Supervisory Contract Specialist (Division Chief)

Summary

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM) provide the infrastructure and support that enables the U.S. Department of Labor to perform its mission. OASAM provides leadership and support for information technology, human resources management, procurement, business operations, safety and health, space management, civil rights, emergency management, security, budget, and performance.

Duties

Available offices for this position are located in Washington DC; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; New York City, NY; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; and Philadelphia, PA. The advertised salary reflects the pay range for the above locations. Upon selection, the salary will be set in accordance with the selectee's assigned duty location. The selectee(s) will report to their assigned DOL office location on a regular basis and be eligible for telework as determined by agency policy. This is not a remote position. As a GS-15 Division Chief, you will perform the following duties, which is not an all-inclusive list: Serve as the division's technical expert and authority on all aspects of procurement and contract actions, interpreting policy, defining objectives, and making authoritative, precedent-setting decisions on complex technical and procedural issues. Lead the division by managing organizational change, resolving complex problems, and fostering innovation and appropriate risk-taking to accomplish program objectives. Manage major and often complex programs which require long-range planning, scheduling, and problem-solving abilities based upon a solid foundation of contracting methods and contract types. Supervise a staff of subordinate employees, planning and assigning work, setting priorities, and adjusting operations and program objectives to meet changing requirements within available resources. Apply precedents from government contracting case law to ensure contracting officer decisions are legally sound, consistent, and defensible on appeal. Advise customers on acquisition strategies to ensure timely availability of supplies and services to meet mission requirements, and advise senior leadership on issues affecting Division programs and their alignment with broader agency objectives. Develop and establish division positions on key regulatory and statutory issues, negotiating and justifying division strategies to ensure compliance with applicable policies and requirements. Represent the organization in contractual matters with other Department and Federal agencies and in negotiations with private industry. Qualifications

You must meet the Basic Education Requirements (the individual occupation requirement, IOR) AND the Specialized Experience to qualify for the Contract Specialist position, as described below. Please read these requirements carefully. Basic Requirements: 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 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 requirement: In addition to the basic requirement, to qualify for this position you must have at least 52 week of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 which is the next lower grade level of the normal line of progression of this position in the Federal government. Specialized experience is experience that is related to the work of this position and has provided you with the competencies required for successful job performance. Examples of qualifying specialized experience for the GS-15 Supervisory Contract Specialist includes the following (applicants must meet all to be considered qualified): Serving as business advisor for program officials on acquisition and administrative matters and recommending effective/efficient solutions. Applying appropriate policies, applicable laws, regulations, practices, procedures and effectively and managing the procurement of supplies and services of various sizes and complexity through all phases of the acquisition process. Planning, directing, and evaluating the work of subordinate managers and employees for accuracy and compliance through the pre-award and post-award contracting functions. Collaborating with top management to carry out assignments involving key programs and/or initiatives. Conducting acquisition file reviews and/or audits.

Education

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service. If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum course work requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information. How You Will Be Evaluated

Applicants meeting the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements will be referred to the selecting official. Rating/ranking and veterans' preference does not apply to this position. You may preview application questions for this vacancy here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13065506 The information you provide may be verified by a review of your paid, unpaid, volunteer, as it demonstrates the competencies or skills required for the position to be filled. Your evaluation may include an interview, reference checks, or other assessment conducted by HR specialists, subject matter experts, or panel members and may include other assessment tools (ex. interview, structured interview, written test, work sample, etc.). USA Hire You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Customer Service Decisiveness Flexibility Interpersonal Skills Problem Solving Resilience Under the authority of direct hire recruitment, evaluation factors are a tool to gauge one's proficiency in relevant competencies, but will not be used to determine who will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. All candidates who have provided a complete application, and meet the minimum qualification requirements will be referred for consideration. INFORMATION FOR ICTAP/CTAP ELIGIBLE(S) ONLY: If you are eligible for special priority selection under ICTAP/CTAP, you must meet the basic and minimum qualification requirements for this position to receive consideration. Be sure to review the eligibility questions to reflect that you are applying as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible and submit supporting documentation. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. Other Information

This position is being filled through the Direct Hire Authority. Traditional rating and ranking of applications does NOT apply. Veterans' preference does not apply. The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to protect the welfare of workers and job seekers, improve working conditions, expand high-quality employment opportunities, and assure work-related benefits and rights for all workers. Refer to these links for more information: GENERAL INFORMATION, REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION, ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION, FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES As a condition of employment, all personnel must undergo a background investigation for access to DOL facilities, systems, information and/or classified materials before they can enter on duty: BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION You may not be aware, but in the regulations for agency ethics programs, there are requirements for supervisors. Section 2638.103 of Title 5 of the CFR states: Every supervisor in the executive branch has a heightened personal responsibility for advancing government ethics. It is imperative that supervisors serve as models of ethical behavior for subordinates. Supervisors have a responsibility to help ensure that subordinates are aware of their ethical obligations under the Standards of Conduct and that subordinates know how to contact agency ethics officials. Supervisors are also responsible for working with agency ethics officials to help resolve conflicts of interest and enforce government ethics laws and regulations, including those requiring certain employees to file financial disclosure reports. In addition, supervisors are responsible, when requested, for assisting agency ethics officials in evaluating potential conflicts of interest and identifying positions subject to financial disclosure requirements. Supervisory Financial Disclosure: This position is subject to the confidential financial disclosure requirements of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-521). Therefore, if selected, you will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) to determine if a conflict or an appearance of a conflict exists between your financial interest(s) and your prospective position with DOL. This information will be required annually. Click here for Telework Position Information. This is not a remote work position. The selectee will report to an assigned DOL office location on a regular basis and is eligible for participation in telework as determined by management in accordance with DOL policy. Based on agency needs, additional positions may be filled using this vacancy. The Fair Chance Act (FCA) prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicant's criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOL employee has violated your rights under the FCA, you may file a complaint of the alleged violation following our agency's complaint process Guidelines for Reporting Violations of the Fair Chance Act. Note: The FCA does not apply to some positions specified under the Act, such as law enforcement or national security positions. All Department of Labor employees are subject to the provisions of the Drug-Free Workplace Program under Executive Order 12564 and Public Law 100-71.