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Ascension is seeking Junior Federal Acquisition Specialists to support the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Acquisition and Logistics Management (OALM), in delivering efficient, timely, compliant, and well-documented Federal acquisition services.

This position is designed for an early-career Federal acquisition professional who already possesses practical experience supporting Government procurement activities and is ready to assume greater responsibility across the acquisition lifecycle.

The Junior Federal Acquisition Specialist will work alongside Contracting Officers (COs), Contracting Officer’s Representatives (CORs), program offices, senior acquisition specialists, and other acquisition stakeholders to develop procurement packages, conduct market research, maintain acquisition and contract files, track procurement milestones, and support pre-award, award, contract administration, and closeout activities.

The ideal candidate understands that successful Federal acquisition support depends upon more than processing documents. We are seeking someone who is organized, detail-oriented, responsive, analytical, dependable, and comfortable managing multiple acquisition actions and deadlines simultaneously.

The successful candidate should be capable of identifying incomplete documentation, recognizing potential schedule or compliance issues, escalating problems appropriately, and helping Government acquisition professionals maintain complete, accurate, and audit-ready procurement files.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Junior Federal Acquisition Specialist provides hands-on acquisition and procurement support under general supervision throughout the Federal acquisition lifecycle.

The position supports NIH’s objective of strengthening procurement operations by improving acquisition documentation quality, reducing administrative delays, tracking Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT), maintaining effective internal controls, supporting competition and transparency, and ensuring acquisition activities are performed consistently with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR), and applicable NIH policies and procedures.

The specialist will support acquisitions involving services, supplies, equipment, systems, and Information Technology requirements.

Work may include assembling procurement request packages; conducting market research; preparing acquisition documentation; tracking funding, milestones, invoices, contract deliverables, awards, options, and modifications; maintaining procurement files; supporting solicitations and source selections; assisting with post-award administration; and preparing contract closeout documentation.

This is a contractor support position. The employee will not have authority to negotiate contracts, make source-selection decisions reserved for Government officials, obligate Government funds, or otherwise perform inherently governmental functions.

Expected Day-to-Day Activities

The Junior Federal Acquisition Specialist is expected to:

• ASSEMBLE procurement request packages and verify that required acquisition documentation is complete, properly organized, and ready for Government review.
• REVIEW acquisition requests, Statements of Work (SOWs), Performance Work Statements (PWSs), specifications, Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCEs), acquisition plans, acquisition strategies, and supporting documents for completeness and consistency.
• CONDUCT routine market research and market surveys to identify potential acquisition sources, contract vehicles, socioeconomic considerations, commercial practices, and competitive procurement opportunities.
• DOCUMENT market research findings and assist program offices in preparing small-business capability analyses.
• RESEARCH potential vendors, including small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, 8(a) firms, HUBZone firms, and other socioeconomic program participants.
• SUPPORT preparation and review of Requests for Quotes (RFQs), Requests for Proposals (RFPs), combined synopsis/solicitations, notices, amendments, and supporting acquisition documentation.
• PREPARE draft pre-award notices and other procurement information for Government posting through approved acquisition systems and platforms.
• ASSIST with acquisition planning, solicitation, evaluation, award, administration, modification, and contract closeout activities under the guidance of more senior acquisition personnel and Government Contracting Officers.
• SUPPORT source-selection activities by organizing evaluation materials, maintaining appropriate procurement documentation, and helping protect procurement-sensitive information.
• MAINTAIN contract and acquisition files so documentation is complete, accurate, current, properly indexed, and audit-ready.
• TRACK Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT), acquisition milestones, solicitation actions, evaluations, awards, modifications, funding, deliverables, invoices, option periods, and closeout requirements.
• ENTER and maintain procurement information within Government-approved acquisition, contract-writing, tracking, and document-management systems.
• PREPARE contract award and administrative documentation for purchase orders, task orders, delivery orders, and other contractual actions for Government review and approval.
• LOG contract awards and modifications and assist with distribution and filing of approved contractual documents.
• SUPPORT post-award administration, including invoice tracking, funding-status monitoring, deliverable tracking, contract file maintenance, correspondence, and post-award meeting support.
• ASSIST in identifying upcoming option periods, expiring funding, overdue deliverables, outstanding invoices, incomplete documentation, and other items requiring Government attention.
• SUPPORT contract closeout activities by assembling required documentation, reconciling file records, tracking outstanding actions, and preparing files for Government review.
• ASSIST with responses to data calls, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, Congressional inquiries, protests, and other acquisition-related inquiries as directed.
• COORDINATE with Contracting Officers, CORs, program offices, acquisition team members, vendors, and other stakeholders to obtain missing information and maintain acquisition schedules.
• COMMUNICATE procurement status, changing milestones, outstanding actions, documentation requirements, and potential schedule impacts to appropriate team members.
• IDENTIFY documentation deficiencies, administrative bottlenecks, scheduling risks, and procurement issues and elevate them to senior acquisition personnel or Government officials.
• PREPARE reports, correspondence, briefing materials, spreadsheets, trackers, status updates, and other acquisition-support products.
• PARTICIPATE in requirements meetings involving acquisition plans, SOWs/PWSs, IGCEs, solicitations, technical evaluations, price reports, award documentation, contract administration, and closeout activities.
• PROTECT procurement-sensitive, proprietary, Privacy Act, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and other non-public Government information.
• MAINTAIN professionalism when interacting with Government personnel, contractors, vendors, program offices, and senior Government and non-Government officials.