748job United States

Contract Specialist

Department of the Navy › Naval Sea Systems Command (80 current openings)

Who may apply

Limited to the following applicant groups:

  • Internal to an agency
  • Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
  • Land and base management
  • Special authorities
  • Veterans
  • Individuals with disabilities
  • Military spouses
Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia
Full-time Security Clearance: Secret
Application Deadline:
2026-08-19
Posted:
2026-08-07

Last day to apply

Apply on usajobs.gov
Salary: $143,913 – $197,200 per year (NH-4)

Salary context

Based on 103 annual-salary jobs in the same occupational series. This role pays above most similar positions.

Job Details

Position Overview

You will serve as a CONTRACT SPECIALIST within the PAE Maritime Acquisition and Contracts of DPAE COMBATANTS.

Duties

  • You will serve as a recognized authority to develop and implement recommendations and solutions to contract problems, risks, and outcomes in the pre-award and post-award procedures.
  • You will administer pre-award and post-award procedures to plan and conduct the contracting process from the description of the requirements through contract delivery.
  • You will administer procurement policies and procedures to plan, analyze, or evaluate procurement programs.
  • You will administer proposed contractual actions for conformance with regulatory requirements and procurement practices.
  • You will develop policies and procedures or provide advice and guidance to subordinate activities concerning a variety of procurement issues.
  • You will use negotiation techniques to meet and reach agreement through discussion with a proposed contractor on the price and performance terms, and to set forth all these terms in a procurement document.
  • You will administer post-award contracting procedures to oversee or ensure compliance with the terms of contracts.
  • You will determine reasonableness of and negotiate claims; resolve disputes and other problems concerning obligations of either the Government or the contractor; and negotiate contract modifications.
  • You will complete cost and/or price analysis techniques to evaluate cost and/or price proposals, contract changes, repricing actions and final contract pricing.
  • You will recommend cost and profit negotiation objectives.
  • You will develop and advise on policies and procedures relating contract price/cost analyst.

Qualifications & Requirements

In addition to the Basic Requirements for this position, your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the next lower pay band NH-03 (GS-13 equivalent) grade level or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector as a professional contract specialist performing contracting work evaluating, planning, or administering pre/post award contracts to acquire goods or services for an organization.

Applicant must meet the following Department of Defense qualification requirements for 1102 contracting positions: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/CivilianJobs/DoD_Qualification_Standard_For_GS-1102.pdf

And the title 10 requirements found here: http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title10-section1724&num=0&edition=prelim

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Applicants must meet the following Basic Education Requirement of the Department of Defense Qualification Standard for Contracting Positions:

A bachelor's degree from an accredited educational institution authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees.

NOTE: The education requirement listed above applies only to individuals entering DoD GS-1102 positions on or after October 1, 2000. Current civilian personnel in DoD who occupied GS-1102 positions or contracting positions with authority to award or administer contracts above the simplified acquisition threshold in an Executive Department on or before September 30, 2000 are exempt from meeting this requirement. Current military members who occupied a similar occupational specialty to the GS (or equivalent) 1102 or before September 30, 2000 are also exempt from meeting this requirement.

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a US Citizen.
  • Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
  • Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
  • New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
  • Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
  • This position is covered under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA). Certification in the Functional Area and Tier assigned to the position, along with Continuous Learning (CL) points, are required within established timeframes.
  • This position is a designated Critical Acquisition Position (CAP). You must sign a three-year tenure agreement prior to assuming the position unless a tenure waiver is approved.
  • This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.

Evaluations

In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience.

When the application process is complete, we will review your resume to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this announcement. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and application package, along with your supporting documentation to determine your ability to demonstrate the following competencies:

  • ACCOUNTABILITY
  • ADVANCED COST AND/OR PRICE ANALYSIS
  • CONTRACT AWARD
  • PREPARATION AND NEGOTIATION
  • PROBLEM SOLVING
  • SOURCE SELECTION


This recruitment will utilize the following technical assessment tools: Structured Resume Review and Structured Interview.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

All eligibility, qualifications, and time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Required Documents

You are required to provide documentation that supports the eligibility and qualification claims made in your resume. You must submit the applicable documents listed here and those listed with the eligibilities you select in the announcement questionnaire with your application package. Applicants who do not provide supporting documentation that fully support their claims will not be referred to the hiring manager. Cover letter is optional.

A complete resume is required. Resumes are restricted to no more than 2 pages. Illegible/unreadable resumes will not be considered. Your resume must show relevant experience, job title, duties and accomplishments. Your resume must show complete information for each job entry to support minimum qualifications. The following information should be provided in your resume: employer's name, starting and end dates (Mo/Yr), hours per week if experience was less than full time (35-40 hours per week), pay plan, series and grade level (e.g. GS-0201-09) for relevant federal experience. TIP: A good way to ensure you include all essential information is to use Resume Builder in USAJOBS to create your resume.

