Contract Specialist

Contract Specialist Salary: $56,459.26 - $72,684.37 Annually

Location: Portsmouth, VA Job Type: Full-Time Regular Job Number: FY2025-01232 Department: Finance Opening Date: January 7, 2026 Closing Date: January 21, 2026 11:59 PM Eastern

Job Description:

Under general supervision, this position administers, organizes, and coordinates all aspects of pre-award and post-award functions of specialized procurement services for city departments. Reports to the Purchasing Agent.

Essential Job Functions:

• Collects or assists in collecting technical information for the development of proposals for city services, supplies, and equipment.
• Writes Requests for Proposals to meet the citys needs or the needs of internal customers.
• Monitors, analyzes, and incorporates changes from legal documents and internal supply market drivers into customer requirements, which can impact future business performance, such as materials, labor, and fuel costs.
• Confers with supplier representatives to ensure full understanding of bid requirements and responds to inquiries from vendors and the public.
• Updates contract reports and ensures contracts are renewed in a timely manner.
• Works with the City Attorney or designee to draft new contract templates.
• Administers procedure requisitions, change orders, and sole-source justification requested by departments.
• Manages department relationships, responding to long and short-term procurement, sourcing requirements, and questions.
• Performs contract administration duties and maintains contract documents.
• Processes requisitions and change orders in a timely manner.
• Receives and reviews requisitions, specifications, scopes of work, and translates documents into the appropriate acquisition (RFP, IFB, RFQ process.
• Tabulates and analyzes bids and proposals; determines the lowest responsible bidder; and refers to department staff for review and presents the award of contract.
• Keeps abreast of new product purchasing innovations.
• Performs other related work as required.

Individual Assignments:

Individual assignments will be determined by supervisor based on current workload and department needs.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Thorough knowledge of contracts administration, development of bid specifications, and procurement practices and regulations.
• Thorough knowledge of various grades and qualities of commodities, supply sources, price trends, and markets.
• Thorough knowledge of Virginia Public Procurement procedures.
• Ability to prepare technical specifications, invitations to bid, and to analyze bids.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment in making decisions.
• Ability to identify, select, and negotiate with vendors and consultants.
• Ability to maintain accurate records and prepare reports.
• Ability to effectively communicate and express ideas orally and in writing.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as necessitated by work assignments.

Quality of Work:

• Maintains high standards of accuracy in exercising duties and responsibilities.
• Exercises immediate remedial action to correct any quality deficiencies that occur in areas of responsibility.
• Maintains high-quality communication and interactions with all departments, co-workers, and the general public.

Quantity of Work:

• Maintains effective and efficient output of all duties and responsibilities as described under "Essential Job Functions."
• Assumes responsibility for doing assigned work and for meeting deadlines.
• Completes assigned work on or before deadlines in accordance with directives, policies, standards, and prescribed procedures.

Attendance:

• Attends work regularly and adheres to policies and procedures regarding absences and tardiness.
• Provides adequate notice to higher management with respect to vacation time and time-off requests.

Initiative and Enthusiasm:

• Maintains an enthusiastic, self-reliant, and self-starting approach to meet job responsibilities and accountabilities.
• Strives to anticipate work to be done and initiates proper and acceptable direction for the completion of work with a minimum of supervision and instruction.

Judgment:

• Exercises analytical judgment in areas of responsibility.
• Identifies problems or situations as they occur and specifies decision objectives.
• Identifies or assists in identifying alternative solutions to problems or situations.
• Implements decisions in accordance with prescribed and effective policies and procedures and with a minimum of errors.

Cooperation:

• Accepts supervisory instruction and direction and strives to meet the goals and objectives of the same.
• Questions instruction and direction when clarification of results or consequences is justified.
• Offers suggestions and recommendations to encourage and improve cooperation between all staff persons within the department.

Relationships with Others:

• Shares knowledge with supervisors and staff for mutual and departmental benefit.
• Contributes to maintaining high morale among all department employees.
• Develops and maintains cooperative and courteous relationships with department employees and managers in other departments, to project a good departmental image.
• Tactfully and effectively handles requests, suggestions, and complaints from other departments and persons in order to maintain good will within the city.

