Contracting officer vs representative

The differences between contracting officers and representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a contracting officer has an average salary of $60,007, which is higher than the $36,023 average annual salary of a representative.

The top three skills for a contracting officer include contractor proposals, contract administration and contract management. The most important skills for a representative are cleanliness, patients, and customer issues.

Contracting officer vs representative overview

	Contracting Officer	Representative
Yearly salary	$60,007	$36,023
Hourly rate	$28.85	$17.32
Growth rate	-	-4%
Number of jobs	59,896	252,761
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	44	40
Years of experience	-	12

What does a contracting officer do?

In government agencies, a Contracting Officer plays a vital role in securing contracts for different projects. They are responsible for liaising with internal and external parties, conducting research and analyses, developing plans to attain project requirements, negotiating contracts, and procuring materials according to standards. They are also responsible for supervising the administrative processes related to the deals, from planning to execution, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, it is essential to function as a contracting officer while adhering to government policies and regulations.

What does a representative do?

Representatives are lawmakers who represent the people in a specific district. They run for office to represent their districts in their hometown or their current place of living. Representatives are usually charismatic and good communicators. These characteristics are especially important during campaign and election periods. Representatives should be able to capture the hearts of the voters through their planned projects and advocacies. They are then elected by their constituents. Upon election, representatives author bills that will eventually be passed into law should it be approved by the majority of the congress. They also vote on the passage of bills authored by other representatives. They also participate in discussions and debates regarding different bills, issues, and laws. Representatives are expected to vote according to their conscience and in consideration of the voice of their constituents.

Contracting officer vs representative salary

Contracting officers and representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contracting Officer	Representative
Average salary	$60,007	$36,023
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $95,000	Between $23,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Maryland	New York
Best paying company	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory	Google
Best paying industry	Government	Transportation

Differences between contracting officer and representative education

There are a few differences between a contracting officer and a representative in terms of educational background:

	Contracting Officer	Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	-

Contracting officer vs representative demographics

Here are the differences between contracting officers' and representatives' demographics:

	Contracting Officer	Representative
Average age	44	40
Gender ratio	Male, 65.7% Female, 34.3%	Male, 41.8% Female, 58.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 7.5% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	11%	7%

Differences between contracting officer and representative duties and responsibilities

Contracting officer example 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.
Implement GSA assist acquisition service to provide task order support for federal agencies procuring ETS2 master contract.
Resolve day to day issues between personnel, contracting companies, base operations, government personnel and the DoD.

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Representative example responsibilities.

Manage fitting rooms and recover the department, while providing exceptional customer service and offering rewards and POS options.
Manage physical portfolio with necessary derivatives to mitigate risk within company guidelines.
Conduct telephone sales and interviews, compile and enter information into database, manage documents and insure customer satisfaction.
Review EOB denials, appeals and/or rebilling as appropriate.
Certify of all requirements, policies, and procedures, including MSB.
Take inbound phone calls from member and providers explaining the EOB denial and payments

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Contracting officer vs representative skills

Common contracting officer skills

Contractor Proposals, 8%
Contract Administration, 7%
Contract Management, 5%
Contract Terms, 5%
Market Research, 4%
Technical Assistance, 4%

Common representative skills

Cleanliness, 20%
Patients, 11%
Customer Issues, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Data Entry, 6%
Outbound Calls, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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