Contracting Officer

The incumbent must possess the following:

• At least 4 years' experience in contracting or related positions.
• At least 1 year of specialized experience, which must have been professional experience at a level of difficulty comparable to the next lowest grade level. Specialized experience is progressively responsible professional or administrative experience related to the functions of purchasing and procurement. Such experience should have provided a comprehensive knowledge of the practices and procedures used in these processes, as well as knowledge of the administrative requirements needed to support these activities.

Specialized experience includes, but is not limited to, hands-on experience (versus having supervised or overseen) in the following contracting activities:

• Obligating appropriated funds in an automated contract and/or financial management system.
• Generating data from automated systems, conducting detailed analyses of the extracted data, and presenting inferences and conclusions in an informative, useful, and relatable manner.
• Identifying open purchase orders that are eligible for de-obligation. This includes conducting research on aged purchase orders, working with program managers and vendors to obtain a release of claim, and executing contract closeouts.
• Drafting, editing, and tracking letter contracts such as authorizations-to-proceed (ATPs).
• Reviewing purchase requests to ensure the accuracy and completeness.
• Reconciling data discrepancies between a feeder system for purchase requests and an official system of record.
• Using automated tools such as spreadsheets to analyze and track information.

In addition to the specialized experience as described above, the incumbent must also possess two years of general experience as described below.

General experience in executing administrative functions, including best practices such as electronic record keeping and document retention. Candidate must possess strong math, analytical, organizational, and communication skills, which are essential qualifications for success.
Working with general instruction, adapting and applying principles, concepts, processes, tools and methodologies to solve real-world problems. Must be team player, but possess the negotiation skills and the ability to work independently as needed. An understanding of federal contracting operations and processes is important.

General experience includes, but is not limited to:

• Effectively using Microsoft Word to create correspondence and reports.
• Effectively using Microsoft Excel to produce analytical spreadsheets and trackers.

Additionally, must possess strong interpersonal skills, as candidates will be expected to work with a diverse number of stakeholders with varying levels of procurement knowledge. The candidate should expect to interact with a wide range of personnel that may include PDS executives, suppliers, shared service providers, and others. Prepare and/or contribute to technical reports, memos, analyses and briefings. Plan and manage assigned efforts. Support meetings, inter-team communication, and issue-resolution with external and internal stakeholder groups.

If the incumbent has the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) (Professional) or the FAC-C Level III legacy certification, he or she may be promoted without further competition to AD-14 upon completion of one year of exemplary performance, and approval of the PDS Director.

If the incumbent does not have the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) (Professional) or the FAC-C Level III legacy certification, he or she may be promoted without further competition to AD-14 upon attaining the FAC-C (Professional), completion of one year of exemplary performance, and approval of the PDS Director.

Desired Qualifications (not required):

• Specific knowledge of the Oracle Federal Financial system is preferred, but not required.
• Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) (Professional) or FAC-C Level III legacy certification is preferred, but not required.
• Specific knowledge of data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau) and techniques is preferred, but not required.