Recent Graduate Contract Specialist

At the advertised grade you will:

• Perform pre-award and post-award functions involving specialized procurements.
• Prepare and issue solicitation documents.
• Perform simplified acquisition sealed bidding and/or negotiation methods to procure supplies services construction and/or laboratory services.
• Administer and close out contracts.

When entering a Federal job at a grade level lower than the highest promotion potential level you may be promoted to more complex duties and work more independently as your career progresses. NOTE: Career ladder promotions are not automatic and all eligibility and qualifications requirements must be met in order to progress to the next grade level.

You will spend more than 50% of your work time on contracts grants/cooperative agreements and/or interagency agreements.

One or more positions may be filled (in the organization advertised and/or in other organizations) if appropriate to the position.

#LI-Onsite

You must be a U.S. citizen.

If you are selected the entire period served under the Recent Graduates program will be a trial period.

If you are selected a written participant agreement must be signed.

This position is designated as Moderate Risk and requires a background investigation. Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management you must undergo a background investigation. All conditions of the pre-employment security process must be met before an official letter of employment can be issued with a report for duty date.

REAL ID requirements became effective on 05/07/25. If you are selected for this position and plan to use your drivers license or identification card during the onboarding process (i.e. for employment eligibility verification or to obtain your EPA identification card) the document must be a REAL ID-compliant state-issued drivers license or identification card that includes the REAL ID-compliant star marking or must be an Enhanced Drivers License (EDL). You will receive information about alternative acceptable documents (e.g. passport) prior to onboarding. For more information about REAL ID see Dept. of Homeland Security and REAL ID FAQs.

You will be required to obtain and maintain Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) (Professional) or Department of Defense (DoD) Contracting Professional Certification.

If you are selected you will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure form within 30 days of your first day of employment and annually thereafter.

NOTE: You must meet qualification requirements including any requirements described in the Education section by the closing date of this announcement.

In addition to the basic entry education requirements you must have specialized experience and/or directly related education as described below:

To qualify for the GS-09 level you need to have at least one year of full-time experience equivalent to the GS-07 level defined as developing policies and procedures; and providing advice and guidance to customers concerning a variety of procurement related issues.
- OR 2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or masters or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D.; qualifying graduate education must be in one or a combination of the fields described in the Education section below
- OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.

NOTE: 1 full academic year of graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study; if that information cannot be obtained from the school 18 semester or 27 quarter hours is considered 1 year of study.

You will need the following competencies in order to perform the duties of this position successfully:

• Attention to Detail
• Acquisition Strategy
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Written Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Accountability
• Administration and Management
• Contract Management
• Customer Service
• Negotiation
• Reading Comprehension
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork
• Reasoning

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.

*If you have part-time work experience read this: Part-Time Experience.