Contract Specialist - DIRECT HIRE

Summary

This position is located in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Financial Management Division, Office of Acquisition. This position(s) primary purpose is to lead in the planning, development, and management of the DEA's agency-wide regulations.

Duties

As a Contract Specialist - DIRECT HIRE, your typical work assignments may include: Independently conducts negotiations with prospective contractors, determines type of contract to be awarded and type of contract clauses to be used. Provides Operations and Maintenance (O&M) support for DEA acquisition system operations, release management, testing, and documentation. Analyzes a variety of policy issues identified through review of DEA acquisition and procurement operations and government purchase card program and related financial management areas. Takes lead on risk assessment, management and mitigation for DEA acquisition activities. Qualifications

For more information on eligibility requirements see: DEA Employment Eligibility Applicants must meet all of the required qualification requirements described below by the closing of this announcement. If you are qualifying based on education or if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application. Basic Qualification 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. 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. Applicants applying for the GS-12 must meet one of the following requirements: A. Have at least one full year of qualifying specialized experience that is at least equivalent in difficulty and complexity to work performed at the GS-11 grade level. Specialized 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. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Drafting and/or reviewing legal documentation supporting contract operations; 2) Providing technical assistance and guidance on financial systems to support compliant program execution; 3) Managing acquisition programs such as the purchase card program, the Contracting Officers' Representative (COR) program, Acquisition Career Management, small business programs, or similar programs; and 4) Conducting acquisition compliance reviews and internal assessments. Applicants applying for the GS-13 must meet one of the following requirements: A. Have at least one full year of qualifying specialized experience that is at least equivalent in difficulty and complexity to work performed at the GS-12 grade level. Specialized 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. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Leading the development, review, and/or interpretation of acquisition documentation support contract operations; 2) Providing authoritative guidance on acquisition systems operations; 3) Establishing program direction and performance requirements for acquisition programs such as the purchase card program, the Contracting Officers' Representative (COR) program, Acquisition Career Management, small business programs, or similar programs; and 4) Overseeing acquisition compliance reviews and internal assessments to identify deficiencies and strengthen internal controls. Additional information on the position qualification requirements are located in the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Qualifications Standards Handbook.

Education

See the qualification section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: www.naces.org/members.php. If you are claiming education as any part of your qualifications for this position, you must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment. Under the provisions of the Direct-Hire Authority, veterans' preference and traditional rating and ranking of applications does not apply. For this announcement, all applicants will be assessed to determine if they meet the qualifications for this position, specifically the education, specialized experience, and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) necessary to perform the work of the position. All applications that meet the required qualifications will be referred to the selecting official. The assessment questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions which provides 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 in 200-words or less. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and have not used a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot. Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) Eligibles: View information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must be rated in the Highly-Qualified category for this position and submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement to receive consideration for selection priority. Other Information

For reasonable accommodation at the Drug Enforcement Administration, please contact the Human Resources office listed in this announcement. Current or Former Political Appointees: 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. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to similar positions in any Division/Office listed in this announcement. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period, during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. If eligible, telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval. Please note that any approved remote work arrangement is subject to the locality pay area of the alternative telework worksite.