Contract Specialist
US Department of Veterans Affairs, Eatontown, NJ, United States
Contract Specialist
This position is assigned within one of the service organizations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center, which is strategically aligned under the Office of Procurement, Acquisition & Logistics located in VA Central Office, Washington, D.C. The Contract Specialist is responsible for the solicitation, analysis, negotiation, award and administration of a group of contracts and performs a full range of contract administration duties related to complex contracts. Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Participates in acquisition planning, pre-award responsibilities and contract awards for all major contracting elements for the National Acquisition Center (NAC) Serves as the contracting officer, contract negotiator, and contract administrator for high dollar value, contracts with a national scope Makes final determinations relative to price adjustment, deviations from contract terms and conditions, delivery schedules and changes, supplemental agreements, change orders, disclosures, and other related contract matters upon analysis Conducts negotiations that are precedent-setting, involve large sums of money, involve factual or legal disputes and/or are characterized by a strong lack of cooperation and/or display of hostility on the contractor's part Resolves disagreements between auditors and contractors involving audit findings Develops realistic and attainable milestones for the NAC's complex projects Monitors work in progress and assures timely accomplishment of assigned workload Takes appropriate action to fulfill requirements of contracts and/or agreements Closes out contracts and/or agreements, in a timely manner Conducts initial conferences with contractors to provide information and clarify special provisions of the contract Remains cognizant of socioeconomic contracting goals and accomplishments Explores initiatives which increase socioeconomic accomplishments for the NAC Preparing proposals, conducting evaluations, and resolving contractual issues Reviews and approves small and disadvantaged business subcontracting plans Establishes a negotiation position based on technical reviews and extensive knowledge of contractor's operations Negotiates directly with contractor personnel to obtain final settlements Prepares negotiation memoranda to explain rationale and methods used in arriving at the final settlement Participates in conferences and meetings with customers, industry, and various Government agencies and officials Provides detailed explanation of Federal Contracting procedures in relationship to contracts and agreements established and administered by the NAC Meets with contractors to explain the ramifications of various Public Laws. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: PD44076A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/01/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Compliance Contract Administration Critical Thinking Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Writing Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from the locations listed for this vacancy. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Acquisition Center offices at those locations.
This position is assigned within one of the service organizations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Acquisition Center, which is strategically aligned under the Office of Procurement, Acquisition & Logistics located in VA Central Office, Washington, D.C. The Contract Specialist is responsible for the solicitation, analysis, negotiation, award and administration of a group of contracts and performs a full range of contract administration duties related to complex contracts. Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Participates in acquisition planning, pre-award responsibilities and contract awards for all major contracting elements for the National Acquisition Center (NAC) Serves as the contracting officer, contract negotiator, and contract administrator for high dollar value, contracts with a national scope Makes final determinations relative to price adjustment, deviations from contract terms and conditions, delivery schedules and changes, supplemental agreements, change orders, disclosures, and other related contract matters upon analysis Conducts negotiations that are precedent-setting, involve large sums of money, involve factual or legal disputes and/or are characterized by a strong lack of cooperation and/or display of hostility on the contractor's part Resolves disagreements between auditors and contractors involving audit findings Develops realistic and attainable milestones for the NAC's complex projects Monitors work in progress and assures timely accomplishment of assigned workload Takes appropriate action to fulfill requirements of contracts and/or agreements Closes out contracts and/or agreements, in a timely manner Conducts initial conferences with contractors to provide information and clarify special provisions of the contract Remains cognizant of socioeconomic contracting goals and accomplishments Explores initiatives which increase socioeconomic accomplishments for the NAC Preparing proposals, conducting evaluations, and resolving contractual issues Reviews and approves small and disadvantaged business subcontracting plans Establishes a negotiation position based on technical reviews and extensive knowledge of contractor's operations Negotiates directly with contractor personnel to obtain final settlements Prepares negotiation memoranda to explain rationale and methods used in arriving at the final settlement Participates in conferences and meetings with customers, industry, and various Government agencies and officials Provides detailed explanation of Federal Contracting procedures in relationship to contracts and agreements established and administered by the NAC Meets with contractors to explain the ramifications of various Public Laws. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: PD44076A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/01/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Compliance Contract Administration Critical Thinking Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Writing Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from the locations listed for this vacancy. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Acquisition Center offices at those locations.