How To Become A Contracting Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contracting officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Many organizations use contracts to ensure that they get the products and services they need. Contracting officers are responsible for planning, directing, or coordinating activities of buyers and purchasing officers involved in acquiring needed materials, products, and services. They specialize in ensuring compliance with the terms of the contract.

Contracting officers frequently work for government agencies, handling a wide variety of issues, from acquisition planning to contract performance evaluations. If you become a contracting officer, some of the tasks you can expect to perform include evaluating purchase requests, publicizing acquisitions, and evaluating bid proposals. You'll also need to monitor the progress of the contract from start to finish, to ensure that everything is done according to contract specifications.

If you would like to become a contracting officer, you'll need a bachelor's degree, plus 24 semester hours in any combination of the following fields: accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, or organization and management.

ScoreContracting OfficerUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,007

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

4.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.43%

Asian 8.83%

Black or African American 6.36%

Hispanic or Latino 9.39%

Unknown 4.56%

White 70.43%

Gender

female 34.32%

male 65.68%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Complexity level

1.8

Complexity level is simple

7 - challenging

Key steps to become a contracting officer

Explore contracting officer education requirements

Most common contracting officer degrees

Bachelor's

58.4 %

Master's

19.0 %

Associate

15.7 %

Start to develop specific contracting officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Contractor Proposals	7.53%
Contract Administration	6.62%
Contract Management	5.23%
Contract Terms	4.87%
Market Research	4.15%

Research contracting officer duties and responsibilities

Compile RFQ's, internet research, and manage officers.
Manage the RFQ and RFP solicitation process with campus departments to ensure legal and ethical compliance with state statutes.
Analyze requirements' effects on budget and formulate alternative logistics plans when operations or requirements change to accomplish unit's mission.
Perform market analysis of government agencies utilizing and not utilizing GSA travel services to capture undeveloped market.

Prepare your contracting officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contracting officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a contracting officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable contracting officer resume templates

Build a professional contracting officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your contracting officer resume.