What Are The Different Types Of Contract Specialist Jobs
Several types of contract specialist jobs may exist for individuals with expertise in the procurement process of goods and services. Most contract specialist jobs are usually charged with procuring goods and services for a government agency from a private sector business or another government agency. Many contract specialist jobs at the supervisory or senior level are with local or regional government agencies. Some contract specialist jobs are also with a private sector business that contracts services to government agencies.
There are several jobs titles often associated with contract specialist positions. Entry level contract specialist jobs are typically appropriate for recent graduates from a college or university. Government contract specialist jobs are typically within government agencies that procure goods and services from businesses or other agencies. Typically, supervisory contract specialist jobs manage a team of workers charged with completing duties of the contract process. Senior contract specialist jobs are similar to those in the supervisory role, minus responsibility for the workflow of others.
Contracting Professionals Career Roadmap
Contracting Professionals serve the Federal Government as business advisors with the goal of acquiring products and services that provide the best value to the Government. In this role, Contracting Professionals use agency, program, and marketplace knowledge, as well as contracting processes and best practices, to guide their customers and craft smart business arrangements that assist with achieving mission results for their agency. Contracting Professionals should be intimately familiar with the goals of their program offices and customers and use their acquisition and business knowledge to forge solutions by creating a partnership with their customers. Contracting Professionals are responsible for the entire business cycle, from using relevant marketplace knowledge to inform strategy and planning activities to managing contractor performance and maintaining useful business relationships into the future.
The purpose of this roadmap is to provide Contracting Professionals and their supervisors with a guide to getting started in the 1102 career field. It provides a framework for the career, including gaining a basic understanding of the acquisition process, the competencies and mandatory training required, guidelines for selecting and working with a mentor, guidelines for goal setting, and best practices for documenting experiences on the job. New Contracting Professionals should work through the steps and the to-do lists early in their professional career.
To Do List:
Key Objective #: Help Diversify Governments Buying Options By Creating New Contract Processes And Creatively Using Existing Legal Authorities
- Help establish vendor marketplaces across multiple domains and partner agencies.
- Develop new ways for TTS and partner agencies to work with the vendor community to achieve shared success.
- Use FAR-based and non-FAR-based authorities to award contracts and advise agencies on opportunities for great digital service outcomes.
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Find The Right Job Opportunities
Who Hires Contracts Specialists?
The next step to becoming a contract specialist is to find the employers seeking contract specialists. Many governmental agencies and departments hire contract specialists, including defense and law enforcement agencies. In-house legal departments for every industry including manufacturing, technology, and retail also hire contracts specialists. Many of these employers will post their jobs online.
Networking and Utilizing Recruiters
Networking through contract specialist membership agencies such as the NCMA, FAI, and IACCM can also lead to discovering unposted job opportunities. Conferences focused on contracting are effective for networking as well. Finally, an experienced legal recruiter such as our team at LHH can help you find contract specialist roles in your target market.
Government Contract Specialist Skills
Government contract specialists need the following skills in order to be successful:
Contract law: Contract law is the body of law that governs the creation and enforcement of contracts. Contract law is an important skill for government contract specialists because they may be responsible for ensuring that the government follows the terms of its contracts. Contract law can also help you understand the legal implications of the contracts your organization signs.
Project management: Project management skills are essential for government contract specialists. You may be responsible for managing the entire procurement process, including creating a project plan, managing budgets, monitoring deadlines and evaluating the success of the project. You may also be responsible for managing the procurement of large contracts, which can involve managing multiple teams of employees and suppliers.
Communication: Government contract specialists communicate with many people, including government officials, employees and representatives from private companies. They must be able to convey information clearly and concisely to ensure everyone understands the message. Contract specialists also communicate with clients and customers, so they should have excellent interpersonal skills.
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Promote The Adoption Of Modern Technology Practices In Government Through Contracting Research And Knowledge Sharing
- Develop hypotheses, tests, and findings to improve the procurement of digital services.
- Contribute to great client outcomes by performing contract administration for TTS.contracts and working alongside the Acquisition Management and Oversight Division from award to closeout.
- Perform market research on cutting-edge digital services and products to aid internal and external clients with acquisition strategy and planning.
