US Agency for International Development
SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720BHA22R00018 ISSUANCE DATE: May 10, 2022 CLOSING DATE AND TIME: June 6, 2022, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time
SUBJECT: Solicitation for U.S. Personal Service Contractor (USPSC)
Dear Prospective Offerors:
The United States Government (USG), represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Africa (OA) is seeking offers from qualified U.S. citizens to provide personal service as a Senior Humanitarian Advisor (SHA) under a United States Personal Services Contract (USPSC), as described in the solicitation.
Submittals must be in accordance with the attached information at the place and time specified. Offerors interested in applying for this position MUST submit the following materials:
1. Complete resume. In order to fully evaluate your offer, your resume must include:
(a) Paid and non-paid experience, job title, location(s), dates held (month/year), and hours worked per week for each position. Any experience that does not include dates (month/year), locations, and hours per week will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements. (b) Specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work. (c) Education and any other qualifications including job-related training courses, job-related skills, or job-related honors, awards or accomplishments. Failure to identify an academic discipline will result in disqualification. (d) U.S. Citizenship (e) Optional: How did you hear about this opportunity? (SAM.gov, BHA Jobs, Career Fair, etc.).
Your resume must contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the experience requirements as stated in this solicitation. This information must be clearly identified in your resume. Failure to provide information sufficient to determine your qualifications for the position will result in loss of full consideration.
2. USPSC Offeror form AID 309-2. Offerors are required to complete sections A through I. This form must be physically signed. Electronic signatures will not be accepted. AID 309-2 is available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.
NOTE REGARDING ENSURING ADEQUATE COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTORS
The contractor will be required to show proof that the contractor is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on or before the first date of onboarding, or submit an approved reasonable accommodation to the CO. If the contractor does not meet this requirement the contract may be terminated.
NOTE REGARDING UNIQUE ENTITY IDENTIFIER (UEI) NUMBER AND THE SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT
All USPSCs with a place of performance in the United States are required to have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number and be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database prior to receiving an offer. You will be disqualified if you either fail to comply with this requirement or if your name appears on the excluded parties list. The selectee will be provided with guidance regarding this registration.
NOTE: As of March 28, 2018, all new SAM.gov entity registrations will now require a signed notarized letter identifying the authorized Entity administrator for the entity associated with the DUNS number. Additional information on the format of the notarized letter and where to submit can be found via the below Federal Service Desk link:
https://www.fsd.gov/fsd-gov/answer.do?sysparm_kbid=d2e67885db0d5f00b3257d321f96194b& sysparm_search=kb0013183
Offerors can expect to receive a confirmation email when offer materials have been received. Offerors should retain for their records copies of all enclosures which accompany their offers. Your complete resume must be emailed to:
OA Recruitment Team
E-Mail Address: [email protected]
Website: www.BHAjobs.net
Any questions on this solicitation may be directed to the OA Recruitment Team via the information provided above.
Sincerely,
Sonja Stroud-Gooden
Contracting Officer
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
This position requires an individual to support the management and representation of the humanitarian portfolio for South Sudan. Reporting to the OHA Director in South Sudan, the SHA will be responsible for program analysis and strategy development and work closely with the USAID/South Sudan staff, the U.S. Embassy, U.S. military representatives, and other USG interagency partners, other donors, Government of South Sudan officials, IOs, NGOs, and the UN, in responding to humanitarian needs and sudden-onset disasters. Because of the substantial coordination requirements of this position, an individual with a highly collaborative work style is necessary. The SHA must be prepared to function effectively in a challenging and restrictive work environment and be willing to strictly adhere to U.S. Embassy security guidelines.
The individual will perform the following duties:
Contextual Specialty
● Develop and maintain knowledge of the key humanitarian and DRR issues in South Sudan.
● Maintain an in-depth understanding of political, humanitarian, organizational, and stakeholder interests specific to South Sudan.
● Monitor incipient disasters, international disaster response plans and efforts, and major humanitarian issues and challenges in the area of responsibility through a wide range of USG and international sources.
● Identify humanitarian issues, priorities, lessons learned, and opportunities within and relevant to South Sudan and apply those to program strategy development and implementation.
● Prepare regular strategic and analytical reports on current or anticipated emergencies, as well as on comprehensive preparedness documentation on South Sudan.
Portfolio Management
● Lead efforts to identify and assess on-going and emerging humanitarian assistance requirements, target beneficiary groups, and locations, oversee the general direction of existing relief and transition-oriented programs, and broadly recommend the types of interventions and budget levels required in South Sudan.
● Closely collaborate with USAID Mission colleagues on program coordination to share information, avoid overlap, and explore opportunities for synergies and transition efforts.
● Maintain regular communication and close coordination with BHA/Sudans, East and Central Africa Regional Office (SECARO) and BHA/Washington on these efforts.
