseeing contracts including pre-award and post-award;
• preparing procurement packages with unique emergent and complex requirements including development of requirement documents (e.g. performance work statements and objectives cost benefit analysis gap analysis sole source justifications past performance market research etc.); developing sole source justifications;
• developing and analyzing reports to make recommendations on acquisition and contracting issues;
• participating in negotiations with other officials throughout all phases of contract administration;
• monitoring expenditures and reporting on deviations from contract terms.

OR

Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. if related that provided the provided the knowledge skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

OR

Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described above which meets the total qualification requirement for the GS-11 grade level.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork