Contract Specialist

About the role

This position serves as a Senior Level Contract Officer, located in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Justice Management Division (JMD), Office of Acquisition Management (OAM). This is an open-continuous announcement with an established initial cut-off date 14 days after the open date of the announcement.

Please see the "How You Will be Evaluated" section for more information.

What you will do

• * Awards and/or administers complex, high dollar value contracts. * Coordinates procurement activities associated with high-dollar contracts for products and/or professional and technical services. * Plans, develops and executes an acquisition strategy for the organization. * Determines type of contract vehicles, task orders or modifications to be used, prepares justifications, and obtains necessary approvals. * Coordinates with team members in preparing solicitations, evaluating vendor proposals and quotations. * Conducts all post-award functions, to include negotiating and issuing modifications, evaluating contractor performance, resolving issues, and disputes, and closing out contracts.

Education

Education must be reviewed and certified by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, in order for it to be creditable towards your qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from accredited institution. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements.

You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. education program.

It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. If you are qualifying on foreign education, you MUST submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency.

Transcripts must be uploaded with your application to verify education. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

How you will be evaluated

Once the job opportunity announcement closes (at 11:59 pm ET on 08/12/2027, your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) along with the results of the applied assessment.

Qualified applicants who pass the USA Hire assessment, which is used to determine proficiency, will be referred to the selecting official for consideration. The Hiring Official may select any qualified candidate. Veterans' preference is not applicable.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

You must meet all qualifications, including meeting or exceeding the cut score on the required assessments.

Your USAHIRE assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments.

Open-Continuous Cut-Off Information: An initial cut-off date of 14 days after the open date of the announcement will be used to evaluate candidates for the initial available vacancies; then quarterly thereafter, until closing of the announcement. Initial cut off date: 08/27/2026, then quarterly thereafter: November 27, 2026; March 1, 2027; June 1, 2027 and August 12, 2027.

Any application received after the initial cut-off date will only be considered if additional vacancies for the position are received after the initial cut-off date. IF additional vacancies are received after the initial cut-off date, ALL applicants that applied will be evaluated/re-evaluated and ranked as stated within the Evaluation statement of the announcement.

Once the application process is complete, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the job requirements This vacancy is being filled through a Direct Hire Authority. All applicants who meet the basic qualification requirements will be forwarded to the Selecting Official for consideration.

We will evaluate your application for basic eligibility and to determine if your experience meets the basic qualification requirements described in the announcement. All applicants who meet the qualifications and other basic requirement are eligible for referral and selection consideration.

Accountability Acquisition Services and Advice Attention to Detail Contracting/Procurement Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Negotiates and Administer Contracts for Products and Services Oral Communication Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Writing When addressing the specialized experience statement, applicants must present evidence of the experience in their resume.

If the specialized experience statement is repeated, in the applicant's resume, Human Resources will deem the applicant as ineligible. If you would like to preview the application questionnaire, please see: ***

Documents you must provide

• It is your responsibility to carefully review the list of required documents below and submit the necessary documentation based on your eligibility.
• Professional Certification, Resume, and Transcript Resume - All Applicants: You must submit a resume (a two page or less resume is required) containing the following pieces of information for each job entry listed in your employment history: Official position title, Employer name and contact information, Start and end dates (including month and year), Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time, A list of duties performed and accomplishments.
• Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the Qualifications section of this announcement and it must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire.
• We do not assume you have the necessary experience to successfully perform in this job regardless of your employment history or academic career.
• CTAP/ICTAP eligibility documentation - If you are a displaced Federal employee claiming eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP, you must submit: A copy of the agency notice (i.e., letter of intent to separate, separation notice, or agency RIF letter), Your most recent performance appraisal, and Most recent SF-50 showing current/former position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location.
• If you are using education to qualify for this position, or education is required: You must submit a transcript, which may be unofficial, as long as it contains a full listing of courses, credit earned, grade and grade-point-average, subject area, degree(s) earned, and dates of award.
• Your transcript must come from a nationally accredited educational institution recognized by the Department of Education.
• Please do not submit electronic transcripts with documentation security protection.
• These may prevent our application system from accepting and processing the document.
• If submitting a foreign transcript, you must have the transcript reviewed by an approved foreign education review organization recognized by the Department of Education.
• Your transcript must also be in English or have an English translation included.
• Professional Certification: You must provide a copy of a current, valid Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C)(Professional) certification.

What to expect next

You will receive e-mail notifications as your application status is updated by DOJ. However, you can also see your application status any time by logging in to your USAJOBS account and looking on the "Applications" page. Click the position title to expand the display for each application in the list.

We strive to extend a final offer of employment within 90 days from the close of this announcement. Additional selections may be made from this announcement within 90 days.

Additional information

Additional selections may be made from this announcement. This announcement is being advertised under an agency specific OR a government-wide Direct-Hire Authority approved by OPM for filling vacancies when a severe shortage or critical hiring need exists. Veterans Preference and other Category Rating procedures do not apply to this announcement.

Applicants must meet all qualification requirements of the position.

The hiring office may interview and select any qualified candidate of their choosing from the qualified pool. See OPM, Direct Hire Authority for more information. Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service.

To receive selection priority for this position, you must: Be rated well-qualified for the position based on the competencies listed above; and submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility.

Well-qualified is defined as having knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or competencies clearly exceeding the minimum qualification requirements for the vacancy.

Probationary Period: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may 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.

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.

EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor.

More information can be found here: *** DOJ Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly.

Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

The DOJ Reasonable Accommodation policy can be found here: *** Selective Service: If you were born male, on or after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law.

Additional information is found at: *** Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs: The Fair Chance Act prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicant's criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment.

If you believe a DOJ employee or Federal contractor acting on its behalf has violated your rights under this Act, you may submit a written complaint within 30 days of the date of the alleged non-compliance directly to agency contact information within the job announcement.

Note: In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201(b) certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance Act.