General Services Administration

Contract Specialist

San Francisco, California, Lakewood, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Atlanta, Georgia, C Full time

Contract Specialist

Department: General Services Administration

Location(s): San Francisco, California, Lakewood, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Boston, Massachusetts, Kansas City, Missouri, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fort Worth, Texas, Tacoma, Washington

Salary Range: $126563 - $195200 Per Year

Job Summary: As a Contract Specialist you will serve as a senior Contracting Officer planning and managing highly specialized procurements. Location of position: Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) - Office of Travel, Transportation, and Logistics - Office of Acquisition Operations (QMA). San Francisco, CA; Lakewood, CO; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Kansas City, MO; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Fort Worth, TX and/or Tacoma, WA.

Major Duties:

  • We are currently filling one vacancy, but additional vacancies may be filled as needed. As a Contract Specialist you will serve as a senior Contracting Officer with unlimited signatory authority planning and managing highly specialized procurements within the industries delegated to this portfolio, of significant importance to the Government, an Agency and/or the Nation; and, to develop complex, long-range procurement policies. You will be responsible for the following duties: Perform procurement planning to identify large-scale systems, components, equipment and services to be acquired by contract. Develop procurement objectives, interims of competition and price range, establish the contractual strategy for the overall acquisition and construct contractual vehicles. Develop cost accounting and life-cycle acquisition plans, appropriate milestone charts and related schedules to plan, develop and administer all contractual aspects. Direct the development of the source selection plan and oversee the Source Selection Board. Develop pre-negotiation positions and strategies, determine the types of contract and negotiation authority to be used and prepare any justifications. Prepare determinations, findings and solicitation documents. Serves as a senior Contracting Officer with unlimited signatory authority for major government-wide programs within the Office of Acquisition Operations, General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Office of Travel, Transportation & Logistics. Performs detailed analyses of all elements of cost in contractor proposals and make competitive range determinations. Conduct pre-proposal conferences with prospective contractors to arrive at a clear understanding of what is required under the proposed contract. Obtain appropriate data from business and technical officials. Function as lead contract negotiator in developing pre-negotiation strategies. Coordinate with a broad range of Federal customers, Federal finance organizations, legal and other interested parties. Serve as principal advisor to program officials, representing the agency in procurement planning meetings. Represents the agency on a variety of nationwide procurement teams, studies or projects to raise issues of significance; articulate positions and resolve problems or improve the procurement process nationwide. Direct the full range of contract administration actions required for the programs. Terminate contract for the convenience of the Government or default by the contractor. Issue necessary modifications. As needed explore new or innovative contracting approaches to arrive at an equitable contractual arrangement. Direct disposition of claims and similar matters. Provide expert technical guidance, coordination and consultation to identify procurement objectives and methodologies, implement new developments and provide policy interpretation to various contracting activities.

Qualifications: For each job on your resume, provide: the exact dates you held each job (from month/year to month/year) number of hours per week you worked (if part time). If you have volunteered your service through a National Service program (e.g., Peace Corps, Americorps), we encourage you to apply and include this experience on your resume. For a brief video on creating a Federal resume, click here. The GS-14 salary range starts at $126,563.00 per year. If you are a new federal employee, your starting salary will likely be set at the Step 1 of the grade for which you are selected. To qualify, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level or higher in the Federal service. You must meet the requirements in 1, 2, or 3 below: All of a, b, and c below: (a) Completion of Training/Certification: FAC-C (Professional) or DoD Contracting Professional Certification. (b) At least 4 years of experience in contracting or related positions including 1 year of specialized experience at or equivalent to work at the level described below; and (c) Completion of 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. Exception: If you were in a GS-1102 position on January 1, 2000, you will be exempt from meeting the educational requirements for the grade level of that position. However, to be promoted you will have to meet Option 1 or 3. Waiver: GSA's senior procurement executive has the discretion to waive any or all of the requirements in 1 above. Note: Candidates that are missing either the 24 hours of business credit and/or the mandatory training certification, but are determined to be otherwise eligible, can be placed on a waiver certification by the HR staffing specialist. Specialized experience is one year of experience equivalent to the GS-13 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as either A or B listed below: A. Experience utilizing contracting regulations, policies, and procedures to: - perform the full range of highly complex pre-award and post-award activities on various contract types such as fixed price, fixed price economic price adjustment, various cost type contracts, requirements contracts, performance based acquisitions, and multiple award schedules; - perform delivery/task order placement and administration against multiple award contracts and/or requisitions; - defend pre-award and/or post-award protests, contract claims, and contract disputes; - lead or work as part of an effective, integrated project team and serve as principal contracting advisor to junior contract specialists and coworkers. B. Leading or supervising contracting professionals providing contracting services for the acquisition of a wide range of supplies and services (professional and non-professional). Examples must detail evidence of professional potential, business acumen, strong oral/written communication, and relationship building in order to procure a variety of complex or specialized products and/or services. Must hold or have the ability to obtain a senior level warrant and obtain and maintain signature authority. This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcript(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcements to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment.

How to Apply: Submit a complete online application including any required documents prior to 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of the announcement. You can modify or complete your application any time before the deadline. Simply return to USAJOBS, select the vacancy, and update your application. For more detailed instructions on how to apply, click here: Apply for a GSA Job. If you are having issues applying to this announcement, you should switch to a different browser, network or device. Note: Your firewall may block your transfer from USAJOBS to your GSA application. To begin, click the Apply Online button on the vacancy announcement. Sign in or register on USAJobs and select a resume and documents to include in your application. Resumes exceeding two pages will not be accepted by USAJOBS and will prevent your application from moving forward in the hiring process. Please see Required Documents for additional details. Once you have clicked Apply for this position now, you will be taken to the GSA site to complete the application process. Click the Apply To This Vacancy and complete all steps in the application process until the Confirmation indicates your application is complete. If you click Return to USAJobs or get timed out prior to receiving confirmation, your application will not be submitted and cannot be considered for this job. Note: Review the REQUIRED DOCUMENTS section of this announcement to determine which apply to you and must be submitted online. You may choose one or more of the following options to submit your document(s): Upload (from your computer) or USAJOBS (click the "USAJOBS" link to complete the transfer process). Need Assistance? Questions or issues completing an application and/or submitting documentation - contact mgshelp@monster.com or 1-866-656-6831 Monday-Friday 7AM - 7PM EST, except for Federal holidays Specific questions on the position - contact the HR representative (Monday-Friday during normal business hours) listed on the announcement, prior to the application deadline You must receive HR approval before deviating from these instructions. Be sure to APPLY EARLY as most assessments must be completed fully and submitted before the announcement closing.

Application Deadline: 2026-01-12