Senior Contract Specialist, GS-1102-13 (26289)

Announcement Type

Internal Opportunity (Non-Comp / Not DHA)

Position Type

Permanent

USACE Organization

Northwestern Division (NWD) - Omaha District

Locations (City, State)

Omaha, NE; Colorado Springs, CO; Fort Carson, CO; Cypress, TX; Chesterfield, VA; Dumfries, VA; Lacey, WA; Tulare, CA; Orangevale, CA; Newton, NC.

Position Overview/Duties

Serves as a warranted Contracting Officer in one of Contracting Division's branches and is responsible for pre-award and post-award functions involving complex, highly specialized, centrally managed programs of significant importance to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Duties include managing all aspects of the functional area of contract management, including contract formation, solicitation, negotiations, cost and price analysis, award, contract administration, termination and close-out for a variety of contracts which frequently require special handling or other specialized terms and conditions. Incumbent acts as an independent contracting officer with potentially up to unlimited authority to obligate the government. Incumbent has full authority and responsibility to execute any or all procurement phases of the projects to which assigned, from complete procurement planning to final award and post-award administration of the resultant contracts. The national scope and effect of the program involved require incumbent to interface with senior leadership within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as within other federal agencies. Faced with difficult contractual questions for which there will be no clearly applicable precedents, incumbent must possess professional knowledge of procurement concepts, principles and practices sufficient to exercise sound judgment in order to be able to coordinate with technical and professional staffs both within the government and with private industry. Decisions made by the incumbent have considerable impact on the successful execution of programs of a national nature. May include performance of pre-award and post-award contingency contracting functions, such as a deployable member of the Omaha District Roofing Planning and Response Team.

a. Performs procurement planning. Identifies within assigned programs those services to be acquired by contract. Plans, develops and establishes long and short range procurement plans, strategies and approaches for the overall acquisition program. Provides expert advice and input for procurement elements of program planning documents. Prepares and coordinates acquisition planning documents. Develops procurement objectives for the program in terms of competition and price range, and constructs the contractual vehicle, including use of pricing arrangements, subcontracting policy, socioeconomic policies and other conditions set forth by statute. Coordinates the preparation of solicitations with the technical staff to ensure that resultant contracts are technically sufficient and will provide the requested services to meet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program requirements.

b. Advises program officials in procurement planning meetings of the procurement objectives to be used and explores new or innovative contracting approaches to arrive at an equitable contract management. Assists in the preparation of statements of work, acquisition plans, source selection plans and prepares necessary determinations and findings and all solicitation documents. Conducts necessary site visits and pre-proposal conferences with industry to arrive at a clear understanding of the requirement.

c. Serves as lead negotiator, planning the negotiation strategy, coordinating strategy with the negotiation team and leading the negotiations conducted with contractors to reach a fair and reasonable position for all parties involved. Performs detailed analyses of all elements of cost in contractor proposals, and participates in source selection processes for complex requirements. Makes competitive range determinations and selection recommendations to the source selection authority.

d. Prepares the contract for award in accordance with all applicable regulations and statutes. When necessary, prepares initial Corps position on protests for unsuccessful offers and renders or recommends a decision on claims arising under the contract.

Post-Award Responsibilities:
a. Responsible for contract administration functions following contract, grant, and cooperative agreement award during the post-award phase of the procurement cycle, assuring receipt of all data specified. Develops and maintains systems to evaluate and monitor contractual performance, including cost adjustments, redirection of effort, coordination of time extensions, incorporation of change orders, issuance of stop work orders, issuance of the notices or show cause matters, monitoring of Government property reporting, approval of payments, and close-out of contracts.

b. Monitors contractor's performance through verbal conversations, correspondence, reports review of payment vouchers, and periodic visits to the contractor's facility or work site for status of performance, scheduling or delivery requirements or changes, detecting and correcting labor standards violations.
c. Negotiates and issues contract modifications driven by technological advances, upgraded operational requirements and other changes characteristic of the type of contract/program involved.
d. Prepares Government decision on request for equitable adjustments or requests for final decisions arising under the contract, grant, or cooperative agreement.
e. Prepares responses to all contractual correspondence with contractors, including requests for contract deviations from contract compliance. Approves contract payment, assesses liquidated or actual damages for nonperformance, issues show cause or cure notices, closes out contracts, or terminates actions for default or convenience and reviews and negotiates settlement proposals.
f. May be assigned to support contingency events requiring contracting support, such as the Omaha District Roofing Planning and Response Team (PRT) for emergency operations under the Federal Response Plan. When assigned to provide contingency support, the employee will be expected to meet the minimum specified deployment requirements prior to participating on the contingency team. Frequency of deployments varies depending on the number of contingency events that may arise during the year requiring contracting support.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Other Conditions and Requirements

This job opportunity is open to CURRENT, PERMANENT USACE EMPLOYEES ONLY.

WHO MAY APPLY: This opportunity is being announced through the USACE Voluntary Internal Opportunities Program (VIOP). Current, permanent USACE employees with noncompetitive eligibility to be placed in this position are eligible to apply. This Program may only be utilized for noncompetitive placements, to include voluntary reassignments, promotions not-to-exceed 120 days, voluntary changes to lower grade, repromotion to a grade previously held on a permanent basis, details, and deployment opportunities. Employees interested in permanent or temporary promotions longer than 120 days must apply through USAJOBS, or other approved merit procedures or hiring authorities. Temporary or term employees and Department of Army Fellows assigned to USACE will not be considered for positions or assignments through VIOP.

Minimum Education Requirement: Qualified 1102 - Certified Acquisition Professional

SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: The incumbent of this position must be a registered professional in accordance with the requirement in ER 690-1-958.

Other Requirements, Conditions of Employment and information:

• How to Apply: Applications must be submitted after 12:01 AM (EST) of the posted Job Posting Open Date and before 11:45 PM (EST) of the posted Job Posting Close Date to receive consideration. Click the apply button, follow the prompts (fill out the required collect form, attach a resume following the resume format guidance).
• All positions require the applicant to be a citizen of the United States.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, are required to register for Selective Service prior to appointment.
• Relocation (PCS) expenses may be authorized (subject to available budget) if the selecting official determines the relocation is in the best interests of the government. Omaha duty location preferred.
• A trial or probationary period may be required.
• If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/higher-education-laws-and-policy/college-accreditation).
• FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
• This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of up to 15% of the time.
• This position is subject to a pre-employment drug screening, and random testing thereafter, to include testing based on reasonable suspicion and testing due to direct involvement with an on-duty accident.
• The incumbent is required to file an OGE Form 450, Financial Disclosure Report upon entering on duty in this position and annually thereafter.
• This position requires the following training/certifications prior to employment or within a specified period of time after appointment:
  • Certified Acquisition Professional

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor

To learn more, please visit the Office of Equal Opportunity (https://www.eeoc.gov/federal-sector/federal-employees-job-applicants).

Qualifications - Candidates will be evaluated in accordance with OPM General Schedule (GS) Qualification Standards or Federal Wage System (FWS) Qualifications and Job Elements

GS Standards: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

Reasonable Accommodation

Reasonable accommodation is available to qualified employees with disabilities. You can request a reasonable accommodation at any time during the application process, hiring process or while on the job. Requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.