Coordination of Work:

• Plans and organizes daily work routine.
• Establishes priorities for the completion of work in accordance with sound time-management methodology.
• Avoids duplication of effort.
• Estimates expected time of completion of elements of work and establishes a personal schedule accordingly.
• Attends meetings, planning sessions, and discussions of time.
• Implements work activity in accordance with priorities and estimated schedules.
• Maintains a calendar for meetings and deadlines.

Safety and Housekeeping:

• Adheres to all safety and housekeeping standards established by the city and various regulatory agencies.
• Sees that the standards are not violated.
• Maintains a clean and orderly workplace.

Planning:

• Plans, directs, and uses information effectively in order to enhance activities and production of the department.
• Knows and understands the expectations of the city regarding the activities of the department and works to see that these expectations are met.
• Designs and formulates ways, means, and timing to achieve the goals and objectives of the department and the city.
• Within the constraints of city policy, formulates the appropriate strategy and tactics for achieving departmental and city objectives.
• Organizes, arranges, and allocates manpower, financial, and other designated resources in an efficient and effective way to achieve the goals and objectives of the department and city.

Decision Making:

• Uses discretion and judgment in developing and implementing courses of action affecting the department.
• When a particular policy, procedure, or strategy does not appear to be achieving the desired result, moves decisively and definitively to develop and implement alternatives.

Education, Experience, and Special Requirements:

• Requires a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration, Business Management, Contract Management, or a related field, and 3-4 years of experience with governmental purchasing or contract management, or an equivalent combination of education and experience necessary to meet the minimum requirement of the position.
• Position requires Virginia Contract Officer (VCO) within 24 months of being employed with the City or equivalent certification.

Special Requirements:

• An acceptable general background check to include a local and state criminal history check.
• A valid drivers license with an acceptable driving record.

Physical Demands:

• Must be physically able to operate a variety of office machinery and equipment, including calculators, copiers, etc.
• Must be able to exert up to 25 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.
• Physical demand requirements are for Light Work.

Data Conception:

• Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural, or compositional characteristics (whether similar to or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people, or things.

Interpersonal Communications:

• Requires the ability of speaking and/or signaling people to convey or exchange information.
• Includes receiving instructions, assignments, and directions from management.

Language Ability:

• Requires the ability to read contract language, terms and conditions, work orders, project specifications, schedules, invoices, equipment manuals, repair manuals, maps, codes, policy manuals, and blueprints.
• Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, budgets, purchase orders, schedules, payroll documents, and appraisals using prescribed format and conforming to all rules of grammar, punctuation, diction, and style.
• Requires the ability to communicate effectively in Standard English.

Intelligence:

• Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• To interpret a variety of instructions furnished in mathematical or diagrammatic form.
• To deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Verbal Aptitude:

• Requires the ability to record and deliver information, explain procedures, and follow oral and written instructions.
• Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently using Standard English, mechanical, technical, and electrical terminology.

Numerical Aptitude:

• Requires the ability to utilize mathematical formulas.
• Must be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

Form/Spatial Aptitude:

• Requires the ability to inspect items for proper length, width, and shape.

Motor Coordination:

• Requires the ability to coordinate hands and eyes rapidly and accurately in using office equipment.

Manual Dexterity:

• Requires the ability to handle a variety of items, such as office equipment.

Color Discrimination:

• Requires the ability to differentiate between colors and shades of color.

Interpersonal Temperament:

• Requires the ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions.
• Must be adaptable to performing under minimal levels of stress.

Physical Communication:

• Requires the ability to talk and/or hear: (talking - expressing or exchanging ideas by means of spoken words; hearing - perceiving nature of sounds by ear).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Requirement:

• The City of Portsmouth is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
• ADA requires the City to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.
• Prospective and current employees are invited to discuss accommodations.

Benefits:

The City of Portsmouth offers a complete and