Contract Specialist

This vacancy is for a Contract Specialist position in the Acquisition Division located at the U.S. Census Bureau Headquarters in Suitland, Maryland. The Census Bureau is accessible from the Metro Rail Green Line - Suitland Station. This Job Opportunity Announcement may be used to fill other Contract Specialist, 1102-9/11/12/13, FPL GS-13, positions within the Census Bureau in the same geographical location with the same qualifications and specialized experience.

**Qualifications:**
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: For GS-9, applicant must have one (1) year of experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal services. To be fully qualified for this position, you must meet two (2) of the below specialized experience statements: Providing business advice to customers, reviewing price estimates, performing market research, and completing pre- award or post award actions; Serving as a contract specialist responsible for pre-award and/or post award functions for a variety of supplies or service contracts; Managing contracts that require special handling provisions or other specialized terms and conditions (i.e. equipment or services needed to support a research and development activity, software, and related services; negotiated contracts with disadvantaged business firms). OR 2 full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education or master's or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D in one or more of the following fields is required: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. OR A combination of specialized experience and graduate education in one or more of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management that when combined together, qualify me for this position. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: For GS-11, applicant must have one (1) year of experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal services. To be fully qualified for this position, you must meet ALL of the below specialized experience: Providing business advice to customers, reviewing price estimates, performing market research, or completing pre-award or post-award contract actions; Serving as a contract specialist responsible for pre-award and/or post-award functions for a variety of supplies and services contracts for several activities; and Managing contracts that require special handling provisions or other specialized terms and conditions (i.e equipment or services needed to support a research and development activity, software, and related services; negotiated contracts with disadvantaged business firms). OR 3 full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education or PH. D (or equivalent doctoral degree) in one or more of the following fields is required: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management. OR A combination of specialized experience and graduate education in one or more of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management that when combined together, qualify me for this position. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: For GS-12, applicant must have one (1) year of experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal services. To be fully qualified for this position, you must meet two (2) of the below specialized experience: Performing pre-award functions, developing acquisition strategies and documents to procure common goods and services Communicating with internal customers and industry representatives for review of proposals and evaluations, and preparation of source selection and contract award decision documents Planning or coordinating negotiations for contracts, contract modifications, or termination actions, (e.g., those which accommodate possible changes in program requirements, involve subcontractors, require accounting for Government equipment, or involve consolidated requirements for several agencies or departments) Addressing procurement issues that require analysis of conditions Participating in the development and/or review of policies and procedures (including the merging of subsystems and components and the meeting of scheduled goals) Education: Education cannot be substituted for specialized experience at this grade level. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: For GS-13, applicant must have one (1) year of experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal services. To be fully qualified for this position, you must meet three (3) of the below specialized experience. Leading pre-award functions, developing acquisition strategies and documents to procure common goods and services Communicating with internal customers and industry representatives for review of proposals and evaluations, and preparation of source selection and contract award decision documents Leading negotiations for contracts, contract modifications, or termination actions, (e.g., those which accommodate possible changes in program requirements, involve subcontractors, require accounting for Government equipment, or involve consolidated requirements for several agencies or departments) Addressing procurement issues that require analysis of conditions Establishing procedures for implementing procurement policies or regulations. Education: Education cannot be substituted for specialized experience at this grade level. 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. After you submit this application, you will receive an e-mail informing you that a USA Hire assessment is required. You will have 48 hours from the closing date of this announcement, 04/23/2026, to complete the assessment as this assessment is part of your application.