● Monitor ongoing humanitarian assistance efforts in South Sudan. Liaise with partners and other donors, coordinate with the SECARO on issues of mutual interest, and provide coordinated field feedback to the partners.
● Coordinate collection of information and provide updates and recommendations through written reports on issues related to the humanitarian situation, including the following:
Capacity and ability of UN, IOs, NGOs, and local institutions to carry out programs; o Capacity of the logistics infrastructure to support programs; o Security situation of beneficiaries, personnel, convoys, and relief operations in general;
o Role of in-country UN leadership and the UN Mission in South Sudan in facilitating humanitarian assistance;
o Contributions by other donors, problems arising from the implementation of relief and reintegration programs, and any other issues that require the attention of BHA; and o Humanitarian coordination issues and any recommendations for change.
● Provide guidance to organizations that are developing applications for BHA, based on BHA’s Guidelines for Unsolicited Applications.
● Review concept papers and applications and provide timely recommendations/comments to BHA/Washington and BHA/SECARO.
● Ensure reporting on a timely basis to BHA/Washington and SECARO on the quality of grantees’ work, noting deficiencies, attributes, and evolving operational conditions.
Representation
● Represent BHA at senior level meetings within the USG and with humanitarian stakeholders and convey humanitarian concerns and priorities from the BHA perspective through oral and written briefings.
● Coordinate policy development meetings such as: o Meetings with individual and groups of implementing partners discussing programmatic priorities, objectives, progress, results, and challenges;
o Discussions, meetings, and papers informing USG foreign policy in areas with humanitarian concerns or impacts;
o Donor and implementing partner coordination forums.
● At the direction of the OHA Director, serve as the principal point of contact in-country for BHA/South Sudan for humanitarian issues, and serve as a liaison on program issues among USAID mission staff, the U.S. Embassy and other USG agencies, military representatives, BHA/Washington, and the overall humanitarian community.
● Present BHA perspectives to NGOs, IOs, and UN agencies relating to humanitarian assistance strategies and priorities, including BHA’s approach to sustainable, resilience-oriented humanitarian programs. Work closely with the Regional Advisor and BHA’s technical advisors to discuss and understand sectoral priorities.
● Represent USG humanitarian interests at national and international meetings and conferences, and facilitate, as requested, travel and briefings for official USG visitors interested in humanitarian issues.
● Engage as the humanitarian specialist in U.S. Embassy policy conversations, remaining available to provide timely reporting and clearances in response to high-level USG queries originating from the region or from Washington, DC.
Leadership
● Provide recommendations on current and future directions of BHA’s Sudan portfolio to include programmatic, budgetary, and human resource requirements.
● Serve in a leadership role within the BHA Office in USAID/Sudan, in coordination with USAID Mission senior leadership, to incorporate humanitarian concerns into Mission activities and identify opportunities to leverage USAID interventions.
● Serve as direct supervisor to team members on grants management and portfolio management, including BHA’s business process, portfolio-specific budget and workload management, and post-award monitoring and management.
● Lead an ethnically and culturally diverse team of program, technical and/or administrative staff.
● Consistently model behaviors that demonstrate a commitment to fostering a non-hostile, inclusive work environment that values diversity, equity and is free of discrimination, bias, unfairness, bullying, offensive behaviors and harassment of any kind.
General Duties:
● Become certified and serve as an Agreement Officer’s Representative/Contracting Officer’s Representative (AOR/COR), as assigned. The AOR/COR provides financial and programmatic oversight of all aspects of managing the agreement or contract; this includes but is not limited to reviewing invoices, requests for approvals, program/project deliverables (i.e. work plans, annual reports, monthly status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, and financial/budget reports. They are responsible for drafting and submitting the annual contractor performance evaluation in the Contract/Assistance Performance Assessment Review System. They prepare and review contract/assistance modifications documentation and assist the Contracting/Agreement Officer to ensure performance is compliant with the terms and conditions of the contract/agreement, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and USAID policy. AOR/CORs are responsible for all related requirements in the COR designation letter and the AOR designation letter.
● May be requested to be on-call or serve as needed on Washington-based Response Management Teams (RMTs) or in other international locations on Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs).
● As needed, may serve on temporary detail within the bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages, not to exceed six months. Duties performed while on detail will be aligned with the Team’s existing duties and responsibilities and will be directly related to the scope of work provided.
SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP:
The USPSC will report directly to the Regional Humanitarian Advisor or his/her/their designee in Sudan and collaborate and consult with other USAID and U.S. Embassy staff.
SUPERVISORY CONTROLS:
Supervisor provides administrative directions in terms of broadly defined missions or functions. The employee independently plans, designs, and carries out programs, projects, studies, or other work. Results are considered authoritative and are normally accepted without significant change.
