CONTRACT SPECIALIST (Title 32)

Summary

THIS IS A NATIONAL GUARD TITLE 32 EXCEPTED SERVICE POSITION. This National Guard position is for a CONTRACT SPECIALIST (Title 32), Position Description Number D2622000 and is part of the AR ANG 189 ALF WG, National Guard. NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERSHIP IS REQURED- If you are not currently a member of any military service (Branch/Status), please provide a letter stating intent to join.

Duties

1. Plans the overall approach to meet contracting program objectives for procuring a wide variety of requirements. Performs market research/analysis to determine availability of the requirement; analyzes market trends, commercial practices, conditions and technological advances. Determines appropriate method of procurement using a wide range of contracting methods and contract types. Selects appropriate contracting approaches, techniques, and procedures to solve a variety of acquisition problems. Analyzes contracting issues and recommends best course of action. 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 latitude in dealing with problems arising during the pre-award phase of the procurement action. Plans and carries out the work, selecting the approaches and techniques to be used, and determines actions to be taken on assigned contracts. Uses judgment in interpreting guidelines, in adapting procurement procedures to specific situations and in recommending solutions to problems encountered. 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 requisition packages for adequacy and compliance with administrative, regulatory, and procedural requirements and consistency with current market practices and conditions. Reviews procurement requests to determine whether, based on market analysis, the requirement can be performed by small businesses; actively solicits Small Businesses and a wide range of socioeconomic groups. If appropriate, initiates action to have all or part of a procurement set-aside exclusively for small business/socioeconomic performance. Prepares applicable determinations and findings. Assists with the development of evaluation criteria to use in determining source selection and best value requests for quotations/proposals which include utilization of past performance data and technical qualifications for awards based on other than lowest price. Procurements usually involve a variety of considerations such as socioeconomic, market conditions and strategy, difficult-to-define scopes of work, legal conditions, rigid deadlines, or incentive arrangements. Resolves problems that limit competition that discourage potential offers. Conducts site visits/pre-proposal/pre-bid conferences and modifies requirements as necessary. Serves as the point of contact for assigned procurements. 2. Assists in procuring a wide variety of services, supplies, and/or construction. Applies all statutory requirements including regulations, policies, procedures, business and industry practices, market trends, Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Comptroller General Decisions, public law, case law, and precedents to all acquisitions. Contracts assigned may contain a variety of unique attributes such as special handling provisions or other specialized terms and conditions, unfavorable market conditions, and limited competition requirements. Ensures the price schedule is properly structured, prepares the solicitation, recommends most appropriate solicitation method, drafts solicitations and amendments, and determines the acceptability of offers based on an analysis of contractor past performance, responsibility and various technical factors. Obtains and reviews subcontracting plans as required. Recommends the competitive range. Conducts any necessary conferences to discuss proposals received; performs price or cost analysis; plans and conducts negotiations on price, technical requirements, terms and conditions of the contract. Determines need for final proposal revisions. Recommends award. Prepares final contract to include appropriate standard clauses and special provisions, final pricing and payment terms, and incentives. Documents selection decision and justifies basis for award. Makes notifications to unsuccessful offers or debriefs as appropriate. Prepares responses to any protests, as required, fully documenting and defending the Government's position. Takes any necessary corrective action resulting from a protest. Enters contractual information into a contract writing system software database. DUTIES CONTINUED UNDER THE EDUCATION SECTION.

Requirements

NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERSHIP IS REQUIRED. If you are not sure you are eligible for military membership, please contact a National Guard recruiter prior to applying for this position. Compatible military grade and assignment required prior to the effective date of placement. This is an excepted service position that requires membership in a compatible military assignment in the employing state's National Guard. Applicants who are not currently a member of the National Guard must be eligible for immediate membership in the military grade listed below. Selectee will be required to wear the military uniform. Military Grades: Enlisted Minimum Military Grade: E-5/SSgt Maximum Military Grade: E-6/TSgt Compatible Military Assignments: Selectee must be a member of the Arkansas Air National Guard. IMPORTANT NOTES (AS APPLICABLE): Upon selection for this position, individual must possess or initiate a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) background investigation. A favorable determination based upon investigative results is mandatory for this position. Failure to meet these requirements will result in termination of employment. A pre-placement physical is required if not already current. Upon selection, must complete mandatory Full-Time Support (FTS) Training at the Professional Education Center (PEC) within six months of assignment (if applicable, training will be coordinated by the supervisor). Individual must meet all military requirements of the position without creating a grade inversion, as determined by the Human Resources Office (HRO). Technicians will not be militarily senior to their full-time supervisor or wage leader (Grade Inversion). Enlisted members currently at a higher grade than allowed by the position (see Military Grade Requirement above) may apply; however, they must administratively reduce prior to appointment and provide confirmation of the reduction to HRO. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS ARE LISTED UNDER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Qualifications and evaluation

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 above general and specialized experience, to include following competencies- knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs): 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.

