Lead Contract Specialist

U.S.-Citizenship-and-Immigration-Services; Camp Springs (MD); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Maryland, Camp Springs, seeks a Lead Contract Specialist to provide contracting leadership as a Contracting Officer within two execution divisions.

The role emphasizes workload management and expert guidance, reporting to the Supervisory Contract Specialist. Applicants must meet GS-14 level requirements, including relevant contracting experience and a 4-year degree with specified coursework.

Qualifications

• 4 years contracting experience, including at least 1 year at a higher level
• Bachelor's degree with 24 semester hours in accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, or related fields
• FAC-C (Professional) or equivalent certification required at time of application

Responsibilities

• Provide contracting advice to executing contract actions and lead a team
• Work with multiple contract types and dollar thresholds across divisions
• Provide technical leadership on the acquisition process and oversee workload as Contracting Officer

Skills

Team leadership

Contracting expertise

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, finance, law, contracts

Job description

Protect your homeland and defend your culture. Join USCIS, America's frontline defense against illegal foreign infiltration and fraud.

As a Lead Contract Specialist, you will serve as a team leader and Contracting Officer providing advice, guidance, workload management, and expertise in one of our two execution divisions. The position reports to the Supervisory Contract Specialist. The qualifications for this position must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 08/31/2026. Time in Grade does not apply to Delegated Examining Announcements, and any reference to Time in Grade in the questionnaire will not apply to the rating and ranking of applicants. This announcement is issued under the Direct Hire Authority to recruit for positions for which the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has a critical hiring need.

Basic Requirements:

All applicants must meet the following basic requirements: (Must be supported in Transcripts from an accredited institution, Resume and/or Applicable Certificate)

• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Selective Placement Factor:

You must possess a FAC-C (Professional) or equivalent certification at the time of application. Copies of certifications must be submitted with the application to be considered. Certification requirements may be viewed at: https://usdhs.sharepoint.com/sites/dhsconnect/org/comp/mgmt/ocpo/TrainingCareerDev/CertificationPrograms/FAC-C1/Documents/23_0119_FAC-C-Modernization-Memorandum.pdf. For a FAC-C (Professional) equivalency, please provide one of the following accepted verification documents: Do you hold a Legacy FAC-C Certification (Levels I, II, or III), Legacy Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Contracting Certification (Levels I, II, or III) or a Department of Defense (DOD) Contracting Professional Certification? Waivers will not be accepted. This experience must be documented in your resume. Failure to do so may result in an ineligible rating.

GS-14

You qualify at the GS-14 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience, which is equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the federal government, that equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must have experience performing all of the following duties:

• Providing contracting advice on executing contract actions.
• Working with multiple contract types at various dollar thresholds.
• Providing technical leadership on the acquisition process.

Important Information

It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit your responses and appropriate documentation prior to 08/31/2026. You must upload your resume under the "Resume" category. Resumes submitted under the "Other Documents" category will not be considered. Your most recently submitted resume will be used to determine your qualifications for the position advertised in this announcement. Therefore, your resume must highlight your most relevant, significant experience related to the requirements found in the qualification section of this announcement, as well as any applicable education. Limit your resume to no more than two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages. To help ensure your resume remains clear and easy to read, we recommend using margins of at least 0.8 inches and a font size of at least 11 point. Be clear and specific when describing your work history since human resources cannot make assumptions regarding your experience. Your application will be rated and ranked based on your responses to the online questions.

Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information:

• Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job)
• Duties (be specific in describing your duties)
• Employer's name and address
• Supervisor name and phone number
• Start and end dates including month, day and year (e.g. June 18 2007 to April 05 2008)
• Start and end dates for each grade/pay level if you've held a federal position.
• Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
• Salary

Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide the above information may result in a finding of ineligible.

Note: Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

Federal Experience: If you are using current or prior federal experience as a basis for qualifying for this position, the grade levels and length of employment (mm/dd/year) at each grade level must be listed in your work history. This information will be further validated if selected for this position.

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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.