Are you applying for a promotion? For GS positions, to be considered for promotion, you must provide SF-50(s) that show you held next lower GS grade for at least one year. SF-50s with an effective date in the past year (e.g., Gen Adjustment SF-50 from this year or Within Rate/Grade Increase (WRI/WGI) SF-50 within a year) do not show you meet one-year time-in-grade requirement. That means if you submit a SF-50 dated within the last year, you must submit a SF-50 dated more than one year ago to demonstrate you meet time-in-grade requirements. If you are a DoD employee, you can obtain a copy of your SF- 50(s) from MyBiz.

Are you claiming membership in any professional organizations, or possession of a license, certificate or credentials? Check Conditions of Employment section above to see if any are required. If you claim membership, license, certification, or credentials, you must submit a copy of said document in your application package.

Are you using education as a substitute for some or all of the experience requirement? Is there a basic education requirement for this position? Check the Education section above to see what is allowed and what is required. Any claims you make in your resume regarding education or degrees MUST be supported by submitting with your application official or unofficial transcripts or list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned issued from your school. While unofficial transcripts are acceptable for initial application, official transcript(s) will ultimately be required if you are selected for the position. You may submit a copy your degree(s) if specific coursework does not have to be verified. Claims for approved "grandfather" clauses must be fully supported with documentation.

Are you a veteran claiming 5-point veterans' preference or claiming sole survivorship preference? You must submit a copy of your latest DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (any copy that shows all dates of service, as well as character of service [Honorable, General, etc.] is acceptable) OR VA letter that shows dates of service or service connected disability AND character of service. If you have more than one DD-214 for multiple periods of active duty service, submit a copy for each period of service. If you were issued a DD-215 to amend aforementioned information on the DD-214 you must submit that too. If you are not sure of your preference eligibility, visit Department of Labor's website: Veterans' Preference Advisor

Are you a disabled veteran or claiming 10-point veterans' preference?
If you are eligible to claim 10 point veterans preference you must submit a DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty as described above for 5-point preference.

You must also provide applicable supporting documentation of your disability (e.g. disability letter from the VA) as described on Standard Form-15 (SF-15). http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf.

Are you an active duty service member? Active Duty Service Members are required to submit a statement of service printed on command letterhead and signed by the command. The statement of service must provide the branch of service, rate/rank, all dates of service, the expected date of discharge and anticipated character of service (Honorable, General, etc).

Application documents, including supplemental ones, may be shared outside the Human Resources Office. Supplemental documents may contain your SSN, DOB, or personal information of others (e.g., on military orders, marriage certificates). You may redact this information before submitting; however, if selected, you must provide unredacted originals.

How to Apply

Click the Apply Online button to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
1. Complete resume with relevant experience, job title, duties and accomplishments. Resumes are restricted to no more than 2 pages. Illegible/unreadable resumes will not be considered. Your resume must show complete information for each job entry to support minimum qualifications. The following information should be provided in your resume: employer's name, starting and end dates (Mo/Yr), hours per week if experience was less than full time (35-40 hours per week), pay plan, series and grade level (e.g. GS-0201-09) for relevant federal experience. TIP: A good way to ensure you include all essential information is to use the Resume Builder in USAJOBS to create your resume.
2. Supporting documentation

Failure to submit a complete application package will result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration.

Your complete application must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 08/19/2026. Applications received after 08/19/2026 will generally result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration. If more than one resume is received, only the last resume received and processed will be reviewed.

For additional information on viewing your application status, click https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.

You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.

Do not email or send hard copy resumes/applications to the Contact Information or Agency Information listed in this vacancy announcement. All resumes/applications received at the addresses listed in the Contact Information or Agency Information will be destroyed and will not be considered for this vacancy announcement.

It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that all information in their resume and documents are legible and accurate. HR will not modify answers/documents submitted by an applicant. When the application process is complete, your complete application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements for which you requested consideration. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and technical assessments, along with your supporting documentation to determine your level of knowledge, skill, and ability related to the job requirements.

Generally, only best qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager. Sometimes well qualified and minimally qualified candidates are referred. Occasionally, candidates eligible for priority consideration are referred, and no other candidates are referred.

The hiring manager may choose to conduct interviews.

You will be notified of our rating and referral decision. If you are referred, you will be notified when a hiring decision is made.

NOTE: If you have any questions or need assistance, please email the DON Employment Information Center at [email protected]
Source: Data sourced from USAJOBS