Army seeks hundreds of contracting specialists

Looking for a job with a stable employer, good pay and benefits, and travel to places few civilians ever venture? If you're good with numbers and have an eye for detail, then the Army just might have what you're looking for. Senior Army leaders said Wednesday they plan to hire hundreds of entry-level and midcareer contracting specialists and other acquisition personnel next year.

In addition, the service expects to insource more than 4,000 acquisition-related jobs during the next five years, including 150 contracting positions.

"We've been working very vigorously over the last few years in trying to rebuild our contracting workforce both on the civilian side and, just as importantly, on the military side," said Jeffrey Parsons, executive director of the Army Contracting Command. Information about jobs with ACC, including overseas assignments and positions, is available at Armyhire.com. The civilian contracting workforce of 5,300 employees is expected to grow about 25 percent, he said.

"Our largest challenge is hiring people who have experience in contracting," Parsons said, noting the Army has reached out to struggling economic sectors, including Detroit automakers, to try and attract candidates with relevant experience. But the Army has far more positions to fill than experienced candidates, so it has embarked on a major effort to develop the needed skills through a two-year internship program.

In 2010, the Army brought on about 800 interns, and will hire another 70 next year, according to Parsons. "We are in a huge developmental cycle right now," he noted. The program quickly leads to well-paying jobs for qualified participants. Interns, essentially entry-level personnel who go through a rigorous training program, typically move from the GS-7 to GS-9 pay grade within one year and could be quickly promoted afterward. Annual pay for senior procurement analysts, for which the Army has multiple vacancies in the Washington metro area, ranges from $98,798 to $163,275.

The Army Corps of Engineers also is looking to significantly boost its acquisition staff, from about 1,300 to 1,500 personnel. Kim Denver, director of contracting for the Corps, said the agency is placing much greater attention on how it oversees contractors and assures the quality of acquired goods and services, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"We are facing the same issues as Army Contracting Command," Denver said. At the journeyperson level -- mid-level contracting specialists with several years of experience -- the supply is inadequate to fill the demand, he noted.

"What we've had to do is focus on bringing in new employees into intern positions and growing that capability," Denver said. "Right now, with the shortages, if we just focus on the journeyperson level, we're just trading resources [among organizations]."

The hiring challenge has its roots in the post-Cold War military drawdown of the 1990s, when acquisition workforces across the Defense Department experienced the brunt of personnel cuts, leaving staffs ill-equipped to handle the contracting demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Edward Harrington, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for procurement. During the past eight years, the rate of contract transactions has increased fivefold, he said.

Boosting the number and skill level of acquisition personnel is a high priority of Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The recent efficiency initiatives Gates launched to reduce overhead have deliberately excluded the acquisition workforce from cuts.

"The efficiency initiatives are only beneficial to us because they reinforce what we do as a profession," Harrington said. "They help reinforce us getting better business arrangements with industry and ensure we have the skills necessary to go get those better business arrangements."

The Army is responsible for nearly 25 percent of all federal contracting dollars, Parsons said. "The importance and the interest by Congress in how well we're spending these dollars has rightfully increased over the last several years," he said. "This is all the more reason why we need to develop the right people to execute this contracting business."