OAA Contract Specialist, Senior

Job Title: OAA Contract Specialist, Senior

Department: Operations – Services 

Reports To: RavenTek Program Manager

Location: Washington, DC with flexibility for telework

Schedule: Monday - Friday

Hours: Full-time, 40-hours/week

FLSA Status: Exempt

Position Summary

The Contract Specialist, Sr provides highly responsive support and specific understanding of acquisition and assistance or other related topics in program development and implementation within USAID. The Contract Specialist, Sr will work in acquisition (contracting) and assistance (grants and cooperative agreements) and their associated award implementation, award monitoring and award closeout. This position will exercise a wide latitude of discretion regarding workflow, priorities, and methods and nuances related to Acquisition & Assistance (A&A) functions. This position supports the mission of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Management (M Bureau), Office of Acquisition and Assistance and its designated offices. The performance of this position is key to RavenTek's performance on the USAID ISC contract, and therefore RavenTek's mission to support USAID.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide guidance and assistance to USAID Missions, implementing partners, and stakeholders. This may include assisting Missions or Washington with activity design, monitoring, or sustainability planning.
• Understanding and applying Agency and USAID guidance, policies, processes, and procedures, and ensuring adherence to them.
• Plan and coordinate project/activity design in and contributing to overall portfolio design.
• Maintain current knowledge of programmatic approaches and research on sector issues for knowledge transfer to USAID.
• Coordinate with relevant USAID staff and programs and participate in selected Agency technical working groups related to issues or areas identified.
• Contribute to updates on program budgets and semi-annual portfolio reviews.
• Develop briefers and other communications materials related to sector issues.
• Respond to Congressional or public inquiries.
• Review of prime awards and subawards entire cycles.
• Provide regulatory compliance support and guidance.
• Development of award monitoring tools and templates.
• Provide guidance related to subrecipient monitoring best practices.
• Develop tools and facilitate reviewing sub agreements / modifications and analyzing risk assessment to identify potential areas of compliance vulnerability.
• Develop corrective action plans to mitigate the risks, including the use of the templates, manuals, pre-award assessments, and risk monitoring plan and actions.
• Prepare, edit, and review award terms and conditions before signature.
• Advise during the negotiation process and make recommendations to CO during negotiations.
• Lead and participate in project kick-off meetings.
• Support systems to track subaward and prime award terms and conditions, during implementation.
• Maintain permanent files including prime and subaward documentation.
• Support project closeout processes.
• Enter actual time worked, once complete, at the end of the day, or no later than 10:00 a.m. the following workday, and submit timesheets at the end of each pay period. 
• Submit MSRs (Monthly Status Report) 
• Monitor RavenTek email on a regular basis, at least 2 times per week, and respond accordingly. 
• Complete required compliance training as assigned. 
• Other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications, Knowledge, and Critical Skills

• Background or understanding of contracting and assistance knowledge is critical.
• Strong background, understanding, and experience related to program definition, requirements development, implementation, monitoring, and reporting.
• Experienced and self-directed in administration, program development, management, oversight, and communication.
• In-depth knowledge of USAID’s A&A authorities and associated policies. 
• Use of considerable judgment and independent action and may include the delegation of work to others. 
• High level of discretion.
• Knowledge and expertise related to Acquisition and Assistance (A&A)
• Skills related to the creation, development, and submission of A&A artifacts
• Expertise with researching, interpreting, and applying donor regulations
• Expertise and exercise knowledge of the Uniform Guidance, Standard Provisions, FAR/AIDAR, and other donor rules and regulations on implementation of Federal awards.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree plus a minimum of 7-10 years of related work 
• Master’s degree will be considered and count towards five years of professional work experience.

Certifications, Licenses

• Professional certification related to possessing a CO/AO warrant(s) are preferred. 
• Prior federal certification and experience is preferred.

Special Requirements

• Public Trust with the ability to obtain a Secret level security clearance.

Work Environment

When working on-site, employees will be working indoors in an office environment with other people. Potential moderate temperature fluctuations. Typical indoor and computer related noise level, and typical office, paper, and equipment related dust. Exposure to video display terminals occurs regularly. 

Physical Demands

Employees need to be able to sit at a workstation for extended periods; use hand(s) to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Most positions require the ability to work on a desktop or laptop computer for extended periods of time reading, reviewing/analyzing information, and providing recommendations, summaries and/or reports in written format. Employees may be required to occasionally lift and/or move moderate amounts of weight, typically less than 20 pounds. Regular and predictable attendance is essential. 

ADA: RavenTek will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

EEO/AA: RavenTek does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, height, weight, or marital status in employment or the provision of services and is an equal access/equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

This job description will be reviewed periodically as duties and responsibilities change with business necessity. Essential and marginal job functions are subject to modification. This job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions and perform related duties, as assigned by their supervisor.