- Draft acquisition packages use a Contract Writing System to award contracts to the extent necessary for the Service.
- Solicit, evaluate, negotiate, and award contracts for TTS
- Provide effective contract administration and post-award management.
- Maintain Contracting Officer warrant and relevant certifications by teaching seminars/presentations and enrolling in relevant classes that grant CLPs.
- Write periodic posts for the 18F Blog on important acquisition topics and client case studies.
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Update Your Resume Apply For Positions And Nail The Interview
Update Your Resume and Cover Letter
Update your resume to include any new training, education, or membership that may be relevant. Make sure your resume is easy to read, concise, and error free. You should also include keywords in both your resume and cover letter of skills that employers may be seeking such as negotiating,contracts,drafting, et al.
Apply for Positions
The next step is to put yourself out there! Send your resume to job postings that are of interest to you. Take a look here for samples and tips on submitting your email cover letter. Network with your contacts in the field . LHH is here to help connect you with our clients currently seeking contract specialists.
Nail the Interview
Once you line up the interview, you want to make sure you thoroughly research the company. You will also want to prepare for potential interview questions. Potential interview questions may include:
- Why do you want to be a contract specialist?
- You discover there has been a breach in a contract, how do you respond?
LHH offers interview coaching to all of our candidates. We look forward to working with you to achieve your goal of becoming a contract specialist!
Find Government Contracting Opportunities
After fulfilling the previous requirements, your small business is now more searchable by procurement officers! But if you want to pursue government contracting, you should be proactive in seeking contracting opportunities.
1. Enter subcontracting
Several factors affect a government agencys contractor selection process, but usually, government contracts are awarded based on an excellent business reputation. And that is why a small business must establish a good track record as a vendor before they qualify for contracts. So to start building a good business reputation in the industry, you should begin as a subcontractor first.
Usually, complex and large-scale federal contracts require a subcontracting plan to ensure that the contractor will complete the contract satisfactorily. And that is why prime government contractorsthe qualified contractors who work directly with the governmentseek out small businesses to be subcontractors to help them execute the work stipulated in the government contract.
In this scenario, being a subcontractor means working under the prime contractor instead of the federal government. But if you managed to pull off an exemplary job, you can add that experience to your track record and thus, open more doors for you! Furthermore, this also grants you the opportunity to work with giant companies and network with them.
2. Get on a GSA Schedule
3. Search for set-asides
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Department Of Homeland Security
As a member of the Department of Homeland Security acquisition team, you will put your education and experience to work. You will be on the front-line, directly impacting the mission everyday by procuring everything from IT hardware and software, boats, and aircraft. You will be part of a team that procures over $20 billion worth of goods and services annually in support of the Department’s mission. This is the third largest procurement budget in the Federal Government.
Becoming A Contract Specialist
Contract specialists are responsible for drafting, editing and reviewing contractual agreements between an organization and vendors, suppliers and other third parties. Depending on the job, they may also develop procurement proposals, build relationships with reliable vendors and facilitate salary negotiations. Their primary role is to ensure that clients adhere to contractual obligations.
The Federal Acquisition Institute points out that contract specialists work under the guidance of a contracting officer. This profession requires a good knowledge of regulatory and legislative issues. New employees often start out as contract specialists and then move up to higher positions, such as contract officers or administrators, project officers, procurement analysts and more.
Most employers seek candidates with a bachelor’s degree in law, business management or a related field. A government contract specialist’s resume that mentions a master’s degree and work experience is more likely to get noticed. However, some organizations only require a high school diploma and several years of hands-on experience in the field.
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How To Become A Government Contract Specialist
A government contract specialist career can be a great way to start your career in the field of procurement. As a government contract specialist, youll have the opportunity to work with a variety of different agencies and departments within the government. Youll also gain experience working with various types of contracts, which will help you develop a strong understanding of the procurement process.
To become a government contract specialist, youll need to have a bachelors degree in business administration or a related field. Additionally, its important to have strong writing and communication skills, as well as an understanding of federal contracting laws and regulations.
Key Objective #: Transform How The Government Procures Digital Services
- Serve as an operational Contracting Specialist and/or warranted CO to buy supplies and services for TTS clients.
