So What Exactly Are 1102s in the US Government?

An 1102 is not an 1102 is Not an 1102

Dear readers,

I have returned from a bountiful, restful post-retirement vacation in the island of Tobago in the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago. When I say restful it was a restful as can be surrounded by 89 extended family members who have taken over a hotel for a family reunion.

This is a view from Flag Staff Hill in Tobago. It was an American military lookout and radio tower during the Second World War, when German U-Boat activity had been causing havoc until the Americans entered the war. The islands in the distance, St. Giles and Melville, mark the meeting point of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. (Photo by C Byrne, July 2024, all rights reserved).

Now we can turn to the next in this series of introductory newsletters.

The short answer to the question “So What Exactly Are 1102s in the US Government?” is that 1102s buy and manage contracts for goods and services awarded by the United States government.

In a recent newsletter, I wrote that most Contracting Officers come from a government job series called “1102 - Contracting Series.” In that post I mentioned that not all 1102s are created equally and that there is a hierarchy in the career field, even between 1102s at the same grade level. Unfortunately, most people applying to field (based on a totally unscientific study of posts on the /1102 subreddit in Reddit) just say “I want to be an 1102, how do I apply” without understanding that there are distinctions in both the job title and the actual work they would be doing for an organization.

The key to understanding here is that “GS-1102” is a generic job series, not an actual job title or description of a specific job.

Here are some examples of different GS-1102 job titles that you may see floating in the wild:

“Contract Specialist”

(a) Positions which require a knowledge of pre-award and post-award procedures to plan and conduct the contracting process from the description of the requirements through contract delivery;

(b) Positions which require a knowledge of two or more contract functions with none predominant or grade-controlling;

(c) Other contract work not covered by the specializations described below.

“Contract Negotiator”

Covers positions which require a specialized knowledge of negotiation techniques to meet and reach agreement through discussion with a proposed contractor on the price and performance terms, and to set forth all these terms in a procurement document.

“Contract Administrator”

Covers positions which require a specialized knowledge of post-award contracting procedures to oversee or ensure compliance with the terms of contracts, to determine the reasonableness of and to negotiate claims, to resolve disputes and other problems concerning obligations of either the Government or the contractor, and to negotiate contract modifications.

This is the title of choice for positions which perform a combination of post-award functions involving both contract administration and contract termination.

“Contract Termination Specialist”

Covers positions which predominately require a specialized knowledge of post-award procedures and negotiation techniques to represent the Government in terminations for convenience or default and in claims and settlements.

“Contract Price/Cost Analyst”
Covers positions which require a specialized knowledge of cost and/or price analysis techniques to evaluate cost and/or price proposals, contract changes, repricing actions and final contract pricing; to obtain and review data from auditors and technical specialists; to recommend cost and profit negotiation objectives; to conduct or participate in negotiations on cost and/or price issues; or to develop and advise on policies and procedures relating to these functions.

“Procurement Analyst”
Covers positions which require a broad knowledge of procurement policies and procedures to plan, analyze, or evaluate procurement programs; review proposed contractual actions for conformance with regulatory requirements and procurement practices; or develop policies and procedures or provide advice and guidance to subordinate activities concerning a variety of procurement issues.

If you end up working for a major systems acquisition command, you may handle all of a procurement up to the award, and “throw it over the wall” to a contract administration office such as the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA).

If you take a job doing base or civilian facility contracting, you will be doing a bunch of much smaller contract awards that you will take from cradle to grave (closeout).

If you take a job in an Office of Naval Research (ONR) Administration office, you will accept all kinds of contract, grant, and cooperative agreement awards to administer. In a Procurement Performance Management Assessment Program (PPMAP) review of one ONR field office that I participated in a few years back, each Contract Specialist (Administrator) had an average workload of 450 awards each at various stages of life. Their function all day was to open review, click and approve invoices and other reports on these awards. That might be for you, but I certainly would not want to do it, and these are the questions you need to ask during the interview process.

Next time, we will discuss the education requirements to be hired as an 1102.

You can read the full OPM GS-1102 Contracting Series document at the OPM web site.

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