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What do GS-1101s do?


Guest Vern Edwards

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Guest Vern Edwards

Question: What kinds of tasks do GS-1101s perform in contracting offices?

The Federal Acquisition Institute's quarterly acquisition workforce report includes statistics for two job series: GS-1101 and GS-1102. According to the most recent report, the government employed 27,143 persons in the GS-1101 series, General Business and Industry, and 36,971 persons in the GS-1102 series, Contracting, during the first quarter of FY2016.

By way of background, the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families describes the 1101 series as follows:

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This series covers all classes of positions the duties of which are to administer, supervise, or perform (1) any combination of work characteristic of two or more series in this group (Group 1100-Business and Industry) where no one type of work is series controlling and where the combination is not specifically included in another series; or (2) other work properly classified in this group for which no other series has been provided.

The Handbook describes the 1102 series as follows:

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This series includes positions that manage, supervise, perform, or develop policies and procedures for professional work involving the procurement of supplies, services, construction, or research and development using formal advertising [i.e., sealed bidding] or negotiation procedures; the evaluation of contract price proposals; and the administration or termination and close out of contracts. The work requires knowledge of business and industry practices, sources of supply, cost factors, and requirements characteristics.

 

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Guest Vern Edwards

Someone just told me that agencies are hiring people into 1101 positions in order to bypass the qualification requirements for 1102s.

Is that true?

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Bob - It looks like a COR position to me - I have seen 1102s lateral or get promoted into 1101 and become CORs on contracts that they either awarded or administered as an 1102.

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Vern - I have seen it since retiring as a method to bypass  the 1102 positive education requirements which in the end relates to the FAC-CO certification as well.   Otherwise Bob's post shows the various other positions they fill.

 

Carl

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Vern,

My office uses 1101s in roles such as Cost/price, policy, COR coordination, system admins for wawf, EDA, sps, etc. and has hired a few folks that have degrees and have been involved in contracting either on the govt side or KTR but aren't currently qualified for 1102 usually because they lack the 24 business credits and are currently or quickly planning on enrolling in an institution of higher learning to become fully qualified 1102s.

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An agency needed a Director of Acquisition Management (chief of the contracting office) for one of its regional offices in the west, to replace a retiree, but the regional [manager] decided that the 1102s on staff were not flexible or responsive, so the vacancy was classified as GS-1101-15 and a well-liked quality assurance specialist was selected.  The selectee was not able to hold contracting authority, but that wasn't important to the regional [manager] -- the selectee was expected to change the culture and deliver some flexibility and responsiveness.

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At first, anything requiring chief of the contracting office (COCO) approval had to go forward to the agency's HCA in D.C.  After a while, the HCA delegated COCO authority to the deputy chief of the office.  Maybe something like when Darlene Druyun stripped the SMC commander of his acquisition authority in the C-17 saga?  The three-star commander was still the center commander, but his acquisition work (the biggest part of his job?) was done by the one-star deputy center commander.

 

The story I described happened back in 2011 or thereabouts -- I don't recall exactly.  I was in another region and saw it all happen.  I left the agency soon afterwards and I cannot report on how effective the new regional Acquisition Management Director was in delivering flexibility and responsiveness.  The regional Acquisition Management Director position was owned by the regional [manager], who did not have to get the concurrence of the agency's Acquisition Management Director in this matter.

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When I worked for the Army, I was an 1101.  We were liaisons between the end customers, and the contracting office.  We advised customers on procurement policies, assisted them in preparing documentation (Performance Work Statements, Independent Government Cost Estimates, Justifications & Approvals, etc.) by reviewing/editing their submittals.  We also served as CORs for the non-personal services contracts.  Finally, we were the Government Purchase Card holders for the organization.  Our Army organization was assimilated into a new DoD level Agency that was stood up.  Within this Agency we still have 1101 that do much the same thing that we were doing in the Army.  Myself, I moved into the contracting office, still as an 1101, doing a lot of things that I did as an 1101 for the Army, but now on a much larger scale.

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