Director Office of Procurement

Summary

The incumbent serves as Director, Office of Procurement for the Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) for the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate (HSMD). The Director reports directly to the NASA Assistant Administrator for Procurement and is a key member of the senior management team. Responsibilities include planning, budgeting, directing, executing, and coordinating procurement actions on behalf of NASA's Office of Procurement.

Duties

As the JSC Procurement Director and HSMD HCA, the incumbent's duties and responsibilities include:

• Oversees the development and administration of the contract policy review function. This includes the review of contractual documents and procurement plans, compliance with procurement regulations and policy; and analysis of special programs.
• Oversight and management of the JSC and HSMD Contract portfolio. Responsible for leading and managing the overall procurement activities, including planning and implementing acquisition strategies, issuing solicitations, conducting negotiations, processing awards, and administering contracts for programs/projects as well as local and enterprise-wide institutional portfolio contracting activity.
• Provides leadership and oversight of activities in support of planning, developing, implementing, and maintaining policies, procedures, and processes necessary to perform the acquisition functions required to support the Center's technical programs, projects, and institutions, including the acquisition of supplies and services from International Partners.
• Oversight and management to ensure compliance with federal laws related to contracting. Collaboration with other mission support directorates and share best practices with the Federal Government; and resulting in a direct savings to NASA.
• Serves as principal advisor to senior management officials for contracting and procurement matters while operating under policy guidance and direction of the NASA Assistant Administrator for Procurement.
• Appoints warranted Contracting Officers and ensures the Center Contracting Officer Representatives are compliant with training and certification requirements, properly appointed, and effectively performing their delegated contract administration functions.
• Directs the overall management of the JSC and HSMD acquisition programs. Oversees acquisition activities including program plan development, training and development of Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs), source board evaluations and selections, pricing, negotiations, contract review and award, and administration, and the award and administration of funded Space Act Agreements. It includes all institutional and program contracts, procurement policy development and implementation, price and cost analysis, contract labor relations, and program review.
• Provides procurement expertise and oversight to Source Evaluation Boards (SEBs) on major acquisitions, conducts industry briefings, and serves on Award Fee Determination Boards. Ensures procurement actions comply with appropriate statutes, regulations, policies, and practices. Develops and monitors procurement policies and procedures, ensures competition is fostered in all acquisitions, and minimizes vulnerability to fraud, waste, and abuse.
• Provides leadership for a large workforce of procurement professionals and oversees policies and initiatives to ensure the growth, training and development of all assigned employees. Ensures a safe and healthful working environment for all employees, which includes providing employees with adequate training and instructions on safety issues.
• Responsible for the standardization of contracting efforts, coordinating resources across multiple centers, interfacing with the Office of General Counsel (OGC), Center Directors, local stakeholders, Mission Directorate Associate Administrators, NASA Headquarters, other Federal agency executives and external stakeholders. Manages the Center's implementation of the minority and small business programs. Ensures the Center meets its socioeconomic procurement goals and program objectives.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• The individual selected will be required to file an 'Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report' (OGE-278e) within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.
• Initial Senior Executive Service (SES) Career appointee is subject to a one-year probationary period.
• Successful completion of a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.
• Successful completion of pre-employment and random drug testing may be required.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance as required by the position.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
• Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.

Qualifications

As a basic requirement for entry into the Senior Executive Service (SES) under a career appointment, you must clearly articulate and describe within your 2-page resume that you possess the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications MTQ(s) related to this position. If your 2-page resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of the ECQs and MTQ(s), you may be disqualified. Any additional pages over the 2-page limit will not be reviewed.
Your resume should include evidence of progressively responsible supervisory, managerial, or professional experience which involved management of a program or organization of significant scope and complexity, normally obtained over several years by serving in positions at the GS-15 level or equivalent.
If you are (1) currently serving under a career SES appointment, (2) eligible for reinstatement into the SES (this means you were previously employed as a Career SES employee and you successfully completed a one-year probationary period), OR (3) have successfully completed a SES Candidate Development Program (CDP) and certified by OPM, you do not need to address the ECQs in your resume. However, your resume must clearly state that you are a current career SES, eligible for SES reinstatement, or SES CDP certified and year of certification.
Please DO NOT submit separate documents addressing the ECQs or MTQ(s). Only your 2-page resume will be accepted and considered. Any additional documents submitted will not be accepted.
EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs)
For more information on the ECQs, please visit OPM's ECQ webpage.
ECQ 1 - Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Principles of the American Founding: This core qualification requires a demonstrated knowledge of the American system of government, commitment to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, and commitment to serve the American people. Competencies: Knowledge of the American System of Government, Commitment to the Rule of Law, and Civic-Mindedness
ECQ 2 - Driving Efficiency: This core qualification involves the demonstrated ability to strategically and efficiently manage resources, budget effectively, cut wasteful spending, and pursue efficiency through process and technological upgrades. Competencies: Fiscal Responsibility, Managing Resources, Leveraging Technology
ECQ 3 - Merit and Competence: This core qualification involves the demonstrated knowledge, ability and technical competence to effectively and reliably produce work that is of exceptional quality. Competencies: Technical Skill, Problem Solving, Agility and Resilience
ECQ 4 - Leading People: This core qualification involves the demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a group toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals, and to drive a high-performance, high-accountability culture. This includes, when necessary, the ability to lead people through change and to hold individuals accountable. Competencies: Accountability, Developing Others, Executive Judgment
ECQ 5 - Achieving Results - This core qualification involves the demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and organizational results, and to align results to stated goals from superiors. Competencies: Operational Mindset, Innovation, Strategic Thinking
MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION (MTQ):
Your resume must include accomplishments that address the MTQ(s).
MTQ: Demonstrated experience in leading and developing a wide variety of acquisition strategies for a complex procurement portfolio for scientific research or advanced technology development. This includes leading and managing complex multi-million-dollar acquisitions; and establishing, evaluating, and measuring contract performance, program control, and compliance of the acquisitions.
Competencies: Acquisition and Contract Management; Contract Management and Performance Assessment.
Your application package must be in your own words. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement, or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job. Please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence to review NASA's guidance on the use of artificial intelligent (AI) or AI-assisted tools during the application process.

Education

This position has a positive education requirement. To be eligible, you must clearly state in your resume the following: degree, major and/or minor, and college/university. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
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.
An official transcript will be required if you are selected.
Acquisition Certification: To be eligible for this position, your resume MUST state whether you currently or previously had a Federal Acquisition Certification-Contracting or Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvements Contracting certification. Applicants must possess or be able to fulfil the requirements for the Federal Acquisition Certification-Contracting (FAC-C) Professional or Level III, Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvements Act (DAWIA) Contracting Professional or DAWIA Contracting Level III certification.
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs. These education credentials must be deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, click here.

Additional information

Veterans' preference is not applicable to the SES.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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