Contract Specialist

Major duties and responsibilities include:

Serve as a Contract Specialist for the US Department of Veterans Affairs with 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. The incumbent will be assigned the most complex and sensitive contracts of the agency which include contracts valued over $5 million and multi-facility/regional contracts. Other unique requirements include intra/interagency agreements sharing agreements contracts under the selling authority contracts with affiliates research and development and real estate leases. Guide assist mentor and train Contract Specialists. Aid requiring activities in performing market research reviewing specifications and statements of work and approving acquisition milestone plans. The incumbent will ensure that specifications and statements of work are prepared in a manner which adequately describes the Governments requirements without restricting competition. Performs a complete reviewof recommended sole-source requirements and conducts necessary market analyses to test the noncompetitive assumptions of requisitions. Responsible for advertising all applicable requirements and preparing the solicitation document using agency contract writing systems for issuance insuring regulatory and legal sufficiency and promoting maximum competition. Conducts public bid openings reviews bids and determines responsiveness and responsibility of low bidder in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements when using sealed bidding. Conducts negotiations for competitive and noncompetitive procurements. Conducts cost and/or price analysis of offerors proposals. Reviews auditors reports for adequacy of analysis while considering all information in developing an overall pricing negotiation strategy. Prepares detailed price negotiation memoranda outlining in writing the details of negotiations with contractors in competitive and noncompetitive negotiations. 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. 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. This is a Warranted Contracting Officer position. Incumbent shall meet all requirements and apply for a Warrant within 120-days of assignment. Incumbent shall successfully obtain subject Warrant within 60-days of submitting their application. Warrant application dollar value should be at the maximum beneficial amount. Branch Chief has discretion in determining subject application dollar value. Incumbent will execute their own contract awards and provide signatory authority for staff lacking requisite Warrant authority. Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Tour of Duty is 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: This position may be authorized for ad hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Ad hoc is defined as occasional non-recurring telework.
Virtual: This position may be authorized for Virtual Work. Virtual Work eligibility is for current VA Employees that are already subject to the return to in-person work mandate in their current position. Applicants without an existing assigned VA Staff Office must be located within 50 miles of a VA-owned or leased space. This is not a remote position.
Return to Office (RTO): RTO mandates are in effect and selectees will be required to report to in-person work unless they are approved for an exception or an exemption. Any approval for an RTO exception exemption or extension will happen after a tentative job offer but before a final job offer.
Definition of Virtual Work: Employee works outside of original hiring duty station at a VA-owned or leased space.
Position Description/PD#: Contract Specialist/PD52417A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Required
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

This recruitment is for several positions with the Office of Acquisition Logistics and Construction VA Office of Procurement Operations.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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 identification 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.

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-13) position you must have served 52 weeks at the (GS-12). 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.

Basic Requirements: Applicants must meet the basic requirement for this position.To meet the basic requirement for Contract Specialist GS-13 and above positions applicants must have:

• 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 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.

Required Experience:

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