Acquisitions, Grants & Contracts

Our Office of Acquisition and Grants handles acquisitions for all of Social Security. This interesting and challenging area includes planning, negotiating and administering contracts to acquire goods and services in support of our mission. A career in this field will give you the opportunity to develop professional skills while making strategic business decisions on behalf of the federal government. You have a real opportunity to ensure government gets value for its money!

Our acquisition professionals act as business advisors to program managers in the agency and assist with planning for and acquiring needed goods and services. Variety is the name of the game here as you can become involved in many different kinds of purchases from very technical equipment to various contractor services in facilities management, physical security, and other consultant specialties. Your skills at negotiating and planning will be put to the test as you handle diverse business management aspects of awarding and administering SSA contracts and acquisitions. As one of the largest federal agencies, we have the variety of challenges you are looking for!

Our Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland is home for our Office of Acquisition and Grants.

Other employees with acquisition-related responsibilities are located in our regional locations nationwide.

Generally, we look for candidates with a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree or the equivalent of work experience in business, acquisition and/or grant preparation or review. Entry-level positions begin at the GS-7 and GS-9 levels. New employees receive on-the-job and classroom training. Often we fill professional positions looking for candidates with specialized government acquisition experience at the GS-11, GS-12 or GS-13 level. Positions include:

Contract Specialists

Contract Specialists plan, negotiate, award and administer contract for a wide variety of supplies and services for the agency. They review incoming procurement requests, respond to proposals and bids, and make recommendations on which proposals to consider.

Purchasing Agents

Purchasing Agents acquire supplies and services of a less complex nature by issuing delivery or purchase orders.

Procurement Analysts

Procurement Analysts advise the agency acquisition staff on matters relating to contracting policies and procedures.

Grants Management Specialists

Grants Management Specialists plan, review for policy compliance, negotiate, award, and administer grants or cooperative agreements needed for research and demonstration efforts for key agency programs.

This field has great career opportunities that are in high demand. We typically look for candidates with the following skills and/or work experience:

Purchasing Agents

Contract Specialists

Acquisition and/or grants work experience and/or coursework

Purchasing and cost pricing work experience and/or coursework

Contract work experience or coursework focused on methods, techniques and contract applications to building design

Strong accounting and budget skills

Strong oral and written communication skills

Analytical skills with strong attention to detail

Compensation levels for our challenging Acquisition and Grants positions are very competitive with private industry. Our compensation packages recognize your skills gained through both work experience and academic accomplishments.

Entry-level positions begin at the GS-7 and require a Bachelor’s degree or the GS-9 level with a Master’s degree. New employees receive on-the-job and classroom training, and perform functions in a variety of acquisition fields. We often hire for experienced professional positions at the GS-11, GS-12, or GS-13 level.

Grade levels for each available position are posted in the vacancy announcements on the www.ssa.usajobs.gov site. To compare salaries at different grades or Locality Pay Areas, go to the General Schedule and Locality Pay section by clicking on this link: Salaries & Wages.

Many Acquisition and Grant employees move up to become team leaders, managers, and senior executives as they gain valuable experience and leadership skills. A number of our agency acquisition experts have expanded their careers by moving into positions of higher responsibility in other agency components.