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THIS IS A NATIONAL GUARD TITLE 5 EXCEPTED SERVICE POSITION.
This National Guard position is for a Contract Specialist, Position Description Number T0047000 and is part of the US Property and Fiscal Office (USPFO) Purchasing and Contracting Division of the Vermont National Guard.
02/18/2025 to 03/18/2025
$90,431 - $117,565 per year
GS 12
1 vacancy in the following location:
No
No
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
No
Permanent
Full-time
Excepted
12
No
No
VT-12689887-AF-25-10
831791800
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Current federal employees whose agencies follow the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's hiring rules and pay scales.
Current federal employees whose agencies have their own hiring rules, pay scales and evaluation criteria.
Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.
Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or a spouse, widow, widower or parent of a veteran, who may be eligible for derived preference
Current members, those who want to join or transitioning military members.
Priority Placement Program will be cleared. Area I: Current On-board Title 5 or Title 32 Dual Status Technicians (Tenure: 1-Career, 2-Conditional, 3-Indefinite or 4-Term ) - Only those current Vermont National Guard employees who are in permanent, indefinite, or term technician status as result of being competitively hired by the Vermont National Guard. Area II: All current Federal Employees from any agency. Area III: All current and former members of the VTNG. Area IV: United States citizens.
The primary purpose of this position is to ensure successful market research, acquisition planning, contract award, contract performance management, and interpretation of contract law in order to provide the best, most efficient contracting strategies in support of the organization's vision, mission, goals, and objectives.
MAJOR DUTIES:
Plans the overall approach to meet contracting program objectives for a variety of requirements with multiple complexities. Analyzes difficult/controversial contracting issues, determines, recommends and/or implements course of action which may depart from previous approaches for long-term contract performance or short-term contracts with extremely stringent time frames. Provides business advice and assistance to technical personnel involved in the development of the performance work statement/statement of work/statement of objectives or data requirements. Reviews a diverse variety of requisition packages for adequacy and compliance with administrative, regulatory, and procedural requirements and consistency with current market practices and conditions. Serves as a contracting authority and advisor to management, customers, and contractors in assignment area relative to the market, the industry, specifications, socioeconomic concerns, and similar matters. Performs acquisition planning, along with the program manager/customer, technical, legal, and finance personnel to develop market research, acquisition strategy, milestones, evaluation/source selection criteria, and/or incentive or award fee provisions, as applicable. Exercises experienced judgment, initiative, and resourcefulness to identify regulations and laws which do or do not apply to the particular procurement, to consider financial arrangements and incentives, and to develop justifications for adopting a contractual posture. Prepares required documents to support solicitation issuance and reviews and advises less experienced specialists in the preparation of documents. Determines appropriate method of procurement, contract type, and financing arrangements to fit special circumstances. Reviews and evaluates requisitions for which previous experience and historical data are not usually directly available or applicable such as complex services, architect and engineering services or environmental related construction. Reviews procurement requests to determine whether, based on market analysis, the requirement can be performed by and should be set aside for small businesses; actively solicits Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned Small Business, HUB Zone Small Business, and Service/Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business participation. Reviews and may sign justification for limiting competition procurements. Procurements usually involve a variety of complexities such as socioeconomic considerations, source selections, and special handling provisions or other specialized terms and conditions, unfavorable market conditions, complex contracts, and limited competition difficult-to-define scopes of work, legal conditions, and rigid deadlines causing additional complications. Resolves problems which limit competition and discourage potential offering parties in order to increase small business participation. Obtains required business clearances and/or approvals as necessary. Conducts site visits/pre-proposal/pre-bid conferences. Serves as point of contact for assigned procurements. This position may be required to perform supervisory personnel functions including the assignment of duties, participates in the interviews and selection of employees, schedules and approves leave, provides training, evaluates performance, initiates action to upgrade positions, and resolves disciplinary problems. Supports and takes affirmative action with consideration of Equal Employment Opportunity in all aspects of personnel actions.
Oversees the procurement of a wide variety of services, supplies, construction and architect and engineering. Researches, interprets, analyzes, and applies all regulations, business and industry practices, market trends, Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Comptroller General decisions, public law, case law, and precedents. Devises special terms, provisions, clauses, and conditions applicable to the solicitation and contract as required. Ensures that the price schedule is properly structured and determines sources to be solicited. Prepares solicitation, amendment, and contract documents incorporating applicable terms, conditions, provisions and clauses. Receives and performs oversight of quotes/bids/proposals evaluations and determines the acceptability of offers based on an analysis of financial and technical information gained. Conducts price or cost analysis as needed. Recommends or determines the competitive range. Formulates negotiation strategies and identifies areas subject to negotiation
**REFER TO THE POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR FULL LIST OF DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES**
Mandatory Positive Education: Minimum education requirement a Bachelor's Degree from an accredited educational institution authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees.
