Summary This positions are located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Coast Guard, Surface Forces Logistics Center, Contracting & Procurement Division, Seattle, WA. Responsibilities The role of this position is to serve as non-supervisory Team Lead Contract Specialist responsible for contracts involving such diverse areas as ship repair, maintenance and alteration; state-of-the-art ship's systems and subsystems, ship electronic systems, naval architecture/engineering and specialized technical representative services relating to boat maintenance, and boat product line supply production items. Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team. Typical work assignments include: - Identifying and clarifying the supplies and/or services to be acquired and developing procurement objectives and methodology which are appropriate to the value and complexity of requirements. - Procurement planning to include preparation of acquisition and procurement plans; maintaining milestone charts and related schedules - Preparing and reviewing justifications, determinations and findings, and source selection plans; serves as advisor to program officials to identify procurement objectives to be used in the preparation of statements of work. - Source selection to include devising broad varieties and types of contract vehicles (solicitations, letter contracts, agreements, and contracts), conducting pre-proposal conferences, performing cost and price analysis, determining competitive range and evaluating contractor responsibility - Serving as a warranted contracting officer and lead negotiator utilizing quantitative analysis to prepare the Government's negotiating position, plans negotiation strategy, conducts negotiations, documents results and utilizes cost and price analysis techniques to determine price reasonableness; serves as Source Selection Authority - Performing contract administration to include negotiating change requests, exercise of options, issuance of stop work orders, resolving undelivered orders and unpaid invoices, addressing disputes and claims, contract termination when appropriate and responding to Congressional Inquiries and Freedom of Information Act Requests. - Providing advice, counsel or instruction to the team on both work assigned and contractual matters; identifies developmental and training needs for the team, providing for and arranging for needed development and training Requirements Conditions of Employment All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. Key Requirements: Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Must be registered or exempt from the Selective Service. See www.sss.gov A one-year probationary period may be required. Suitable for Federal employment determined by background investigation. This is a Bargaining Unit position. Qualifications Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above 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 bachelor's 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. Exceptions: Employees in GS-1102 positions will be considered to have met the standard for positions they occupy on January 1, 2000. This also applies to positions at the same grade in the same agency or other agencies if the specialized experience requirements are met. However, they will have to meet the basic requirements and specialized experience requirements in order to qualify for promotion to a higher grade, unless granted a waiver under Paragraph D. Waiver: When filling a specific vacant position, the senior procurement executive of the selecting agency, at his or her discretion, may waive any or all of the requirements of Paragraphs A and B above if the senior procurement executive certifies that the applicant possesses significant potential for advancement to levels of greater responsibility and authority, based on demonstrated analytical and decision making capabilities, job performance, and qualifying experience. With respect to each waiver granted under this Paragraph D, the senior procurement executive must document for the record the basis of the waiver. If an individual is placed in a position in an agency on the basis of a waiver, the agency may later reassign that individual to another position at the same grade within that agency without additional waiver action. To qualify at the GS-13 grade level, applicants must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 grade level in the federal sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. Specialized experience must include the following: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service. Directly related experience must have involved applying contracting principles, laws, regulations and procedures sufficient to plan, develop, implement, and maintain all aspects Applying contracting principles, laws, regulations and procedures sufficient to plan, develop, implement, and maintain all aspects of one or more major systems contracts; applying knowledge of a procurement functional area sufficient to provide expert technical leadership, staff coordination, and consultation; formulating guidelines, implementing new developments, and providing policy interpretation; performing in-depth evaluations of the financial and technical capabilities, or the performance, of the contractor anticipating problems and providing advice to project personnel on effective implementation and time frames required. 1. Mastery of contracting methods and contract types to plan and carry out long-term pre-award and post-award procurement actions to include knowledge of the principles of acquisition planning sufficient to design and accomplish a plan for procurement of multi-year requirements, negotiated procurements, very large dollar-value procurements or procurements under formal source selection procedures. 2. Ability to plan, solicit, evaluate and award contract for state-of-the-art or technically complex supplies and services. 3. Advance skill in negotiation techniques to conduct contract negotiations with high-level industry and Government officials. 4. Contract administration and termination skills sufficient to administer complex contracts which require day-to-day negotiations of significant contract changes, monitoring numerous special requirements, coordinating extensive subcontracting involvement and observing rigid time frames. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. You must comply with education and training requirements for this position see below: For all 1102 positions at the GS-13 level. Selectee must meet requirements for Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C): 1. Professional certification within 36 months of entrance on duty. 2. FAC-C (Professional) Requirements: DHS is adopting a single level of certification with foundational training and an examination, Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) Professional. New hires without certification shall follow the FAC-C (Professional) requirements. Detailed information on core curricula courses is available at Contracting Certification Course Web Series - Defense Acquisition University (dau.edu). - Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representative (FAC-COR): A valid, current FAC-C (Professional) is considered to have met the FAC-COR requirements for all levels, however, an individual with FAC-COR certification does not meet the requirements for the FAC-C (Professional). - DOD Contracting Professional Certification: A valid, current DOD Contracting Professional Certification is equivalent to a FAC-C (Professional). - Current federal employees certified at Levels l, Il, or Ill of the legacy FAC-C programs will automatically be certified in the FAC-C (Professional). National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. The Office of Personnel management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule, C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office. Education This position does have a positive education requirement. If you are including education on your resume, report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Required Documents section for detail. Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications click here Recruitment Incentive - Selectee(s) for this position who are newly appointed to a permanent position are authorized to receive a one-time recruitment incentive of 10% of the salary, including locality for this position. Receipt of the bonus will require a 12-month service agreement. "Newly appointed" refers to the first appointment (regardless of tenure) as an employee of the Federal Government, an appointment following a break in service of at least 90 days from a previous appointment as an employee of the Federal Government, or, in certain cases, an appointment following a break in service of less than 90 days from a previous appointment as an employee of the Federal Government. Relocation Incentive - Selectee(s) for this position who are current federal employees on permanent appointments and will be moving outside of the current commuting area of their current position to accept this position are authorized to receive a one-time relocation incentive of 10% of the salary including locality for this position. Receipt of the bonus will require a 12-month service agreement. The employee must establish a residence in the new geographic area prior to payment. Student Loan - Selectee(s) for this position who are newly appointed to a permanent or term position may be eligible for student loan repayment up to $10,000 (pre-tax) for one calendar year. More than one loan may be repaid if the combined repayments do not exceed $10,000. Receipt of this incentive will require a three-year service agreement. Additional Information E-Verify DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities. Fair Chance Act The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security and its Components from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to aden.p.williams@uscg.mil. Suitability Statement If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment. Shared Certificates Statement Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions. Special Employment Consideration The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR 213.3102(u), and or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps, VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement. Recruitment incentives may be authorized. All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit. More than 1 selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 45 days from the date the certificate was issued. If selection is made below the full performance level, the incumbent may be promoted up to the target grade without further competition, if all legal and regulatory requirements are met and when recommended by the supervisor. However, promotion to the full performance level is not guaranteed and is dependent on successful performance at the lower grade level(s). If you need a reasonable accommodation for the application and hiring process, please contact 1(888)992-7387. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Visit Reasonable Accommodation Below is the link to the list of CRSP's, which are assigned by area: https://www.uscg.mil/Resources/Civil-Rights/Service-Providers/