Supervisory Contract Specialist
What you'd do
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is an independent office whose mission is to promote excellence, integrity, and accountability throughout the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In our dynamic environment, the OIG conducts investigations, audits, evaluations, and inspections to enhance program effectiveness and efficiency and to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and mismanagement in DHS programs and operations.
Major duties
This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), Office of Management (OM), Acquisitions Division. The incumbent serves as the Chief of the Procurement Branch and warranted Contracting Officer who supervises, oversees, and coordinates all activities pertaining to the solicitation, evaluation, negotiation, award, and administration of complex, wide-ranging contracts that provide critical supplies, services, and systems to OIG mission partners. Typical tasks include: Keeps well informed of work progress and changes in guiding policies, procedures, and program emphasis and coordinates adjustment of work priorities and schedules with subordinates to meet new or change overall program objectives. Administers the full range of contracts for various goods and services from small purchases to multi-million-dollar procurements that entail a number of different processes or elements. Develops and provides oversight of OIG policies and procedures with regard to the contracting process and acquisition planning and strategy. Oversees Acquisitions services/functions provided externally (e.g., by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD)) for the OIG. Works with technical staff to ensure that, to the maximum extent possible, all elements of projects to be contracted are anticipated in advance of issuance of solicitations to ensure that OIG obtains the most accurate cost projections and, therefore, is able to effectively evaluate bids and ensure that amendments to contracts, resulting in additional expenditures, are minimized during the implementation of the contracts.
What you need to qualify
BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: 1. 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 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. NOTE: If you are currently employed with an agency other than DHS and seeking a lateral transfer AND you were promoted to an 1102 position at or above the GS-13 level (or equivalent) after 12/31/99 based on a waiver of the agency's training requirements, you will need to be approved for another training waiver before you can be hired into a GS-1102 position at or above the GS-13 level with DHS. If you were hired into your current GS-1102-13 or higher level position, with a non-DHS agency, based on an educational waiver, you will still have to meet the educational requirements stated in Qualification Requirements #1. Minimum Qualifications GS-14: Must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-13 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience at this level includes: Delivers effective procurement solutions to meet mission-critical needs and organizational objectives. Provides administrative and technical direction to subordinates, overseeing acquisition operations, ensuring compliance with acquisition-related systems, and executing a full range of pre-award and post-award functions. Plans, executes, and administers agency-wide acquisitions, including the most complex and high-impact procurements, while ensuring compliance with federal regulations and agency policies. 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. The qualification requirements listed above must be met by the closing date 08/24/2026 of this announcement. 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. Current federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade level or equivalent grade band in the federal service. The time-in-grade requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
Don't miss the next one.
Get an email the moment a similar federal job opens — postings can close in as little as 5 days.