Program Manager / Senior Contract Specialist – CDC Acquisition Support

The Program Manager / Senior Contract Specialist will lead and oversee acquisition support services for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Acquisition Services. This position is responsible for managing contractor personnel, overseeing acquisition workflow support, ensuring timely completion of procurement actions, maintaining quality control across contract files and deliverables, and serving as a senior acquisition advisor for pre-award, award, and post-award contract actions.

The successful candidate will bring strong federal acquisition experience, program management capability, cradle-to-grave contracting knowledge, and the ability to coordinate multiple contract specialists supporting CDC acquisition requirements. This role requires experience with acquisition planning, procurement documentation, contract administration, reporting, quality assurance, and stakeholder coordination.

The Program Manager / Senior Contract Specialist will serve as the primary management lead for the contractor team and will ensure that all work is performed professionally, ethically, accurately, and in accordance with FAR, HHSAR, CDC policies, and applicable acquisition procedures.

Key Responsibilities

Program & Team Management

• Lead day-to-day management of contractor acquisition support personnel.
• Oversee workload distribution, contract action tracking, production timelines, and staff performance.
• Ensure adequate staffing levels are maintained throughout the period of performance.
• Monitor progress against procurement action goals, contract file completion requirements, and reporting deadlines.
• Provide management oversight, quality assurance, issue resolution, and corrective action planning.
• Ensure customer satisfaction and professional conduct of all contractor personnel.
• Coordinate with Government stakeholders regarding workload priorities, acquisition support needs, risks, and performance issues.

Acquisition Lifecycle Support

• Provide senior-level acquisition support across the full procurement lifecycle.
• Support pre-award, solicitation, evaluation, award, post-award, modification, de-obligation, and contract closeout-related activities.
• Assist in acquisition planning, market research, solicitation development, source selection documentation, award documentation, and contract file organization.
• Support procurement actions involving purchase orders, task orders, contracts, modifications, and related acquisition instruments.
• Ensure acquisition documentation complies with FAR, HHSAR, CDC local policies, and established procurement file requirements.

Pre-Award Acquisition Support

• Support procurement planning and acquisition strategy development.
• Provide relevant historical procurement information and current market or industry research.
• Advise on acquisition requirements, procurement strategy, applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Support and document market research activities.
• Assist with obtaining required acquisition reviews and approvals.
• Attend meetings with OAS and program offices associated with assigned workload.
• Respond to data calls and acquisition-related information requests.

Solicitation & Evaluation Support

• Oversee or support development and editing of solicitation documents, including Requests for Proposals, Requests for Quotes, Invitations for Bids, combined synopsis/solicitations, determinations and findings, memoranda for file, and checklists.
• Support preparation of pre-solicitation and solicitation notices for Government review.
• Assist with posting and procurement actions through platforms such as SAM.gov, GSA eBuy, NITACC, NASA SEWP, and agency websites.
• Support documentation for 8(a) offerings and small business reviews.
• Facilitate communication with the Small Business Administration, servicing agencies, and Governmentwide Acquisition Contract stakeholders as needed.
• Support pre-proposal conferences, acquisition planning meetings, evaluation sessions, and related stakeholder discussions.

Award & Post-Award Support

• Support activities after receipt of offers or quotes, including evaluation documentation, pricing analysis support, technical and past performance evaluation coordination, and source selection documentation.
• Assist in preparing award documents and associated file documentation.
• Support facilitation of awards, distribution of official copies, and completion of procurement data reporting.
• Assist with post-award administration, including unilateral and bilateral modifications.
• Support notices of intent to exercise options and other contract administration actions.
• Assist with contract de-obligations across various contract types, including firm-fixed-price and cost-type contracts.
• Ensure digital/electronic contract files are organized, complete, accurate, and delivered on schedule.

Reporting, Quality Control & Deliverables

• Prepare and/or oversee monthly progress reports, weekly status reports, bi-weekly update meeting materials, and procurement file delivery.
• Track procurement request status, number of actions completed, Procurement Administrative Lead Time, and workload trends.
• Review contract documents and procurement files for accuracy, professionalism, completeness, and compliance.
• Maintain quality assurance across all contractor-produced acquisition work products.
• Identify recurring issues, recommend process improvements, and implement corrective action plans.
• Ensure timely response to Government questions, concerns, and performance feedback.

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Minimum seven (7) years of experience in program management, contracting, acquisition planning, or a combination of these areas.
• Current or previous FAC-C certification for a minimum of five (5) years, or civilian equivalent.
• Experience supporting federal acquisition, procurement, or contracting operations.
• Experience managing acquisition support personnel or contract specialist teams.
• Experience supporting cradle-to-grave contracting actions.
• Experience applying FAR, HHSAR, and federal procurement policies.
• Strong knowledge of acquisition planning, market research, solicitation preparation, contract file documentation, award support, and post-award contract administration.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage competing deadlines, high-volume procurement workloads, and multiple stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous CDC, HHS, or federal health agency acquisition support experience.
• Previous Integrated Contracts Expert experience.
• Experience supporting GSA Schedule, GSA eBuy, SAM.gov, NITACC, NASA SEWP, GWAC, 8(a), or small business procurement actions.
• Experience managing remote acquisition support teams.
• Experience developing procurement reports, production metrics, PALT reports, quality control reviews, and contract file compliance checklists.
• PMP, FAC-C, DAWIA, NCMA CPCM, CFCM, or related acquisition/project management certification preferred.

Required Skills

• Federal acquisition management
• Cradle-to-grave contracting
• Program management
• Team leadership
• Procurement planning
• Market research
• Solicitation development
• Contract administration
• Post-award support
• Contract file quality control
• FAR / HHSAR compliance
• Reporting and metrics
• Stakeholder communication
• Quality assurance
• Corrective action planning