Question...At the bureau I work at we have Contracting Officers that are other than a 1102 job series? One is a team lead that does not supervise contracting officers and one that is the HCA/SPE? We have one that is a 340 and 343 series? Is this uncommon and if so is there any policy that precludes a Contracting Officer from being other than a 1102? I have looked everywhere and could not find any guidance that a CO can be appointed outside of the 1102 job series. I would think a PD would state that they must have a warrant?? Thoughts?? Thanks.

Neither the United States Code nor the FAR requires that a contracting officer be an 1102. Particular agencies may have different policies.

Military personnel who have been appointed contracting officers are not 1102s. Many persons who have CO authority, such as chiefs of contracting offices, heads of contracting activities, and agency heads, are not 1102s.

2 hours ago, NikNax1102 said:

I would think a PD would state that they must have a warrant??

I think the question you were trying to ask was can anyone other than an 1102 receive a warrant? As Vern pointed out, there is no universal requirement that only 1102's can receive a warrant.

I happen to have this in front of me. This is from the Department of Energy. The delegation process is on page 3, para C. The delegation of authority comes from the Secretary on down to the HCA. None of these individuals are in the 1102 series. This process is similar in most agencies.

DOE

I know of a couple instances where some contracting offices made some serious errors and CO warrants were revoked. Lawyers in the General Counsel office were appointed as COs.

The intelligence community among other places also have individuals not in the 1102 series with warrants.

22 hours ago, NikNax1102 said:

Question..

To bolster the responses with references that may be of interest.

As noted most agencies have a policy relating to warranting. Many refer to it as the "Contracting Officer Warrant Program" or something close. You might take a look internal to your Bureau to see what you can find.

You might also take a look at OFPP Policy Letter 05-01 "Developing and Managing the Acquisition Workforce." Here is an interesting quote from it.

"The GS-1102 federal acquisition certification is not mandatory for all GS-1102s. However, members of the workforce issued new CO warrants on or after January 1, 2007, regardless of GS series, must be certified at an appropriate level to support their warrant obligations. New CO warrants are defined as warrants issued to employees for the first time at a department or agency. This requirement does not apply to senior level officials responsible for delegating procurement authority or those whose warrants are generally used to procure emergency goods and services."

And from my experience. GS-1105, 1101, 1106 and from the series 0800 have had warrants.

Thank you! This helps alot!