“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson
“For government contracting success it is vital to understand the roles, responsibilities and authorities for the principal personnel with whom the contractor must do business.”
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“During a federal government contract proposal you will come to know the Procurement Contracting Officer (PCO) assigned to the solicitation that runs the source selection process. Prime contractors have equivalent individuals, usually called, “Subcontract Administrators” or “Subcontract Managers”. Behind the PCO is the agency source selection board made up of the end user and other experts in the government agency. In prime contractor organizations these individuals are usually knows as “Program Managers”.
Procurement Contracting Officers (PCO’s) hold warrants to represent the federal government. PCO’s must have internal approval of a contract within their respective agencies before they can sign it on behalf of the agency. Only a PCO is authorized to officially commit the government. Only a subcontract administrator or manager is authorized to commit a prime contractor.
The PCO typically has an end user for the product or service who will become the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) when the contract is awarded. As discussed above, the prime contractor equivalent position is a Program Manager. The COTR has a strong influence on negotiations and contract performance as well as payment approval. Your COTR is the real internal customer at the agency. He has fiscal, technical and schedule responsibilities to his management for the program you are servicing. However, he cannot sign for the government. The PCO has the agency warrant for that function and knows the most about public law and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as it is applied to contracts the agency undertakes.
A satisfied PCO and COTR mean expeditious billing approval and payment by the government. It can be generally stated that if the COTR is unhappy with contract technical performance the PCO will be unhappy as well. They are co-equals organizationally within an agency. A COTR has program executive management authority regarding decision making options. A PCO is a staff role with signature authority to promulgate decisions, once they have passed inter-agency legal and management reviews.”
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