Salary: $61,632.00 – $82,896.00 Annually
Location: Thurston County – Olympia, WA
Job Type: Full Time – Permanent
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Job Number: 23DOT-HQ-05226
Department: Dept. of Transportation
Division: Headquarters
Opening Date: 05/31/2023
Closing Date: 6/20/2023 11:59 PM Pacific

About WSDOT
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is the steward of an integrated, multimodal transportation system that helps to ensure people and goods move safely and efficiently throughout the state. In addition to building, maintaining, and operating the state highway system, WSDOT operates the largest ferry system in the nation, manages the world’s longest floating bridge, and recently completed the world’s widest tunneling project.
 
The Opportunity
WSDOT Contract Ad & Award (CAA) office is currently seeking a Contracts Specialist 3 in Olympia, WA. In this role, you will serve as a unit supervisor and assist the Ad and Award manager in enacting policies and procedures in the advertisement and award of all WSDOT highway, ferry terminal, and facility projects statewide. This includes drafting modifications to Washington Administrative Code (WAC) as necessary, as well as reviewing changes to Washington State RCW. In this role, you will represent the department to the public, highway construction contractors, and other stakeholders. This position will supervise the six Contracts Specialists positions in the CAA office with the responsibility to determine department policy and implementation through processes and procedures. In order to maintain a level playing field among the contracting community, this position will guide CAA staff working with confidential and sensitive information to ensure that the department’s interests are represented, and all laws and rules are followed.
 
What to Expect
Among the varied range of responsibilities held within this role, you will:

  • Recommend bid opening schedule that are advantageous and increases competition on WSDOT contracts.
  • Evaluate comments from contractors and project engineers and make adjustments to bid opening dates triggered by the issuances of contract addenda.
  • Evaluate contract addenda to determine impacts and time requirements for bid preparations or the bid opening delays. 
  • Assist with public bid openings, receiving and publicly opening and reading bids in concert with all applicable laws and rules.
  • Evaluate all bids that are determined to be non-responsive and assists with bid rejections. 
  • Receive and assists with bid protests, makes recommendations of merit, and invokes appropriate follow up actions. 
  • Facilitate as needed with the Attorney General’s (AG) Office for legal opinions of all proposed actions. 
  • Recommend awarding contracts to the lowest responsive bidder.
  • Receive and review all Contractor performance reports submitted by Regional Project Engineers to determine future adjustments to work classification and maximum capacities.
  • Help Evaluate Contractor financial statements, work histories, and written reports of previous owners to make determination of work classification ratings and maximum bidding capacities.

Qualifications
To be considered for this opportunity, the following are required:

  • A Bachelor’s degree involving major study in business administration, public administration, business law, commerce, mathematics, statistics, economics, transportation or a closely allied field. (Additional qualifying experience may be substituted, year for year, for the education.)
  • Three (3) years of experience in negotiating, administering, or terminating government contracts, contract property management, contract cost or price analyses or contract compliance administration. 
    • A Master’s degree in one of the above academic disciplines may be substituted for one year of experience; OR
    • A law degree from an accredited college or university approved by the Washington State Bar Association may be substituted for two (2) years of experience and the education. 
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills in the English language.
  • Ability to speak in public meetings.

It is preferred that qualified candidates also have:

  • Ability to work independently or as a member of the team to complete assigned work.
  • Ability to research statutes, administrative codes, and regulations.
  • Ability to work with confidential and sensitive information.
  • Progressive knowledge of contract administration
  • Effective management, leadership, and supervisory skills

How to Apply
Applications for this recruitment will be accepted electronically. Your relevant experience may be evaluated to determine salary. Therefore, it is very important that the “Work Experience” portion of the application be completed in as much detail as possible.
In order to be considered for this opportunity, please include the following with your online application: 

  • An attached Resume outlining (in reverse chronological order) your experience to date.
  • An attached Cover Letter that further explains your qualifications, and indicates why you believe you are a viable candidate for this role.
  • Contact details for a minimum three (3) individuals who can attest to your work performance, technical skills, and job-related competencies. This information can be entered in the “References” section of the online application; does not require an additional attachment. 

For more information and to apply: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/jobs/3991310/contracts-specialist-3-advertisement-and-award. Note that you will be prompted to either sign in, or create an account. This step is required in order to submit an application to this opportunity.

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