Summary This position is located on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center (FBC), Acquisitions Division. This position serves as the Contract Specialist, Operations Section, Acquisitions Division, Operations Branch and is responsible for providing acquisitions service and support to FPAC agencies and others through proactive, collaborative, and hands-on acquisition planning, servicing and processing. Responsibilities Provides expertise in pre-award and post-award functions for the full range of contract types as required to obtain complex and diversified IT and telecommunications supplies, equipment and services. Negotiates with potential contractors to obtain best and final offers and to develop final contract provisions and terms. Recommends award of contract. Conduct pre-award conferences, negotiation sessions, briefings to program offices and management, and debriefs to contractors. Responsible for contract termination actions including termination for convenience and termination for default. Plans, organizes, directs, and reviews the work of assigned resources, contractors, or matrix resources. Plans, schedules, and coordinates work operations; plans, reviews, and adjusts budget and financial management activities; plans and carries out training and development; and evaluates project and or program work outcomes. Researches and applies various acquisition laws and regulations while providing guidance to program offices, stakeholders, and customers in developing procurement strategy and acquisition plan. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. For the GS-09: You qualify for this grade level if you meet one of the following: Regarding Education, you must have: 2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or masters or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D. Or, you can also qualify based on a combination of higher level graduate education and experience. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application. Note that graduate education is education attained after a Bachelor's degree. Undergraduate education leads to a Bachelor's degree. Please be sure that, if you are qualifying based on graduate level education, you include documentation to support education completed after your Bachelor's degree was attained. Exception to Mandatory Education Requirement: Employees in GS- 1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupy on January 1, 2000. Employees who occupy GS-1102 positions at grades 5 through 12 will be considered to have met the basic requirements for other GS-1102 positions up to and including those classified at the GS-12. This includes positions at other agencies and promotions up through grade 12. However, employees must meet specialized experience requirements when seeking another position. Regarding Experience, at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-07 grade level, which included: Experience performing contracting actions such as preparing contracts, reviewing bids, and making determinations. Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks: Performing recurring or developmental assignments involving the use of formal advertising or basic negotiation procedures; analyzing contract provisions and recommending termination or modification of purchase orders and/or contracts; investigating complaints by reconstructing and reconciling incomplete information. For more information on the advertised position refer to the following; Contracting Series, 1102 (opm.gov) MEET TIME IN GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT: You must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the GS-05 grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position you are applying to. Advancement to positions up to GS-05 is permitted if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade held within the preceding 52 weeks. AND TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT: By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens". Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards. Education If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements: You must submit a copy of your transcripts to include course number, title, completion and grade. 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. If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement. Important: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. Click on this link for more information. Failure to provide all of the required documents/information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating. Additional Information Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100. Promotion Potential: If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed. Recruitment and/or relocation incentives may be authorized.