About this role
Senior Contract Specialist
Summary: Leads a full range of divisionwide contract administration and procurement activities; advises on and facilitates the purchase of goods and services for FCPS in accordance with School Board and federal, state, and county rules and regulations.
Qualifications: Required
• Bachelor's degree. • Three (3) years of experience in public sector proposal analysis and procurement. • Advanced degree(s) beyond the minimum degree requirement in a relevant field may be considered for some experience.
• Knowledge of federal, state, and local jurisdiction contract and procurement regulations (such as the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA), and guidelines, specifically in governmental purchasing. • Knowledge of the principles, practices, and methods of procurement. • Knowledge of supply, market, and price trends. • Ability to prepare technical specifications and review, analyze, and evaluate bids and proposals. • Critical thinker with decision-making skills and high standards of detail accuracy. • Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with school-based administrators, central office staff, and the vendor community. • Proficiency in the use of technology, data compilation, analysis, and reporting. • Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing. • Ability to exercise tact, good judgment, and initiative. • Ability to work effectively under pressure. Preferred
• Experience in project management professional certification, mediation, or negotiation. • Certification by a nationally recognized public procurement or contracting certification (e.g. CPPB, CPPO, CPCM).
Major Duties/Essential Functions: • Exercises leadership in contracts management, which includes the collaborative development of requirements, planning, documentation, and oversight of assigned projects. • Manages procurement planning discussions with department leads. • Prepares specifications, requirements, terms & conditions for competitive invitation for bid (IFB) solicitations and competitive requests for proposal (RFP) documents. • Conducts and facilitates pre-bid discussions, pre-proposal conferences, and evaluation teams while reviewing for recurring complex or unique procurement requirements and ensuring conformity of understanding with bid documents. • Leads and manages complex contract negotiations that include license agreements, warranty, lease/purchase agreements. • Develops negotiation strategies that ensure understanding between parties and smooths administration to align with business initiatives. • Interprets complex guidelines and policies and negotiates difficult contract changes with vendors. • Coordinates resources required to oversee comprehensive, multi-year contracts from development through completion. • Performs and evaluates spend and cost analysis as required for determination of contract value, including annual value as required for contract administration and market research comparison for cost reasonableness. • Ensures compliance with sole-source contract policies and alignment with sole source approvals. • Recommends contract awards to procurement leadership and prepares award recommendations. • Leads and facilitates discussions among groups and individuals to reach consensus, resolve conflicts, or influence outcomes on matters of significance. • Debriefs unsuccessful vendors on the strengths and weaknesses of their proposal. • Provides districtwide guidance and advises schools, regions, departments, and vendors, on contract administration functions and status: contract kick-off, modification, monitoring, and close-out. • Communicates effectively and engages employees at all levels of the organization in the facilitation and implementation of the contract process. • Assists in formulating purchasing forecasts and budgets. • Identifies operational challenges and provides solutions for best-in-class service. • Acts as a primary point person or liaison outside the department regarding a specific program or set of services, and presents information and recommendations to staff, senior management, or School Board. • Mentors staff on procurement-related procedures and policies. • Performs related duties as required or assigned.
Work Environment/Physical Requirements: This job operates in a professional office environment and has a noise level of mostly low to moderate. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines.