Department: Department of Justice
Location(s): Birmingham, Alabama
Salary Range: $75431 - $117535 Per Year
Job Summary: Direct-Hire Authority (DHA) is a hiring authority granted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to address critical hiring needs or severe candidate shortages. For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit www.justice.gov/usao/. As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.
Major Duties:
Qualifications: To qualify for the position of Contract Specialist (Direct Hire), at GS-1102-11/12, you must meet the basic qualification requirements listed below. Basic Requirement: A. Completion of a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree or higher with a major in any field. OR B. 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. You must submit your transcripts (unofficial or official) to verify basic qualifications for this position or you will be disqualified. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. GS-11: To qualify for the GS-11 Contracting Specialist position, you must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-09 level. Specialized Experience is defined as developing and managing all aspects for pre-award and post-award functions, including price/cost analysis, negotiation, and administration for services, materials, and equipment associated with the organization; using solicitation methods or a combination of methods identified in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement regulations, processes and procedures; assisting with the development and preparation of Statements of Work (SOW) typically involving specialized equipment, professional or technical services; reviewing and analyzing requests for the procurement of off-the-shelf items, items that are manufactured to order, specialized services, expert witness, litigative consultant services, construction, IT and complex equipment and services; determining sole source and other required document; preparing solicitation documents and incorporating specific provisions; analyzing proposals for conformance with the solicitation; conducting negotiations before and/or after contract award; negotiating with potential contractors; awarding contracts within delegated contracting officer authority; and/or administering contracts, including monitoring contractor's performance. OR Education: A Ph. D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a degree accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. OR Combination: specialized experience as described above and education as described above, which when combined equal 100% of the requirements. Combinations of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. In order to qualify based on a combination, graduate education must be in excess of 2 full years. GS-12: To qualify for the GS-12 Contracting Specialist, you must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-11 level. Specialized Experience is defined as performing and leading contracting specialist with the development of all aspects for pre-award and post-award functions, including price/cost analysis, negotiation, and administration for services, materials, and equipment associated with the organization; using solicitation methods or a combination of methods identified in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement regulations, processes and procedures; developing, preparing and overseeing Statements of Work (SOW) or typically involving specialized equipment, professional or technical services; reviewing and analyzing requests for the procurement of off-the-shelf, items that are manufactured to order, specialized services, expert witness, litigative consultant services, construction, IT and complex equipment and services; determining sole source and other required document; preparing solicitation documents and incorporating specific provisions; analyzing proposals for conformance with the solicitation; conducting extensive negotiations before and/or after contract award; negotiating with potential contractors; awarding contracts within delegated contracting officer authority; and/or administering complex contracts. *** Must be able to attain and retain at least a level 1 (one) Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) as a federal contracting professional. FAC-C has specific training requirements with some courses online as well as classroom courses. To maintain a FAC-C, contract professionals are required to meet the continuous training requirement. *** You MUST meet all qualification requirements by the 05/03/2026 of this announcement. Your resume must support your responses to the application questionnaire and the qualification requirements. Failure to do so may result in an ineligible rating. See the Required Documents section for important notes about what must be included in your resume.
How to Apply: To apply for this position, you must complete the online application questionnaire and submit your supporting documentation. Your complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 05/03/2026 to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: 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. Essay Questions: The following four narrative questions provide an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question. Please provide a response of 200 words or less to each question (see the application questionnaire). You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot. How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes. How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples, and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position. NEED HELP? If you need help with USAJOBs or the application process, please see the USAJOBS Help or Application Manager Online Help websites which includes information on managing your account, creating an application, uploading documents, etc. Reasonable Accommodation: To request reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contactNorthern District of Alabama at Theresa.Bossard@usdoj.gov or for 205-244-2072 assistance.
Application Deadline: 2026-05-03