Auditing — The mandatory education, experience, and training requirements for the Auditing career field apply to contract auditors. Persons in this career field perform contract auditing, accounting, and financial advisory services to DoD and other government agencies in negotiation, administration, and settlement of contracts and subcontracts. Duties include evaluating information about contractor economic assertions, comparing those assertions to established criteria, and reporting the results to interested third parties. Some reasons for audits include proposal submissions, incurred cost, compliance with the “Truth in Negotiations Act,” compliance with Cost Accounting Standards, contract terminations, claims for abnormal conditions, contractor financial condition, and contractor systems and operations.

Business, Cost Estimating, and Financial Management — This career field encompasses all aspects of business and financial management. It includes cost estimating and analysis, financial planning, formulating financial programs, and budgets, budget analysis and execution, and earned value management. As advisors to commanders, program executive officers, program managers, or other acquisition decision makers, members of this career field are responsible for business financial management of defense acquisition programs in direct support of the defense acquisition process.

Contracting — As business advisors, contracting specialists create effective, efficient, and proper business arrangements, have a strategic focus on acquisition, and leverage DoD spending to use taxpayers’ money prudently based upon customers’ needs. The Contracting career field includes the positions of contract negotiator, contract specialist, contract administrator, contract termination specialist, contract price and/or cost analyst, procuring contracting officer, administrative contracting officer, termination contracting officer, and procurement analyst. These individuals develop, manage, supervise, or perform procedures involving the procurement of supplies and services; construction, research, and development; acquisition planning; cost and price analysis; solicitation and selection of sources; preparation, negotiation, and award of contracts through sealed bidding or negotiation procedures; all phases of contract administration; and termination or closeout of contracts.

Facilities Engineering — The Facilities Engineering career field encompasses a variety of professional individuals with diverse skills focused on the design, construction, and life cycle maintenance of military installations, facilities, civil works projects, airfields, roadways, and ocean facilities. It involves all facets of life cycle management from planning through disposal, including design, construction, environmental protection, base operations and support, housing, real estate, and real property maintenance. Additional duties include advising or assisting commanders and acting as, or advising, program managers and other officials as necessary in executing all aspects of their responsibilities for facility management and the mitigation/elimination of environmental impact in direct support of the defense acquisition process.

Industrial and Contract Property Management — This career field includes the industrial property management specialist, property administrator, industrial plant clearance specialist, plant clearance officer, and contract and industrial specialists (if assigned contract property management responsibilities). Individuals in this career field perform Government contract property oversight and surveillance of life-cycle processes and their commensurate outcomes for Government-owned property in the possession of contractors and, in some instances, Government-owned contractor-operated plants. This includes developing policies and procedures for contract property; providing guidance, counsel, and direction to Government and contractor managers and technicians relating to regulatory and contractual requirements for managing Government property; participating in pre-award surveys and post-award reviews; reviewing contracts assigned for property administration; evaluating a contractor’s property management system; and developing and applying property systems analysis programs to assess the effectiveness of contractors’ Government property management systems.

Information Technology — This career field includes computer scientists, information technology management specialists, computer engineers, telecommunications managers, etc., who directly support the acquisition of information technology. This may include hardware, software, or firmware products used to create, record, produce, store, retrieve, process, transmit, disseminate, present, or display data or information. The employee identifies requirements; writes and/or reviews specifications; identifies costs; obtains resources (manpower, funding, and training); supports portfolio management, information assurance, and IT-architecture-related activities; and tests, evaluates, plans, obtains, and manages life cycle development and support (operations, maintenance, and replacement).

International Acquisition Management— International Acquisition Management is a new career path created by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Initial execution of the career path began in fiscal year 2009, aligning it with the Program Management career field. The initial alignment with Level III program managers will expand to include Level II program managers in fiscal year 2011. International Acquisition establishes a formal career path within the overall Program Management career field. Formalizing the career path systematically with the personnel systems enables two important actions. First, specific manpower billets can be coded as international program management positions requiring individuals possessing both core and international acquisition qualifications to fill the respective positions. Second, the existing personnel management infrastructure will record each Defense Acquisition Workforce member’s achievement toward both core and core plus certifications. This information will ultimately provide visibility to senior management, enabling them to identify and select appropriately and internationally qualified persons to lead international programs.

