Contract Specialist

The incumbent serves as a senior advisor consultant and liaison to top management officials policy makers and non-governmental organizations and institutions on challenging new developments in contracting/ procurement initiatives which are Coast Guard-wide. As a leading expert in the field of acquisition the incumbent plans manages or oversees the USCGs C5I Program Executive Officers (PEO) most important contracting programs; evaluates critical and complex proposals; and administers through contract close-out or termination many interdependent contracts.

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

Implementing the C5I-PEOs Socioeconomic Programs outlined in Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 19. This program is politicalIy charged attracting considerable attention from Congress the Department as well as industry.

Exercising unlimited contracting officer authority to commit the Coast Guard for all contracts under immediate supervision without further review except for those acquisitions that require higher level review as required by law or regulation. Performs the functions required to manage all aspects of the C5I-PEO contracting office which includes the award and administration of contracts in excess of millions of dollars. The incumbent is involved in all aspects of the contracting process from development of the Acquisition Plan to specification development and termination and litigation.

Acts as a business advisor for the C5I-PEO acquisition community.

Performs business and administrative oversight to include: contract administration and oversight; policy; and procurement quality assurance.

Performs cradle to grave contract functions including market research and analysis to substantiate achievement of program objectives along with the means to measure accomplishments evaluate risks and consider contingencies as a program progresses.

In addition the incumbent exercises significant responsibilities in dealing with officials of other units or organizations and in advising management officials of higher rank of contracting issues; assures comparable equity in the assessment of the adequacy of contractor capabilities or of contractor completed work; and decisions on work problems presented by peers team leaders or similar personnel or by contractors;

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

The incumbent must be able to obtain and maintain an unlimited contracting officers warrant.

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

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
• A one-year probationary period may be required.
• 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.
• All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit.

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.

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:

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 bachelors 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.

AND

To qualify at the GS-14 grade level applicants must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 grade level in the federal or private 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.

NOTE: All experience statements (i.e. duties specialized experience or occupational assessment questionnaire) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Specialized experience may include the following:

• Knowledge of contracting methods types and principles laws statutes Executive Orders regulations and procedures applicable to pre-award and post-award actions.
• Knowledge of negotiations techniques to serve as the lead negotiator in developing pre-negotiations strategies negotiation the acquisition of applicable service and system and directing or performing post-award negotiation involving contract changes or modifications.
• Experience in cost and price analysis techniques such as learning curve analysis and cost estimating relationships and cost accounting methods techniques.
• Knowledge in contracts to support the United States Coast Guard in all facets of IT.

Mandatory Specialized experience must include:

• Supervisory GS-14 Contract Specialists are required to sit for a warrant board for an unlimited warrant authority.
• Maintaining FAC-C certification

NOTE: Education cannot be substituted for experience at this grade level.

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.