II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION (Determines basic eligibility for the position. Offerors who do not meet all of the education and experience factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)
Bachelor’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field and at least nine (9) years of relevant experience. Such experience must include humanitarian or development focus and responsibility in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, and managing or evaluating programs. Experience must include three (3) years of cumulative experience in international humanitarian assistance, emergency management, relief, disaster risk reduction, post-emergency rehabilitation or recovery, or resilience.
OR
Master’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field and at least seven (7) years of relevant experience with a humanitarian or development focus and include responsibility in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, and managing or evaluating programs. Experience must include three (3) years of cumulative experience in international humanitarian assistance, emergency management/relief, disaster risk reduction, post emergency rehabilitation or recovery, or resilience.
III. 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.
SELECTION FACTORS (Determines basic eligibility for the position. Offerors who do not meet all of the selection factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)
● Offeror is a U.S. Citizen.
● Complete resume submitted. See cover page for resume requirements. Experience that cannot be quantified will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements.
● USPSC Offeror form AID 309-2. Offerors are required to complete sections A through I. This form must be physically signed. Electronic signatures will not be accepted.
● Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret up to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level clearance as provided by USAID.
● Ability to obtain and maintain a Department of State medical clearance throughout the contract. ● Must not appear as an excluded party in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).
● Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.
OFFEROR RATING SYSTEM
The offeror rating system factors are used to determine the competitive ranking of qualified offerors in comparison to other offerors. Offerors must demonstrate the rating factors outlined below within their resume, as they are evaluated strictly by the information provided. The rating factors are as follows:
Professional Experience (12 points)
● Experience working with a donor or grant making organization.
● Experience managing needs assessments
● Experience with budget development or management.
● Experience leading or participating in strategy development
● Experience with program design or monitoring or evaluating programs
● Experience managing programs that focus on emergency response or DRR programming.
Skills and Abilities (8 points)
● Experience working with host or local governments on the planning and implementation of humanitarian or development interventions; this can include both domestic and international experience.
● Experience working with donor organizations or diplomatic missions.
● Experience working with international or national non-governmental partners at senior levels.
● Experience delivering verbal and oral presentations or engaging with senior officials within a large organization on humanitarian issues.
Leading Teams Experience (10 points)
● Experience mentoring and training staff.
● Experience with team performance management, including developing or monitoring employee training plans, providing formal or informal feedback through performance evaluations, and ensuring adequate staffing of a team.
● Experience managing teams that include program, technical, or administrative staff.
Interview Performance (50 points)
Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks (20 points)
Total Possible Points: 100
BASIS OF RATING: Offerors who meet the Education/Experience requirements and Selection Factors will be further evaluated in accordance with the Offeror Rating System. Those offerors determined to be competitively ranked may also be evaluated on interview performance and satisfactory professional reference checks. Offerors are required to address each factor of the Offeror Rating System in their resume, describing specifically and accurately what experience, training, education and/or awards they have received as it pertains to each factor. Be sure to include your name and the announcement number at the top of each additional page. Failure to address the selection factors and/or Offeror Rating System factors may result in not receiving credit for all pertinent experience, education, training and/or awards. The most qualified offerors may be interviewed and required to provide a writing sample. BHA will not pay for any expenses associated with the interviews. Professional references and academic credentials will be evaluated for offerors being considered for selection package. Note: Please be advised that references may be obtained independently from other sources in addition to the ones provided by an offeror. BHA reserves the right to select additional offerors if vacancies become available during future phase of the selection process.
How to apply
Offers must be received by the closing date and time at the address specified in the cover letter. Qualified individuals are required to submit:
1. Complete resume. In order to fully evaluate your offer, your resume must include:
(a) Paid and non-paid experience, job title, location(s), dates held (month/year), and hours worked per week for each position. Any experience that does not include dates (month/year), locations, and hours per week will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements.
(b) Specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work.
(c) Education and any other qualifications including job-related training courses, job-related skills, or job-related honors, awards or accomplishments. Failure to identify an academic discipline will result in disqualification.
(d) U.S. Citizenship
(e) Optional: How did you hear about this opportunity? (SAM.gov, BHA Jobs, Career Fair, etc.). Your resume must contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the experience requirements as stated in this solicitation. This information must be clearly identified in your resume. Failure to provide information sufficient to determine your qualifications for the position will result in loss of full consideration.
2. USPSC Offeror form AID 309-2.
Offerors are required to complete sections A through I. This form must be physically signed. Electronic signatures will not be accepted. AID 309-2 is available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms. Additional documents submitted will not be accepted. By submitting your offer materials, you certify that all of the information on and attached to the offer is true, correct, complete, and made in good faith. You agree to allow all information on and attached to the offer to be investigated. False or fraudulent information on or attached to your offer may result in you being eliminated from consideration for this position, or being terminated after award, and may be punishable by fine or imprisonment. To ensure consideration of offers for the intended position, please reference the solicitation number on your offer, and as the subject line in any email.
DOCUMENT SUBMITTALS Via email: [email protected]