PITTSBURGH – No other career in government has more job opportunities than contracting offices right now.
Every function of government relies on contracts for big purchases or specialized work at some point. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers relies on contract work for a range of projects, from major construction jobs of navigation locks on the river to mowing the lawns at various federal facilities.
“We can’t meet any of our missions without executing contracts every year,” said Joshua Kaufmann, the chief of the contracting office at the Pittsburgh District.
Government agencies have seen a rising need for contract specialists since 2010, and the Pittsburgh District is among them.
“It’s a competitive field for employers because there are so many open positions and not enough people to fill them,” Kaufmann said.
To understand the demand for government contracting positions, simply search on the USAjobs.gov website. At the time of the publishing of this article, a search for “administrator” results in about 750 open positions. “Accountant” and “human resources” will result in 200 to 500 job offers. “Budget analyst” and “engineer” searches come out strong with 1,200 and 1,500 listings, respectively.
However, a search for “contracting” displays the most with 1,600 results, 80 percent of which offer a salary of $80,000 or more.
“I love working in contracting. My work directly contributes to maintaining our projects, providing recreational opportunities, and serving people,” said Janie Roney, a contracting officer with the Pittsburgh District.
Roney has 19 years of contracting experience, seven of which have been with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“It always amazes me to hear about a project, knowing it became a reality thanks to the contracting office. It is great knowing that my work provides jobs for the public and contractors,” she said.
Contract specialists are responsible for researching and writing contracts for goods and services that meet specific needs. They fulfill requirements to provide the best value for the government.
“If you boil down the contract specialist role, they’re business advisors,” Kaufmann said. “They offer business advice related to policies and economics and provide acquisition tools for whatever requirement a government agency might have.”
In fiscal year 2023, Pittsburgh District’s contracting office completed more than 500 actions worth over $140 million. Each action can take weeks or months of research, requiring various level of review and collaboration with other departments. Contract specialists need to be meticulous and attentive to detail, Kaufmann said.
“I appreciate their passion for the mission,” said Michelle McDowell, a contracting branch chief who has worked in contracting since 2004.
“When a contract specialist receives an acquisition assignment, they own that action. They will do their due diligence to work with the customer to get what they need based on the requirement and timeline,” she said.
Pittsburgh District’s contracting office has a staff of 20 people, with several vacancies in the office currently. Because of their workload, the office is looking to hire new specialists nearly every year. To fill some of their personnel needs, they have also offered “tour of duty” positions to Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers to work in their office on active-duty orders. Currently two noncommissioned officers work in tour-of-duty positions for the contracting office.
Still, the work never ends, often resulting in overtime hours to meet strict deadlines. The team handles contracts in a huge variety of scope, size, dollar value, complexity and purpose.
“It’s a cradle-to-grave process where we manage contracts until they’re fully paid, delivered and closed out,” Kaufmann said. “Depending on the dollar value and complexity, we’re responsible for the solicitation process, getting quotes, proposals, bids, evaluating them, making an award, and then administering everything after.”
The team manages a variety of contracts and programs. It oversees the credit card purchase programs; it purchases large equipment such as boats, excavators, or other machinery; it contracts for services to maintain the buildings and grounds at various federal facilities; it fulfills outsource contracts for specialized engineering or medical services the district needs, it manages the FEMA contract to install generators to provide temporary emergency power during natural disasters, and more.
“Performing a contract for something like buildings and grounds can sound like boring stuff, but when the toilets are clean, the grass is mowed, and our visitors can enjoy our recreational areas without complaints, that is rewarding,” Kaufmann said.
Other contracts are more monumental than cleaning toilets. The Pittsburgh District has been building and maintaining river locks, dams and reservoirs since the late 1800s. For the past three decades, it executed contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the navigation system on the Monongahela River, and it will offer new contracts worth hundreds of millions more to construct new chambers on the Ohio River.
Kaufmann is thankful for all the complex, detailed work his team accomplishes to benefit the region. They learn much of their work on the job because every contracting action is different.
College students interested in a government job in contracting are required to have a bachelor’s degree in any field. It helps to have college credits in business, such as economics, management, or accounting, but not mandatory. The Department of Defense made the change in required education in the last few years to help job recruiting.
“There’s no four-year degree at colleges or universities that teaches everything we do in contracting,” Kaufmann said.
Although a specific contracting degree doesn’t exist, a student’s GPA can help determine their salary. With a GPA of at least 3.0, a college graduate would be eligible for a GS-07 pay grade, earning a starting salary of $48,000 out of college in the Pittsburgh area.
“It is a teachable job,” Kaufmann said. “We often train new specialists who don’t have the experience required when they get hired. We invest resources into them to prepare them on the job.”
“Contracting is challenging and fast-paced. You exercise mastery of complex cognitive skills, and you get a sense of purpose that enables all other mission sets to succeed,” Kaufmann said.
Kaufman said the Pittsburgh District can be a great place to propel a contracting career. There seems to be a huge shortage of contracting professionals, and they take three to four years to grow, train and coach to be proficient in their field, he said.
He mentioned teachers as one category that would make great candidates as contract specialists. Their organizational skills, education, and attention to detail would translate well into a new career in contracting.
“Once you get the skills and the training, you can leverage your experience to go anywhere. The Army Corps of Engineers has contracting jobs all over the world,” he said.
“Headwaters Highlights” is part of a story series to highlight every one of the facilities or teams that make the Pittsburgh District’s mission possible. Pittsburgh District’s 26,000 square miles include portions of western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, western Maryland, and southwestern New York. It has more than 328 miles of navigable waterways, 23 navigation locks and dams, 16 multi-purpose flood-control reservoirs, 42 local flood-protection projects, and other projects to protect and enhance the nation’s water resources, infrastructure and environment.