Lead Contract Specialist

US Executive Director, Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The VA's Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction (OALC) in Salt Lake City seeks a Contract Specialist (Team Lead) to oversee procurement, contract administration, and related duties for VBA programs. The selectee will guide a team, apply federal procurement standards, and coordinate with stakeholders to ensure timely, compliant acquisitions.

Applicants must have at least 4 years of contracting experience, a 4-year degree with relevant coursework, and demonstrated leadership

Qualifications

• 4+ years of contracting or related experience, with 1 year at the next lower grade or equivalent.
• Mastery of the procurement functional area and knowledge of contract laws and procedures.
• Ability to plan procurement strategies and conduct pre/post award negotiations.
• 4-year degree with coursework in accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics or related fields.

Responsibilities

• Lead contracting team as Contract Specialist (Team Lead).
• Provide guidance, training, and quality assessments to team members.
• Develop strategies to accomplish assignments with milestones and deadlines.
• Apply qualitative/quantitative methods to improve procurement processes and performance.

Skills

Contracting experience

Team leadership

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's degree with relevant coursework

Job description

The Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction (OALC) is led by the VA Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO) and is responsible for directing department-wide procurement, acquisition, program management, contract administration, construction, and logistics activities. This office oversees the planning, design, construction, and facilities management of VA real property. The Selectee serves as a Contract Specialist (Team Lead) providing services to the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/27/2026.

Individual Occupational Requirements for Contracting Series, 1102 Basic Requirements for GS-13 and Above

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. 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. OR,

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 under Paragraph D.

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.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Specialized Experience for the GS-14 level of this position: Applicants must have one year of full-time specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-13) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to:

• Communicating assignments to Team members, developing strategies to accomplish assignments, and establishing milestones and deadlines based on instructions and expectations from the supervisor.
• Providing training; assisting team members with unusual or difficult tasks/assignments, performing quality assessments on completed work, and working with the team and individual members to identify areas of improvement by providing solutions for success.
• Researches, learns and applies a wide range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods to identify, assess, analyze and improve team effectiveness, efficiency and work products.
• Provides recommendations and solutions to strategic planning matters in the areas of procurement, training, to include customer training on processes and requirements development. Participates in the strategic planning efforts to determine organizational acquisition priorities regarding organizational structure, workload balance, skill gaps, and procurement measures or metrics.

Evidence of this specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of like duties performed in positions held on your resume. You will also need to provide work experience information such as hours per week, full-time/part-time status, and starting/ending dates of employment (month and year format) to establish you have one (1) full year of specialized experience at the required grade level.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications:

• Mastery of the procurement functional area sufficient to apply experimental theories and new developments to problems not susceptible to treatment by accepted methods, to extend existing contracting techniques, and to develop procurement policies for use by other contracting personnel in solving procurement problems; or, familiarity with business strategy and program or technical requirements sufficient to perform or direct in-depth evaluations of the financial and technical capabilities, or the performance of the contractor.
• Demonstrates and applies knowledge of Federal, departmental, or agency, and local contract laws, regulations and procedures applicable to the acquisition and contract administration of extensive or unique equipment, services, construction.
• Applies knowledge of various types of contracts, methods of contracting, and selection factors to plan appropriate strategies to procure complex requirements, and to conduct negotiations in the preaward and post-award phases of contracting.

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 Office of Procurement. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from these offices.