Career Overview: Contracts officers and contracts analysts have one of the most demanding and challenging jobs within the DoD Contracting business sector. All DoD programs begin and end with a contract. The contract spells out the terms and conditions that the government and contractor businesses must abide by. DoD contracting is guided by multiple federal statutes and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
Contracting officers and contracts analysts must learn, abide by and enforce all FAR regulations. They frequently interface with government contracting officers in the execution of contracts and all associated contract updates and modifications. They advise business owners and program managers of all contracting regulations and guidelines and help ensure their companies fulfill their contract obligations per their awarded contracts. Likewise, they set up contracts and subcontracts for their companies with other DoD contractors and vendors as required to meet the objectives of awarded contracts. Contracting Officers and Analysts frequently work with in house company legal counsel or external counsel to ensure all contracts and contract clauses abide by federal and state laws.
Contracting Officers and Analysts come from many different educational and career backgrounds. Having a background in business contracting or the legal profession gives contracting officers a distinct advantage when competing for jobs. Also, prior work as a government contracting officer or analyst greatly assists personnel wanting to make the switch to a DoD contracting officer.
Being a contracting officer or analyst requires excellent leadership, communications and people skills. Also, personnel in this career field must demonstrate high ethics and an unwillingness to compromise when it comes to advising their companies to comply with the FAR, their contracts and the law. Contracting officers and analysts must be adept at critical thinking and helping their companies find solutions that operate within the bounds of the law.
Career Path: Entry-level contracts analyst usually start out administering or assisting with administration of a small, less complex contract for a single DoD customer. Mid-level contracts analysts are given larger more complex contracts to administer or multiple smaller or medium size contracts to administer concurrently. Lastly, Senior level contract analysts are usually promoted to Contracts Managers and are assigned Entry Level and Mid-Level Contracts Analysts to help administer multiple contracts for their companies.
Career progression for Contracts managers beyond Senior-Level Contracts manager includes VP of contracting.
Salaries: Contracts Analyst salaries vary by region, but usually start around ~$50k for entry level analysts and can be in excess of $100k for Senior level or Contracts Managers.
Professional Organizations: The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) is one of the leading professional organizations for contracts specialists.
Training & Certifications: For Contracts Analysts the main civilian credential that aids career progression is the NCMA’s Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM). You can register for this certification and others here.
Education: Most Contracts Analyst positions require a bachelor degree.
Job Search: To review currently open project manager jobs that DoD contractors are actively hiring for I recommend going to the career page of several of the DoD contractors profiled on this site and searching for jobs with the titles “Contract Analyst” or “Contracting Manager” and review the jobs and job requirements that come up.