TITLE: Contract Specialist, IS-1102 Grade 13, $87,548 to 113,815/yr
TYPE OF POSITION: Trust Fund (non-federal) Indefinite
DIVISION: - Sponsored Programs and Procurement Department
LOCATION: Cambridge, Massachusetts
AREA OF CONSIDERATION: All qualified candidates

DUTIES: The Contract Specialist is responsible for pre-and post-award functions involving highly specialized contracts. Duties will include but are not limited to: directing and reviewing proposal preparation, award, administration, and completion of contracts for research projects, as well as, technical services where the final end-products are unique, state-of-the-art, highly complex, pieces of flight hardware and/or ground-based astronomical instrumentation systems; managing the proposal preparation process including interfacing with both sponsors and SAO scientists, project managers, and project administrators; submitting proposals; serving as the negotiation team leader formulating the negotiation strategy, coordinating strategy with negotiation team, developing negotiation objectives, serving as spokesperson for SAO during complex contract negotiations and leading these negotiations with sponsors to develop the contract prices, deliverables, terms, and conditions; finalizing the execution of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and other awards; performing contract administration of complex contracts; providing human resources management to include planning and assigning work, setting priorities, establishing deadlines, developing performance standards and reviewing performance, recommending awards, and taking necessary disciplinary action; and developing and updating guidance material to inform, clarify, and explain major regulatory requirements, policies and procedures.

QUALIFICATIONS :
Applicants must meet BOTH of the basic requirement(s) described below to qualify for this position: Successful completion of 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 AND four 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 applicant with the following knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position: mastery of contracting laws, regulations, principles, and practices sufficient to propose, contract for, and administer several critical SAO projects involving state-of-the-art, highly complex, unique scientific projects; ability to administer federal awards; mastery of procurement regulations and contracting principles sufficient to plan, develop, implement, maintain and administer all contractual aspects of complex projects; ability to develop innovative contractual language, terms and conditions; knowledge and skill sufficient to manage all contractual aspects of SAO’s major projects involving coordination of a number of contracts; comprehensive knowledge of procurement principles, methods, and techniques required to negotiate multi-year awards, contract options, and determine the use of special provisions related to proprietary rights and rights-in-data; mastery of negotiation techniques and the ability to meet and deal with representative of various sponsors sufficient to serve as lead negotiator with scientists, project managers, and project administrators in developing pre- and post-award negotiation strategies; and ability to supervise and motivate assigned personnel. Certified Professional Contract Management (CPCM), Certified Research Administrator (CRA), or Certified Grants Management (CGM) designation is a plus. Experience in contract and grant administration in a non-profit, scientific environment is highly desired.

EXCEPTIONS: Employees in IS/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 requirement in order to qualify for promotion to a higher grade.

NOTE: The appointment will be subject to the applicant’s successful/satisfactory completion of a pre-employment background check and subsequent background investigation. New employees are subject to background checks, including fingerprinting, and a one –year probationary period. Relocation expenses will not be paid.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Interested candidates should submit resumes to Recruiter #461, referring to Job Posting #29-15, at the mailing address below, or to saoresumes@cfa.harvard.edu. Please note that the email address is for the submission of application materials only.

Please complete the Applicant Survey Form, which is used to collect information from candidates during the search process to evaluate the effectiveness of the Institution's search and recruit efforts. Please print all responses. The information provided is not a part of the selection process and will be used for statistical purposes only. Your voluntary responses will have no effect on your consideration.

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity in our workplace.

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Mailing address:
Recruiter 461 (JP#29-15)
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden Street, MS 17
Cambridge, MA 02138