Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Acquisition, Procurement Directorate, located in one of the following locations: Ashburn, VA Indianapolis, IN Washington, DC Additional selections may be made for other organizational divisions and/or units within the duty location(s) listed above.
This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (Basic Requirement). You must provide supporting documentation in your application to show you meet the basic requirement below. A 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with a major in any field. or 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. You qualify for this position if you meet the basic requirement listed above and possess the specialized experience or substitution of education, as described below: Specialized Experience: You qualify for the GS-07 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as: Providing various methods of contracting and procurement support to assigned CBP/DHS organizations, programs, projects, and/or activities. Performing pre-award and/or post-award functions using a wide range of contracting types and methods to procure purchases in supplies, systems, services, equipment, and/or construction. Preparing contracting documents for contracting actions that are clearly defined and precedented (e.g., firm fixed-price, time and materials, indefinite delivery, or other contracts of similar complexity). Work at this level may be reviewed and/or signed by a Senior Contracting Officer. NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional resume requirements. Education Substitution: GS-07: Successful completion of one full academic year of graduate education or law school may substitute for the experience required at this level. This education must demonstrate the skills necessary to do the work. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise a year of graduate education. If that information is not available, use 18 semester or 27 quarter hours OR Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) may also substitute for the experience required at this level. SAA is defined as a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, having a class standing in the upper third of a graduating class or major subdivision, or membership in a national scholastic honor society. Please see www.cbp.gov for additional information. Combining Education and 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. You must: Meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable to this position, subject to verification at any stage of the application process; and Meet all applicable Time in Grade requirements (current federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the federal service) by 06/09/2025. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office. Background Investigation: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a federal law enforcement agency that requires all applicants to undergo a thorough background investigation prior to employment in order to promote the agency's core values of vigilance, service to country, and integrity. During the screening and/or background investigation process, you will be asked questions regarding any felony criminal convictions or current felony charges, the use of illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, methamphetamines, ecstasy), and the use of non-prescribed controlled substances including any experimentation, possession, sale, receipt, manufacture, cultivation, production, transfer, shipping, trafficking, or distribution of controlled substances. For additional information on the preemployment process, review the following link: Applicant Resources | CBP Careers Residency: There is a residency requirement for all applicants not currently employed by CBP. Individuals are required to have physically resided in the United States or its protectorates (as declared under international law) for at least three of the last five years. If you do not meet the residency requirement and you have been physically located in a foreign location for more than two of the last five years, you may request an exception to determine if you are eligible for a residency waiver by meeting one or more of the following conditions: Working for the U.S. Government as a federal civilian or as a member of the military A dependent who was authorized to accompany a federal civilian or member of the military who was working for the U.S. government Participation in a study abroad program sponsored by a U.S. affiliated college or university Working as a contractor, intern, consultant or volunteer supporting the U.S. government Probationary Period: All employees new to the federal government must serve a one year probationary period during the first year of his/her initial permanent federal appointment to determine fitness for continued employment. Current and former federal employees may be required to serve or complete a probationary period. Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not CTAP/ICTAP eligible. View information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered well qualified under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the Required Documents section of this announcement. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here.
Joining Customs & Border Protection (CBP) will allow you to utilize your expertise in serving as a Contract Specialist performing advanced trainee level contract service activities as part of an acquisition team supporting assigned CBP organizations, programs, projects, and or activities. This position starts at a salary of $49,960.00 (GS-07, Step 1) to $64,952.00 (GS-07, Step 10) with promotion potential to $115,213 (GS-12 Step 10). Apply for this exciting opportunity to strengthen the Department's ability to perform homeland security functions by purchasing of equipment, systems, supplies, services, or construction for the entity or activity being supported (services related to the solicitation, negotiation, award, and administration of required goods and services through contracts, purchase, task and deliver order, and purchase card transactions). Salary: Salary reflects the Rest of U.S. scale and will be adjusted to meet the locality pay of the duty location upon selection. GS Salary: Visit this link to view the locality pay tables by geographic area. If you do not see your geographic area listed, select the "Rest of United States" pay table. Some positions fall under a special pay rate depending on the series, grade level and location of the position. Please visit this link to view special pay rate charts. In this Contract Specialist position you will become a key team member of Homeland Security professionals involved in procuring a variety of standard or technical supplies, services, and/or construction though formal advertising or limited negotiation; analyzing a variety of factors and conditions to make recommendations concerning such matters; providing various methods of contracting and procurement support; analyzing and evaluating bids and/or proposals; and performing contracting and procurement activities. Typical Work assignments include: Serving as an advanced trainee contract specialist responsible for all aspects of the contracting transactions from initiation to recommendation of award for CBP. Assisting higher graded Contract Specialists and Contracting Officer in the administration of contracts as well as related actions such as protests, claims or mistakes, disputes, defaults, terminations, wage determinations, labor matters, contract financing, bankruptcy priorities and allocations of materials, matters relating to the equal opportunity, small business and labor surplus area programs, contractor failure to comply with contract requirements, requests for relief funding PL 85-804, matters involving suspension or debarment of contractors, and actions involving fraud of suspicion of fraud. Analyzing and evaluates bids and/or proposals for compliance with specifications or purchase descriptions and applicable clauses. Considers financial responsibility of suppliers by evaluating contract performance on previous contracts. Meets with commercial representatives to discuss procurement needs, quality of items or services, current market prices, or delivery schedules. Coordinating contracting activities with other Government agencies having interrelated requirements, e.g., obtaining wage rate information from the Department of Labor, requesting audit reports or pre-award surveys from Defense Contract Audit Agency or Defense Contract Administration Services, obtaining clearances from the Small Business Administration, and advertising work to be contracted in the Commerce Business Daily of the Department of Commerce.