(a) Each Bureau Procurement Chief shall develop and manage an acquisition career management program for contracting personnel in his or her component, consistent and uniform with this section and the Department of Justice Acquisition Procurement Career Management Program.
(b) The program shall cover all contracting personnel in the following categories:
(1) General Schedule (GS-1102) Contracting Series;
(2) Contracting officers, regardless of General Schedule Series, with contracting authority above the simplified acquisition threshold;
(3) Purchasing Series (GS-1105), other individuals performing purchasing duties and individuals with contracting authority between the micro purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds.
(4) All Contracting Officer Representatives/Contracting Officer Technical Representatives, or equivalent positions.
(c) The program shall include:
(1) Management Information System. Standardized information on the acquisition workforce will be collected and maintained. To the maximum extent practicable, such data requirements shall conform to the standards established by the Office of Personnel Management for the Central Personnel Data File and shall be compatible with the Department of Justice acquisition workforce management information system.
(2) Individual Assessments and Development Plans for Personnel in the GS-1102 Contracting Series.
(i) An individual assessment by a supervisor of each covered employee's state of competence to perform the full range of potential duties of his or her job; and
(ii) An individual development plan to schedule classroom, on-the-job training, or other training to develop the employee's skill level to an appropriate level in each area of competence necessary to perform his or her job.
(iii) Individual assessments and development plans should be designed to fit the needs of the component, but they should be built upon the units of competence and instruction prepared by the Federal Acquisition Institute whenever feasible. Individual development plans should attempt to bring the employee to an appropriate level of skill in all necessary competencies in the field of procurement. In general, a proficiency skill level of 3, as defined in Attachment 1 to Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Policy Letter 92-3, shall be obtained for any contracting duty that is actually required to be performed on the job. Individual assessments and development plans should be reviewed annually and revised as appropriate, until the employee reaches the full competency level of his or her job.
(iv) Employees who perform only purchasing duties, regardless of occupational series, shall be required to obtain the requisite level of skill only in competencies involving simplified acquisitions. If the employee's duties are expanded to include contracting duties, then skill in procurement competencies must be assessed and developed.
(v) Individual assessments of covered employee skills shall be completed within 90 days of the employee's entry on duty.
(3) Mandatory Training. Training shall be provided for the identified categories of contracting personnel to meet the minimum standards identified in OFPP Policy Letter 97-01.
(4) Skills Currency. Contract Specialists (GS-1102) and contracting officers with authority to obligate funds above the micro-purchase threshold that have satisfied the mandatory training requirements, shall be provided the equivalent of at least 40 hours of continuing procurement and acquisition related education and training every two years for the purpose of maintaining the currency of acquisition knowledge and skills.
(5) Program Funding. Bureau Procurement Chiefs are responsible for assessing the funding needs to provide for the education and training of their acquisition workforce and requesting such funding in the annual budget process.
