Solicitation for Resident Hire U.S. Personal Services Contractor (U.S. PSC) Senior Partnerships Advisor, GS-14

US Agency for International Development

GENERAL INFORMATION

  1. SOLICITATION NO.: Mission Notice 22-162
  2. ISSUANCE DATE: September 26, 2022
  3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: October 14, 2022, (16:30 hours Nairobi time)
  4. POINT OF CONTACT: Executive Office/Human Resources, Patrick Bii, HR Assistant, email at [email protected]
  5. POSITION TITLE: Resident Hire U.S PSC Senior Partnerships Advisor, GS-14
  6. MARKET VALUE: $95,973 to $124,764 annually equivalent to GS-14. Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value. As a resident hire position, it does not include offshore benefits such as housing, post differential, relocation benefit and post allowance.
  7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Two (2) year base period, with three one-year options subject to funding availability and satisfactory performance or better.
  8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Nairobi, Kenya. Overseas U.S PSCs may be authorized to telework or remote work only from a location within Kenya, in accordance with the Mission policy. Telework or remote work from outside Kenya may only be authorized in certain situations in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract.
  9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: Open to U.S. Nationals (U.S Citizens and/or U.S Resident Aliens[1]) residing in Kenya. Citizenship, if dual, must be clearly stated. This is a resident-hire position and therefore all offerors must be residing in Kenya.
  10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Facilities/Computer access only
  11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES/POSITION DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

The Senior USAID Partnerships Advisor is a key advisor to USAID/KEA, Prosper Africa, and other bilateral Missions on identification, structuring and management of private-sector partnerships to advance a range of development outcomes. The Senior Partnerships Advisor will provide technical assistance to advance USAID/KEA’s efforts on trade and investment, particularly with regard to developing partnerships with U.S. linked companies and investors in order to advance the Prosper Africa initiative.

OEGI implements a wide range of programs to increase food security, promote resilience, improve water and sanitation, enhance trade and investment, expand access to energy, and increase sustainable economic integration in Kenya and East Africa. OEGI provides intellectual leadership to design, implement and evaluate programs and strategies in response to Prosper Africa, the Global Food Security Strategy, the Power Africa Initiative, and other U.S. Government and USAID initiatives and priorities. At the Kenya bilateral level, OEGI manages an approximate annual $90 million portfolio of activities across multiple sectors including agriculture, livestock, trade, investment, and energy, as described below. At the regional level, OEGI manages a $19 million portfolio, which includes agriculture, trade and energy activities.

OEGI works collaboratively with USAID technical offices within USAID/KEA, bilateral USAID missions across East Africa, regional USAID missions across Africa, and USAID/Washington, as well as with USAID/KEA lifeline offices and USAID/KEA management, to achieve the objectives of the USAID/KEA Kenya Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and Regional Development Cooperation Strategy (RDCS).

BASIC FUNCTION OF THE POSITION

S/he will lead private-sector partnership identification, assessment, structuring and negotiations to advance the increased trade and investment goals of Prosper Africa and in response to other high-level USAID priorities including drought and food security and water and sanitation. The Advisor will organize and lead Temporary Duty assignments and other assessments to identify high potential companies in both Kenya and across East Africa and lead outreach to U.S. companies with interest in increased sourcing in Kenya and East Africa. S/he will design calls for concepts and other procurements focused on engaging private-sector partners and lead technical reviews of concept notes and proposals. The Contractor will additionally serve as COR/AOR and manage a set of private-sector partnerships developed by USAID/KEA.

As a technical specialist, the Advisor will organize and lead regular presentations to USAID/KEA, OEGI and Prosper Africa on high potential partnership opportunities. This will include providing training and coaching support to USAID/KEA staff and to the private-sector on approaches and lessons-learned related to partnership development; serving as an advisor to the Prosper Africa secretariat on outreach to companies in the U.S. on partnership opportunities; and leading donor coordination related to USAID/KEA work on private-sector partnership development. S/he will focus on developing high impact partnerships to advance USAID contributions to the success of the US Embassy’s Deal Team.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants meeting the required qualifications for the position will be evaluated based on information presented in the application and obtained through reference checks.

Education: A Master’s degree in business or a closely related field such as economics or finance.

Professional Experience: The candidate is required to have a minimum of five years of professional experience including experience working with the private sector and preferably engaged in the development of partnerships with donors or other entities. The candidate must have excellent interpersonal and networking skills, a knowledge of the Kenya and East African business community, and the ability to liaise authoritatively with representatives from the private sector, development sector, government, USG, and other actors.

The candidate must also have significant experience in program development and implementation; experience in implementing technical programs and strategies; experience in consultations and facilitation of various teams with diverse backgrounds and development perspectives; applying broad USG (or similar development organizations) principles, policies and strategies; effective interagency coordination, partner country, and donor coordination; and working with USG leadership at the highest levels.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. The CO reserves the right at any point in the evaluation process to establish a competitive range of offerors with whom negotiations will be conducted pursuant to FAR 15.306(c). In accordance with FAR 52.215-1, if the CO determines that the number of offers that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the CO may limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated offers. FAR provisions of this solicitation are available at https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.

Applicants who clearly meet the skills and qualifications requirements will be further evaluated based on scoring of Evaluation Factor responses submitted with the applicant’s application.

Applicants are required to address each of the following Evaluation Factors in a separate document describing specifically and accurately what experience, training, education and/or awards they have received that are relevant to each factor. The evaluation factors will be used to determine the competitive ranking of qualified applicants in comparison to other applicants. Be sure to include your name and the announcement number at the top of each additional page. Failure to specifically address the Evaluation Factors may result in your not receiving credit for all of your pertinent experience, education, training and/or awards. Applicants should cite specific, illustrative examples for each Evaluation Factor. Responses must be limited to 500 words per factor. Any words above the limit will neither be read nor scored. USAID will not pay for any expenses associated with the interviews. In addition, applications (written materials and interviews) will be evaluated based on content as well as on the applicant’s writing, presentation, and communication skills.

  1. Education: (10 points): Master’s degree in Business or a closely related field
  2. Relevant Work Experience: (35 points)
  • Minimum of five years’ professional experience including experience with private-sector engagement and partnership development.
  • Demonstrated experience in identifying, structuring and managing partnerships.
  • Demonstrated experience meeting and presenting to senior level private-sector executives
  1. Technical Knowledge: (35 points)
  • The candidate must demonstrate an understanding of private-sector development in relevant areas including investment, trade, investment and agriculture.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of the Kenyan and East African business landscape and environment.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of conducting private-sector assessments, interviews and presenting actionable recommendations and findings.
  1. Communications (20 points): The incumbent must demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills with the capability to develop and deliver high quality written reports and presentations to a diverse range of audiences inside and outside of USAID.

Evaluation Factor Scoring: Education – 10 points

Work Experience – 35 points

Technical Knowledge – 35 points

Communications – 20 points

Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks – Pass/Fail (no points assigned)

Total Possible Points: 100

[1] U.S. resident alien means a non-U.S. citizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States.

How to apply

Interested applicants are required to submit the following:

  1. Offerform AID 309-2, “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts with individuals,” available at https://www.usaid.gov/forms/aid-309-2
  2. An up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) or resume (no more than five pages), cover letter explaining your qualifications for the position, responses to evaluation factors above, copies of all relevant certificates and include three (3) referees, who are not family members or relatives, with working telephone and e-mail contacts.

Applications must be submitted electronically via email to [email protected] by the closing date and time indicated above.

To ensure consideration of offers for the intended position, Offerors must prominently reference the Solicitation number in the offer submission/cover letter.


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