SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720BHA23R00001

ISSUANCE DATE: January 26, 2023

CLOSING DATE AND TIME: January 29, 2024, 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) is seeking offers from qualified persons to provide personal services under contract as described in this solicitation. Offers must be in accordance with Attachment 1 of this solicitation. Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all offer materials for their records. USAID will evaluate all offerors based on stated evaluation criteria. USAID encourages all individuals, including those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, to respond to the solicitation. This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a PSC contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the offer. Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in Attachment 1. Sincerely, Joy Burriss Contracting Officer U.S. Agency for International Development

Attachment 1

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 720BHA23R00001

2. ISSUANCE DATE: January 26, 2023

3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: January 29, 2024, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time

This solicitation is open and continuous until January 22, 2024. The following are the closing dates for each review period:

February 23, 2023, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time; July 13, 2023, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time; January 29, 2024, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time

Offerors not selected during a previous review period must reapply in order to be considered for positions available in subsequent review periods. A review period may be canceled at the Contracting Officer’s discretion.

4. POINT OF CONTACT: OA Recruitment Team, BHA.AfricaRecruitment@usaid.gov

5. POSITION TITLE: Program Operations Specialist (Multiple Positions)

6. MARKET VALUE: $78,592 - $102,166 equivalent to GS-11 and $94,199 - $122,459 equivalent to GS-12 (includes locality pay) Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value and will include Locality Pay for domestic USPSCs based on the location of the Official USAID Worksite, or the approved alternative worksite if approved for remote work. USPSCs performing overseas are not entitled to Locality Pay. The initial grade level of this position will be the equivalent of a GS-11 with the opportunity for advancement to the GS-12 equivalent after at least two years at the GS-11 level, if the individual receives a recommendation from the supervisor for advancement along with an Exceeds Fully Successful performance evaluation. Advancement to the GS-12 level is not guaranteed. Salaries over and above the top of the pay range will not be entertained or negotiated.

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: USAID/Washington Relocation expenses will not be reimbursed for U.S.-based positions.

8. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Five (5) years

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: U.S. Citizens Only

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Secret (If there is a change in circumstances requiring access to National Security information classified at the Top-Secret level, the offeror may be asked to obtain and maintain a Secret up to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level clearance as provided by USAID.)

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES GENERAL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE OF THE CONTRACT Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) is committed to fostering an equitable and inclusive workplace with a diverse workforce. BHA encourages qualified candidates of all races/ethnicities, genders, cultural backgrounds, abilities, and socioeconomic statuses to apply. The Office of Africa (OA) designs, provides, and assesses humanitarian assistance, including assistance related to responding to, recovering from, and reducing the risk of human-induced and natural disasters, while linking with other USAID investments that build resilience. The OA consists of five (5) geographic divisions: East Africa; Central Africa; Sudans; West Africa; and Southern Africa. These divisions are responsible for the provision of emergency humanitarian assistance through grants and cooperative agreements to non-governmental organizations (NGOs); international organizations (IOs) including United Nations (UN) agencies; and to other partners. These divisions also oversee OA’s nonresponse efforts in disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience, and humanitarian transition. The OA also has a front office Management and Integration Team (MIT) which is responsible for supporting office leadership, divisions, and teams; supporting the management needs of the office; and ensuring integration of policies, practices, guidance, and learning between the Office of Africa and the rest of BHA. BHA requires the services of Program Operations Specialists to provide administrative, budgeting, writing, and organizational support to assist the Africa Senior Leadership Team (ASLT) and OA MIT in providing strategic direction, operational guidance, and administrative support to the division.

STATEMENT OF DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED

At the GS-11 Equivalent:

● Assist the Management and Integration Team (MIT) with front office and executive secretariat functions.

● Provide administrative support to the MIT and other teams working on the division’s vision and accompanying work plan.

● Assist the Team Leader or Division Chief in all staffing functions to include approvals, recruitment and tracking and analysis, and onboarding.

● Assist the Deputy Office Director with management of the overall division budget to include collating information on routine and ad-hoc budget planning scenario taskers and related narrative.

● Provide administrative support to the Deputy Office Director for special projects and office-wide initiatives.

● Train in basic program functions and backstop the program teams, including functions such as: o 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.

● Review and monitor national DRR efforts and plans in the area of responsibility in collaboration with regional teams.

● Maintain regular contact with BHA field representatives and the BHA Regional Offices to maintain current triangulated understanding of existing and impending humanitarian crises in the area of responsibility.

● Serve as a primary point of contact/specialist in the area of responsibility for BHA ASLT.

● Develop and maintain a detailed understanding of BHA’s program strategy and the implementation of the resulting awards.

● Support regional team efforts to develop appropriate programmatic strategies for disaster responses and DRR efforts in the area of responsibility.

● Provide written and oral responses to requests for information on BHA’s activities in the area of responsibility for a wide range of USG and public audiences to include briefing papers, memorandums, talking points, formal presentations, and informal briefings.

● Review and process all award documentation according to BHA’s Emergency Application Guidelines, USAID Automated Directives Systems, and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) including coordinating multi-unit participation and ensuring timely award approval.

● Represent BHA in meetings with individual partners discussing programmatic priorities, objectives, progress, results, and challenges.

● Attend bureau-wide coordination meetings as BHA’s primary point of contact in the area of responsibility.

