# 501.601 General.

(a) Definitions.

“Acquisition Career Manager (ACM)” means the GSA agency official within the Office of Acquisition Policy that has been appointed by the CAO, or designee, to lead the agency's acquisition career management programs.

“Administrative Warrant Issuing Agent” means the Director of the GSA Acquisition Workforce Division (AWD) within the Office of Acquisition Policy.

“Acquisition Career Management Point of Contact” means the GSA agency official identified by the HCA to lead the implementation of acquisition certification, warrant, training and career development programs for that organization.

“Contracting Officer Warrant Board (COWB)” means a group of senior-level acquisition employees within a contracting activity who receive, evaluate, and process requests for selection and nomination of contracting officers at the basic, simplified, intermediate, and senior levels.

“Contracting Officer Warrant Program (COWP)” establishes the criteria for the appointment and termination of GSA contracting officers. This ensures that GSA follows a standardized process for qualifying and appointing individuals as contracting officers based on the organization's needs for contracting authority.

(b) Responsibilities of Acquisition Career Management Positions.

(1) Acquisition Career Manager (ACM). The ACM is responsible for ensuring that the agency’s acquisition workforce (AWF) meets the requirements established by the agency, OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), and other applicable authorities. The functions of the ACM role include, but are not limited to–

(i) Managing the identification and development of the AWF;

(ii) Providing recommendations on acquisition-related human capital strategic planning;

(iii) Ensuring that agency policies and procedures for acquisition workforce management are consistent with those established by OFPP;

(iv) Serving as the agency senior advisor for acquisition human capital matters; and

(v) Representing the agency in government-wide acquisition workforce forums, including, but not limited to the Interagency Acquisition Career Management Committee, Federal Acquisition Council on Training, and other government-wide groups, as applicable.

(2) Administrative Warrant Issuing Agent. The Administrative Warrant Issuing Agent will issue warrants centrally in the official government-wide career management system of record. The Administrative Warrant Issuing Agent is not an HCA and does not bear responsibility for any of the actions carried out by the contracting officer under the warrant. The HCA for a contracting activity shall retain authority and responsibility for acquisition career management, including but not limited to

(i) Managing the identification and development of the AWF;

(ii) Providing recommendations on acquisition-related human capital strategic planning;

(iii) Fulfilling the obligations established in GSAM 501.603.

(3) Acquisition Career Management Points of Contact.

(i) Pursuant to applicable HCA delegation memos, FAS, PBS and the Office of Administrative Servicesare responsible for establishing an infrastructure to support acquisition career management for their workforce members. The strategy and implementation timelines for the acquisition career management infrastructure are determined by organizations according to their respective business needs and structure.

(ii) Primary points of contact for acquisition career management shall be reported to spe.request@gsa.gov within ten (10) business days of appointment or termination with the subject line "Acquisition Career Management POC".

(iii) Designated Acquisition Career Management Points of Contact will be posted to the Acquisition Career Management pages on the GSA Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.

(c) The Career Management System of Record. The Clinger-Cohen Act (Public Law 104-106 §4307) mandated federal agencies to have a database containing education, experience, training and other data about their AWF. The government-wide career management system is the official system of record for the federal civilian agency AWF and is maintained by the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI).

(1) The AWF shall utilize the official government-wide career management system of record to conduct and maintain their career management activities for certifications, warrants, and acquisition training.

(2) Employees are responsible for maintaining the records needed to demonstrate that they have satisfied certification, warrant and training requirements for quality assurance purposes.

(3) Supervisors must ensure that AWF members are registered in the career management system of record and maintain data accuracy in the system for their direct reports.

(d) For additional information on any of the topics covered in GSAM subpart 501.6, refer to the Acquisition Career Management page on the GSA Acquisition Portal at https://insite.gsa.gov/acquisitionportal.