- Help partner agencies, through the RFP Ghostwriting process, shape their acquisition documents to reflect best practices in digital-services procurement.
- Collaborate with cross-functional consulting teams to promote modernization efforts within partner agencies help implement agile development practices.
- Assist, on behalf of TTS and partner agencies, in the procurement of digital services over the procurement lifecycle.
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Consider A Graduate Degree
The majority of contracting officer positions only call for a bachelors degree, but some may demand a candidate to hold a graduate degree. Even if its not necessary, having a graduate degree can help you stand out from the competition and create more opportunities for career advancement. Degrees in fields like business, law, economics, management, and contracts are among the possibilities.
Educate And/or Train Yourself
Educate Yourself
While you do not need to be a lawyer to be a contract specialist, legal education is helpful if you do not have on-the-job experience. That can mean obtaining a paralegal certificate, taking courses in law, or completing a negotiation course. The National Contract Management
Association , the Federal Acquisition Institute , and the International Association for Contract & Commercial Management also offer specialized training and certification programs.
Train Yourself
Many employers value experience above formal education and are looking for evidence of negotiating, drafting and analytical skills in your prior job experience. Prior experience working in procurement, in a legal department, or experience selling goods and services provides valuable real-life experience that will help you become a contract specialist.
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What Does A Contracts Specialist Do
There are certain skills that many contracts specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, math skills and negotiating skills.
What Is A Contract Specialist
A contract specialist is a logistics professional who writes, negotiates, finalizes and monitors the contracts of an organization with external parties, like vendors and contractors, and internal employees. Also referred to as purchasing managers or purchasing agents, their priority is to make sure that all contracts are fair and follow industry, local, state and federal regulations. They also make sure that all parties follow and fulfill contractual obligations.
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What Do Contract Officers And Specialists Do
The Federal Acquisition Institute defines the contract officer as “a person who can bind the Federal Government of the United States to a contract. Contracting Officers hold a warrant that allows them to negotiate on behalf of the United States Government. As the Government’s agent, only COs may execute, modify, or terminate a contract.”
Many aspiring contract officers will start out as contract specialists, where they serve in a support role and directly report to contract officers. Both are civilian roles within the federal government’s acquisitions workforce, which is responsible for procuring and selling goods and services on behalf of government agencies. These goods and services may include everything from new information systems, aircraft and military vehicles to cutting-edge research, uniforms and office supplies.
The FAI explains that contract officers are responsible for selecting vendors and overseeing that contractual agreements are legally compliant, appropriately funded, fair and impartial. It is also a CO’s job to ensure that contracts are providing maximum value and that taxpayers’ money is being responsibly spent.
Contracting careers can be professionally rewarding and well-compensated. According to Glassdoor, COs typically make between $57,000 and $128,000 per year, with average earnings of roughly $90,000.
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Are Federal Procurement And Acquisition Jobs Right For You
Throughout my federal career, I was involved in acquisition functions. I was a Contract Specialist and a Program Analyst for the Department of the Army. Acquisition functions are found in all of the agencies and branches of the military.
Acquisition Functions
Congress is responsible for the passing of the federal budget and the appropriation of funds. Once these funds are appropriated, the federal government can acquire goods and services to include real property.
The procurement process is initiated through the use of contracts. Government contracting is heavily regulated and subject to many statues and other regulations including the Federal Acquisition Regulation . All procurement activities must follow the FAR that deals with the federal contracting process.
Each branch of the military and all federal agencies have implemented additional regulations, which are derived from the FAR, and unique to that particular branch or agencys procurement practices.
Government contracting agents are required to obligate funds, through contracts, for the procurement of goods, services, or real property. Federal employees are assigned agent responsibilities and many contract types and solicitations are used in the procurement process. The federal employee can negotiate contract terms and conditions and this is strictly controlled by the FAR and other statues.
Acquisitions Careers
Contract Specialist Requirements
Review the related qualification standards for additional information.
Obtain An Undergraduate Degree
The government accepts applications from individuals with a variety of backgrounds and levels of experience, but there are minimal educational requirements. They require that contracting officers have a four-year bachelors degree. As long as you also have at least 24 credits in classes from one or more of these categories, it can be in any subject.
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