Education

DUTIES CONTINUED. 3. Executes post-award contract performance management actions on assigned contracts. Trains and monitors appointed Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) as required. Monitors and evaluates contractor performance for compliance with terms and conditions of contracts and ensures timely submission of contract deliverables and performance metrics. Makes field site visits to detect and/or correct labor standards violations, takes appropriate action to expedite delivery or performance when required by mission changes, monitors the contractors' use of government-furnished property inventories, and prepares change orders as necessary. Evaluates and requests additional funds or de-obligates funds, as required. Analyzes a wide variety of contract administration problems. Negotiates and prepares contract modifications caused by changes in technical requirements, in quantities, ordering unpriced options. Reviews contractor invoices/payment applications for completeness, allow ability, ease of allocation , use of proper approved rates and conformance with contract terms and conditions and approves/disapproves payment. Prepares contract modifications, administrative change orders, and supporting documents for all assigned contract actions including termination. Recommends cure or show cause notices. Determines liquidated or actual damages for nonperformance and/or recommends termination action. Drafts responses to other involved agencies, appeal boards, or congressional inquiries. Maintains official contract file and determines that all contractual actions are satisfied, there are no pending administrative actions to be resolved, all file documents are signed, there are no litigation actions pending, and the contract is complete in every respect and ready to be closed. 4. Provides business advice and guidance to technical personnel and others on contracting work and prepares correspondence. Represents the interest of the organization in a professional manner in meetings and various contacts outside the agency on a variety of issues that often are not well-defined. Provides advice, guidance, training and assistance to technical or program personnel, functional commanders and/or contractors on contractual language, legal responsibilities, and acquisition and business-related issues. Prepares letters, memoranda, documents, or reports that support contractual actions or recommendations. Researches and recommends appropriate action or interpretation of issues. 5. May serve as the primary or alternate Government Purchase Card (GPC) Agency/Organization Program Coordinator for the local Contracting Office. Functions as the principal liaison between program participants and the banking institution. Interacts with higher headquarters to ensure program compliance. Analyzes program regulatory requirements and develops internal procedural guidance. Provides training for billing/approving officials and cardholders participating in the program. Monitors cardholder activity to determine adherence to GPC policies by generating and analyzing bank reports. Performs compliance reviews and prepares reports for submission to higher headquarters. 6. May serve as a System Administrator. Provides technical leadership and consultation regarding operation automated acquisition systems. Provides technical and functional guidance to contracting personnel in the use of software, prepares reporting documents, and coordinates the transfer of data between organizations. Ensures systems are responsive to data input and processing during the acquisition process. Responsible for providing functional, technical, and system administration support for various joint acquisition/contracting systems, financial business systems, and associated contracting applications/systems. Coordinates with respective system helpdesks for technical problems. Identifies trends and recommended areas where closer management control/oversight is needed based on data reporting compliance (anomaly/error reports). 7. Performs other duties as assigned.

How to apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application 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/.

Required documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes: 1. Resume: showing work schedule, hours worked per week, dates (including Month and Year, e.g., 02/2017, Feb 2017, etc.) of employment and duties performed. DO NOT COPY THE GENERAL, SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE, KSAs AND DUTIES WORD FOR WORD AND PLACE INTO YOUR RESUME; YOU MUST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AS IT PERTAINS TO EACH STATEMENT. 2. Current Military Branch Career Data Brief: Air- Career Data Brief: can be obtained through vMPF using the following steps: Navigate to https://vmpf.us.af.mil/vMPFNet40/Hub.aspx > Login > Career Data Brief (CDB) > View CDB > Print to Microsoft PDF > Save as a PDF. Army- Soldier Talent Profile: can be obtained through IPPS-A using the following steps: Navigate to https://ipps-a.army.mil Login > PKI Login > (login with CAC) > OK > My Soldier Talent Profile > Print. From here, you save the document as a PDF. If you are not currently serving in a Military compacity (any Branch or Service), please provide a letter of intent to join the National Guard. Failure to provide proper documents may result in disqualification.

Additional information

If you are a male applicant who was born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency (Register | Selective Service System : Selective Service System (sss.gov)). REQUIREMENTS/CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: Males born after 31 December 1959 must be registered for Selective Service. Federal employment suitability as determined by a background investigation. May be required to successfully complete a probationary period. Participation in direct deposit is mandatory. Must be able to obtain/maintain appropriate security clearance May be required to travel by military or commercial aircraft in the performance of TDY assignments. Required to handle and safeguard sensitive and/or classified information in accordance with regulations to reduce potential compromise. The incumbent must meet the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) requirements applicable to the duties of the position. The incumbent must meet the continuing acquisition education, training and experience requirements IAW DoDI 5000.66. In accordance with the Ethics in Government Act, 1978, incumbent is required to file an OGE Form 450, Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, upon appointment and will be required to file annually. This position is designated as Essential Personnel and may be subject to duty in preparation for, or in response to, a state emergency or disaster declaration. Head of Agency requests to exceed 14 days in a calendar year must be approved in advance by the National Guard, Director of Manpower and Personnel (NGB-J1). All personnel selected must meet certification requirements, DAWIA Level I - Professional certification, within 36 months of placement in the 1102 series. Currently hold 6C0X1 AFSC