● Participate in other interagency and partner-wide meetings as assigned by the Team Leader, Division Chief, Deputy Office Director, or Office Director. General Duties:

● Become certified and serve in administrative support and relevant functional positions for Response Management Teams (RMTs) and Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) as needed such as Administrative Coordinator (AC), Communications and Records Coordinator (CRC) and Program Officer (PO/PGO).

● May be requested to be on-call or serve as needed on Washington-based RMTs or in other international locations on DARTs.

● As needed, serve on DARTs which may require immediate (within 24 hours) deployment overseas for an extended period of time. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, there may be some additional physical exertion including long periods of standing, walking over rough terrain, or carrying of moderately heavy items (less than 50 pounds). Work is primarily performed in an office setting. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, the work may additionally involve special safety and/or security precautions, wearing of protective equipment, and exposure to severe weather conditions. As needed, may serve on temporary detail within the Bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages. 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.

● 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, month status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, and financial/budget reports. They are responsible for drafting and submitting the annual contractor performance evaluation in 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 FAR, and USAID policy. AOR/CORs are responsible for all related requirements in the COR designation letter and the AOR designation letter.

At the GS-12 Equivalent: (If the PSC is promoted during contract performance) Duties include the following functions in addition to those listed at the GS-11 level above.

● Provide administrative support to the ASLT including but not limited to task prioritization, scheduling, and information coordination.

● Assist MIT with executive secretariat functions for the division to include problem solving challenges that may arise.

● Provide administrative support, tasker management, or budget coordination to MIT and other teams working on the division’s vision and accompanying work plan to include tracking and analyzing overall division progress towards goals and objectives.

● With Deputy Team Lead or Team Lead of the MIT’s guidance, take the lead for the Office of Africa MIT in all staffing functions to include approvals, recruitment, and tracking and analysis.

● With Division Chief or Team Lead’s guidance, facilitate the management of the overall division’s budget to include clarifying routine and ad-hoc budget planning scenario taskers, working to develop guidance and processes for input and review from leadership, and reviewing and providing feedback on results.

● Provide both administrative support and independently implement division and office-wide special projects and initiatives.

● Stay current on major changes in program functions and backstop the program teams at the Humanitarian Assistance Officer level. Such as:

● Participate actively in the development of programmatic strategies for technical sectors.

● Ensure implications of policy decisions at BHA, USAID, and interagency levels on the portfolio are understood by ASLT.

● Independently manage all aspects of award management throughout the award cycle.

● Recommend approaches to write and deliver integrated priority messages in written and oral responses to requests for information on BHA’s activities in the area of responsibility for a wide range of USG and public audiences to include: briefing papers, memorandums, talking points, fact sheets, formal presentations, and informal briefings.

● Represent BHA in meetings with individual partners, interagency, and partner-wide meetings as assigned by the Team Leader.

● Represent BHA in coordination meetings in the area of responsibility as appropriate.

● With guidance from the Team Leader, participate in bureau-wide humanitarian coordination meetings.

SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP: The USPSC will take direction from and report to the assigned Deputy Team Leader, Team Leader, Division Chief or his/her designee. SUPERVISORY CONTROLS: At the GS-11 equivalent: Supervisor sets overall objectives and resources available and works with the USPSC to develop deadlines, work to be done and methodology. The USPSC is responsible for carrying out assignments, and consults with the supervisor for policy interpretations. At the GS-12 equivalent: Supervisor sets overall objectives and resources available; the USPSC consults with the supervisor to develop deadlines, projects and work to be done. The USPSC is responsible for planning and carrying out assignments. The USPSC is responsible for planning approaches or methodology to be used in carrying out assignments.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

Qualifications

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.)

At the GS-11 level:

Bachelor’s degree plus three (3) years of work experience in an office setting to include administrative, operations, or writing responsibilities.

OR

Master’s degree plus a minimum of two (2) years of work experience in an office setting to include administrative, operations, or writing responsibilities.

Application instructions

IV. SUBMITTING AN OFFER

1. Eligible Offerors are required to complete and submit the offer form AID 309-2, “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals,” available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.

2. Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted to the Point of Contact in Section I.

3. Offeror submissions must clearly reference the Solicitation number on all offeror submitted documents.

4. Complete resume. In order to fully evaluate your offer, your resume must include:

(a) Offerors must notate on their resume what GS level equivalent is being applied for. Applicants may list more than one GS level on their resume. (b) 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. (c) Specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work. d) 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. (e) U.S. Citizenship (f) 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 for each grade level for which you are applying. 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.

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.

5. Ensure Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors - Please be advised that upon award, 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.* USPSCs/TCNPSCs performing overseas must follow the Mission policies and/or directives from the U.S. Department of State regarding COVID-19 requirements. *See Notice Regarding Any Court Order Affecting the Implementation of E.O. 14042 in Section VIII below.

6. NOTE: If the full security application package is not submitted within 30 days after the Office of Security determines eligibility, the offer may be rescinded. If a Secret security clearance is not obtained within nine months after offer acceptance, the offer may be rescinded. If Top Secret is required, and clearance is not obtained within nine months after award, USAID may terminate the contract at the convenience of the government. If Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access is not obtained within nine months after Top Secret clearance is granted, USAID may terminate the contract at the convenience of the government.

7. NOTE: If the full medical clearance package is not submitted within two months after offer acceptance, the offer may be rescinded. If a Department of State medical clearance is not obtained; the offer may be rescinded.

NOTE REGARDING GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS FOR THIS SOLICITATION: This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a PSC contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the offer.