Department of Homeland Security

Contract Specialist

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Full time

Contract Specialist

Department: Department of Homeland Security

Location(s): Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Salary Range: $97653 - $150962 Per Year

Job Summary: Direct Hire Authority: This position will be filled through the Office of Personnel Management's Direct Hire Authority. The "Rule of Three", Category Rating and Veterans Preference will not apply to this vacancy.

Major Duties:

  • This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The primary purpose of this position is to prevent, protect, respond to and recover from terrorism, criminal acts, and other hazards threatening the U.S. Government's critical infrastructure, services, and the people who provide or receive them. Duties performed: Determines the contract methods to be used and develops the unique/complex terms and conditions of the solicitation. Obtains required reviews/approvals, and issue solicitations. Evaluates proposals, negotiates cost/prices and terms and conditions with offerors/contractors, and ensures that awards are within applicable laws and regulations. Provides guidance to lower-graded specialist, program offices, field offices and user functions regarding all aspects of Department procurements. Performs contract administration functions, such as verifying evidence of contractor's progress, negotiating modifications, issuing termination notices, reviewing contract claims, and conducting contract closeouts.

Qualifications: GS-12: To qualify for the GS-12 position, applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic Requirement AND Specialized Experience as noted below. Basic Requirement: You must meet one of the items listed below: A. You have successfully completed a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field from an accredited college or university. Note: Transcripts (official or unofficial) must be submitted to support claim. B. You have completed 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. Note: Transcripts (official or unofficial) must be submitted to support claim. C. You qualify as an exception. 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 meet the basic requirements for other GS-1102 positions up to and including those classified at 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. Note: SF-50(s) must be submitted to support claim. AND Specialized Experience GS-12: Applicant must demonstrate one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-11 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing the following duties Conducting pre-award and post-award functions including price/cost analysis, negotiation, and administration to procure supplies or services with specialized requirements for equipment, services, or construction; Receiving and evaluating proposals in conjunction with price/cost analysts or other technical personnel; AND Monitoring contractor performance in relation to the completion schedule. Note: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. GS-13: To qualify for the GS-13 position, applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic Requirement AND Specialized Experience as noted below. Basic Requirement: You must meet the items listed below: A. 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 of 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 B. 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. C. 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. 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. Specialized Experience: GS-13: Applicant must demonstrate one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-12 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing the following duties: Conducting pre-award and post-award functions including determining procurement strategies, conducting price/cost analysis, negotiation, and administration to procure supplies or services with specialized requirements for equipment, services, or construction. Preparing solicitation documents such as cost accounting standards, testing procedures, cost escalation factors, firm fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive, cost-plus-award-fee or cost data requirements; and Monitoring contract performance and negotiating contract modifications. NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Qualification claims will be subject to verification. NOTE: 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. Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP/CTAP): This program applies to Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed, or employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet eligibility criteria for CTAP or ICTAP; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. Well-Qualified includes those applicants whose knowledge, skills, and abilities clearly exceed the minimum qualification requirements for the position. For information on eligibility criteria and required documentation, go to: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/28/2025 to receive consideration. PLEASE NOTE: If your materials are not received by the closing date, your application will be evaluated solely on the information available and you may not receive full consideration or may not be considered eligible. Also, if you do not provide a valid email address, you may not be notified of the outcome of your application. The application process is as follows: To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. 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/.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-28