Logistics — The Life Cycle Logistics career field includes professionals responsible for planning, development, implementation, and management of an effective and affordable weapons, materiel, or information systems support strategies. Life cycle logisticians perform a principal joint and/or Component logistics role during the acquisition and operational phases of the system life cycle to: (1) ensure product support strategies meet the program goals for operational effectiveness and readiness; (2) ensure supportability requirements are addressed consistently with cost, schedule, and performance; (3) perform an integral role in systems engineering to ensure supportability considerations are implemented during systems design; and (4) plan and develop performance-based logistics initiatives as the preferred approach to product support. Life cycle logisticians ensure the integration of all support elements to maximize deployability, supportability, and mobility of the system throughout the program life cycle. They can work directly in a program management office, in support of the program manager, or in other supporting logistics activity offices.

Production, Quality, and Manufacturing — Acquisition-related manufacturing and production duties vary greatly in managerial, administrative, and technical content; but they usually involve program management or monitoring of the manufacturing and production efforts of contractors. The quality assurance specialist manages quality assurance activities to establish essential quality standards and controls. This person also develops and executes plans that focus on quality of design and conformance and fitness for use; integrates quality plans into the system engineering process; and develops policies, procedures, test provisions, and quality requirements in specifications, standards, and solicitations. Using design reviews, functional and configuration audits, production readiness reviews, and milestone reviews, the specialist evaluates quality assurance during acquisition.

Program Management — Acquisition professionals in the Program Management career field are concerned with all of the functions of a program management office (PMO) or a program executive office (PEO). Program management professionals serve in a wide range of PMO and PEO positions, including program integrators and analysts, program managers, PEOs, and their deputies. They may also serve in a number of support and management positions throughout the workforce. The fundamental responsibilities of the program manager are to balance the many factors that influence cost, schedule, and performance; to interpret and tailor application of the DoD 5000 Series regulations; and to ensure that high-quality, affordable, supportable, and effective defense systems are delivered to the warfighter as quickly as possible.

Purchasing — Individuals in the Purchasing career field are typically purchasing agents or supervisory purchasing agents. This function requires the individuals to purchase, rent, or lease supplies, services, and equipment through either simplified acquisition procedures or placement of orders against pre-established contractual instruments. The primary objective of their work is the rapid delivery of goods and services in direct support of operational requirements. It requires knowledge of applicable laws, policies, and regulations and of commercial supply sources and common business practices for roles, prices, discounts, deliveries, stocks, and shipments.

Requirements Management — A Requirements Manager is a military member or DoD civilian charged with developing, assessing, validating, and prioritizing requirements and associated requirements products. The Requirements Manager is the warfighter’s representative to all of defense acquisition – the combination of the Defense Acquisition System (DAS), the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System (JCIDS), and the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) system. The most effective Requirements Managers are those men and women who have recently had their boots on the ground, or in the salt water, or on the tarmac. The challenge is to communicate warfighter’s needs to Program Managers and to Program Offices.

Program Systems Engineering — An Acquisition Program Systems Engineer demonstrates how systems engineering technical and technical management processes apply to acquisition programs; interacts with program IPTs regarding the proper application of systems engineering processes; and develops systems models and work breakdown structures; uses top-down design and bottom-up product realization.

Science and Technology Management — Science and Technology (S&T) managers are typically scientists and engineers who manage basic research, applied research, and/or advanced technology development activities. They may also be involved with direct support to acquisition program managers. Their primary duties include developing program plans for S&T projects, developing budgets for assigned projects; and acquiring the services of expert scientists, engineers, and technical support personnel to perform S&T work for DoD. Additional primary duties involve overseeing in-house research or design and external research or design efforts performed by universities, industry, or other Federal Government organizations; and providing matrix support to program managers or other DoD activities. These duties also include conducting evaluations of S&T products to determine their effectiveness, including conducting Technology Readiness Assessments; interfacing with the technology customer to expedite the transition of technology to the user; and developing Technology Transition Agreements.

Systems Engineering — Typical duties of personnel in this career path include planning, organizing, monitoring, managing, overseeing, and/or performing research and engineering activities relating to the design, development, fabrication, installation, modification, sustainment, or analysis of systems or systems components. Scientists and engineers supporting science and technology and acquisition programs, projects, or activities usually accomplish these duties.

Test and Evaluation — Individuals who work in the T&E career field are predominantly T&E team members; T&E leads for programs; Service, Agency, and Facility T&E managers, engineers, scientists, operations research analysts, system analysts, computer scientists; and other degree-holding technical personnel who plan, perform, and manage T&E tasks in support of acquisition. Individuals in T&E positions are subject matter experts who will plan, monitor, manage, and conduct T&E of prototype, new, fielded, or modified C4ISR systems (C4ISR includes the multitude of IT systems participating in System of Systems (SoS), Family of Systems (FoS), and net-centric services) and weapon or automated information systems; equipment or materiel. They analyze, assess, and evaluate test data and results and prepare assessments of system performance and reports of T&E findings.