Supervisory Contract Specialist

U.S. Coast Guard; Chesapeake (VA); On-site; USD 128,000 - 166,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Coast Guard, part of the Department of Homeland Security, seeks a Supervisory Contracting Officer at GS-1102-14 in Chesapeake, VA. The role oversees a branch of contracting professionals and manages end-to-end procurement activities for services and supplies.

The position requires a positive education requirement with transcripts and compliance with federal education guidelines. It offers responsibility, leadership, and opportunity within the contracting ecosystem of the Coast Guard.

Qualifications

• This position requires a positive education requirement.
• Official college transcript is required prior to appointment.
• Foreign education may be used if comparable to U.S. education.

Responsibilities

• Oversees start-to-end contracting and procurement processes for services and supplies.
• Supervises staff, assigns work, and evaluates performance.
• Provides guidance to senior management on contracting issues and strategic planning.
• Represents the organization at meetings and maintains stakeholder relations.

Skills

Supervisory experience

Contracting

Education

Education requirement

Job description

• Department: Department of Homeland Security
• Hiring Path: Public
• Number of Openings: 1
• Security Clearance: Q Access Authorization

This vacancy is for a GS-1102-14, Supervisory Contract Specialist with the United States Coast Guard's Deputy Commandant for Systems (DCS), Director of Contracting and Procurement/Head of Contracting Activity (HCA), Contracting and Procurement Office - Headquarters (HQ COCO) located in Chesapeake, VA.

Key Responsibilities

You will serve as a Supervisory Contracting Officer managing a branch of Contracting Officers and Contract Specialists overseeing the start-to-end contracting and procurement process, developing contracting strategies of various complexities with complete responsibility to plan and execute all contractual actions and phases as assigned. Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team.

Typical supervisory duties and work assignments include: Supervises contracting staff and oversees all contracting activities within the assigned area of responsibility, including pre-award and post-award phases for a variety of acquisition types primarily for services and supplies.

Plans, directs, coordinates, and manages day-to-day operations of their branch, establishing workload priorities, formulating goals and long-range planning activities, and implementing policies and procedures. Assigns work to subordinates based on organizational priorities, assignment difficulty, and employee capabilities; sets and adjusts short-term priorities and monitors schedules for completion of work.

Evaluates work performance of subordinates, provides direction, leadership, counseling, and guidance, and oversees staff training and development. Initiates and/or recommends personnel actions such as recruitment, promotion, awards, disciplinary actions, performance appraisals, and reassignment; ensures compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies and procedures.

Provides advice and assistance to senior management on organizational planning, staff development, and management issues; compiles and drafts reports for higher-level review to include ensuring that data calls are addressed timely. Performs procurement oversight for complex, high-dollar value solicitations and contractual actions; serves as Contracting Officer with signatory authority up to an unlimited warrant.

Exercises significant responsibilities in advising management officials of higher rank on contracting issues, ensuring standards are maintained and equity in contractor assessments, and making decisions on non-routine, costly, or controversial matters, including training needs and requests. Provides meaningful and timely performance reviews and evaluations of subordinate employees.

May serve as lead Contracting Officer/Senior Contract Specialist for cradle-to-grave contracting and procurement activities, analyzing team members' workload, assigning/reassigning procurement actions based on priorities, skill levels, and individual abilities, articulating and communicating to team members the assignment, project, problem to be solved, actionable events, milestone expectations, and/or program issues under review, and deadlines/timeframes for completion.

Serve as a coach and mentor, providing developmental guidance to staff as needed, engaging in activities that influence a mindset of continual learning and personal/professional development. Build collaborative cross-boundary and cross-functional partnerships with a focus on fostering a culture of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation.

Serve as a senior business advisor, consultant, and liaison to top management officials, policy makers, and non-governmental organizations and instructions on challenging, new developments in contracting/procurement initiatives. Communicate and articulate timely and effectively, at the appropriate levels, issues, concerns, and potential impacts of high visibility actions requiring senior and executive leadership knowledge, engagement, and/or insight.

Represents the organization at functional and administrative meetings and conferences; establishes and maintains effective working relationships with internal stakeholders, senior officials, and external representatives of government agencies and private industry. Manage acquisitions involving diverse areas including complex acquisitions, state-of-the-art systems and subsystems, engineering and technical support service.

Act as the chairperson or as a participant on formal Source Solution Evaluation Board (SSEB) for competitively negotiated procurements subject to relevant Federal Action Regulations Parts. Possess active knowledge, understanding, and proactive learning of the Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul (RFO) and the associated supplemental regulation, policy, procedures, and guidance.

Conduct in-depth compliance and evaluation of complex, unusual, or unprecedented contract activities with awareness and consideration of potential political implications.

Maintain complete authority for all contractual actions and phases; using automated systems to research sources; collecting data on contractors' past performance and documenting contractors' performance on current contracts; prepare solicitation instructions, and direct the efforts of technical, cost, and business management evaluation teams.

Requirements & Education

This position does have a positive education requirement. If you are including education on your resume, report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Required Documents section for detail. Are you qualifying based on education? Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) from an accredited institution.

Once selected & prior to appointment, applicants must provide an official college transcript. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. (see FOREIGN EDUCATION below).

College Transcript: If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration.

Transcripts should be legible and detailed, showing course number and department (i.e., bio 101, math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours, and grade earned. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application.

See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications click here Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

DHS offers competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan [similar to a 401(k)]; Flexible Spending Account; Employee Assistance Program; personal leave days; and paid federal holidays. Other benefits may include flexible work schedules; tuition reimbursement; transportation subsidies; uniform allowance; health and wellness programs; and fitness centers.

DHS is committed to employee development and offers a variety of employee training and developmental opportunities. For more information, go to the DHS Careers website and select "Benefits."

Disabled veteran leave will be available to any federal employee hired on or after November 5, 2016, who is a veteran with a service- connected disability rating of 30 percent or more.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $127646 – $165945/yr.

What security clearance is required?

This position requires a Q Access Authorization security clearance.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-10-20.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Public' hiring path.