DAWIA Certification: All personnel selected must meet certification requirements, DAWIA Level I - Professional certification, within 36 months of placement in the 1102 series.
Certifications Issued by Federal (non-DoD) Organizations - On 16 October 2023, The Principal Director, Defense Pricing and Contracting and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy signed a Memorandum of Understanding to recognize parity and reciprocity between the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) and the Federal Acquisition Institute's Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) (Professional). Personnel with FAC-C should provide a copy of their certification when applying for positions.
Note: The minimum education requirements listed above applies to individuals who initially accessed, promoted, reassigned, changed-to-lower grade or detailed in the NG Title 5 Excepted or Title 32 Dual Status Contracting Program, Occupational series GS-1102, as of the effective date of this qualification standard.
General Experience: Must have experience in positions supporting competencies in business, finance, risk management, project management, or supply chain management. Experience must include competencies such as skill in collecting and analyzing data and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively and other professional competencies in procurement administration or purchase card management.
Specialized Experience:Must have specific experiences, training, and competencies (Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities) that prepared the applicant to successfully perform the duties and responsibilities required by each grade. Must have one year of contracting experience at the GS-11 level. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following: (1) Performing acquisition planning including market research and knowledge of a wide variety of contracting methods that satisfy mission needs and meet customer requirements, (2) Advising Contracting Officer Representatives and advising customers on procurement preparation and development of contractually acceptable specifications, work statements, and quality assurance criteria, (3) Reviewing procurement requests to assure clarity, adequacy, and completeness, and (4) Reviewing contract terms and technical specifications to identify any special requirements
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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 Level. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.
MANDATORY POSITIVE EDUCATION-Minimum education requirement a Bachelor's Degree from an accredited educational institution authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees Note: You must upload a copy of your transcripts.)
You must provide transcripts or other documentation to support your Educational claims. To receive credit for Education, you must provide documentation of proof that you meet the Education requirements for this position.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Once the announcement has closed, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine if you meet the qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application package, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this position. If you are found to be among the top qualified candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.
Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):
**Knowledge of The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)**
- Knowledge of contracting principles, laws, statutes, Executive Orders, regulations, and procedures applicable to pre-award and post-award duties sufficient to plan and carry out procurement actions and administer contracts for a variety of specialized services, commodities and/or construction using a wide range of contracting methods and contract types.
- In-depth knowledge of commercial business practices and market conditions to evaluate offer acceptability, contractor responsibility, and/or contractor performance, and to determine acquisition strategy and sources.
- Knowledge of up-to-date market research procedures.
- Knowledge of a wide range of contracting methods and contract types sufficient to perform pre-award, post-award, and price/cost analysis functions.
- Knowledge of negotiation techniques and technical requirements sufficient to procure complex and/or diversified services, commodities, and/or construction.
- Knowledge of contract administration sufficient to monitor a group of diverse contracts, understanding quality assurance, inspection, acceptance, and corrective action terms and conditions.
- Knowledge of contract termination procedures sufficient to recommend or determine allowable costs, profit to be allowed, disposal of government property, and similar issues and to negotiate settlements with contractors.
- Knowledge of contract cost analysis techniques sufficient to gather and evaluate price and/or cost data for a variety of pre-award and/or post-award procurement actions.
- Knowledge of the GPC program to analyze issues and identify alternative courses of action, modify standard procedures and terms to satisfy requirements, and solve a variety of common problems.
- Knowledge of public speaking and publicity techniques sufficient to plan or conduct training sessions designed to enhance/facilitate the GPC.
- Knowledge of Contract Regulations to verify contractual documents for compliance and accuracy of terminology. Ability to interpret and clarify regulatory contractual material.
- Knowledge of standard automated systems, non-standard systems, and Web postings that affect the organization's mission execution to review and evaluate of automated systems to determine their overall effectiveness and recommend changes to improve system performance.
You will be rated on the following core competencies:
1. Leadership
2. Written Communication
3. Oral Communication
4. Contracting/Procurement
5. Compliance
To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:
1. Resume: resume must show relevant experience, where you worked, job title, detailed duties and accomplishments written in your own words (Do not plagiarize), employer's name and address, supervisor's name and phone number, starting and ending dates (including Month and Year, e.g., 02/2017, Feb 2017, etc.), hours per week and salary. If you are a current Federal employee or previous Federal employee, provide your position title, pay plan, series and grade. Your detailed experience should be listed under each job title with starting and ending dates. Resume must show applicants name and contact information.
2. Official Transcripts
Other supporting documents (as applicable):
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.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
To apply for this position, you must complete the online application/Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration.
To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application.
Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. Your application will be evaluated by the Human Resources Office to determine your eligibility for the position. After the evaluation is complete, you will receive another notification regarding the status of your application.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/831791800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
