SOLICITATION NUMBER: 7200AA24R00081
ISSUANCE DATE: August 6, 2024
CLOSING DATE AND TIME: September 24, 2024, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time
SUBJECT: Solicitation for U.S. Personal Service Contractor
(USPSC), Regional Humanitarian Program Officer (RHPO)

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,
Patricia Steckler
Contracting Officer
Office of Acquisition & Assistance
(M/OAA/BHA-CPS/PSC)

I. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. SOLICITATION NO.: 7200AA24R00081
2. ISSUANCE DATE: August 6, 2024
3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: September 24, 2024, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time
This solicitation is open and continuous until September 24, 2024. The following are the closing dates for each review period:
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: ALAC Recruitment Team, BHA.ALACRecruitment@usaid.gov
5. POSITION TITLE: Regional Humanitarian Program Officer (RHPO)
6. MARKET VALUE: $74,441.00 - $ 96,770.00 equivalent to GS-12 (not eligible for 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.
Salaries over and above the top of the pay range will not be entertained or negotiated.
7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: USAID/ San Jose, Costa Rica.
There may be an initial training program in Washington, D.C. for three months, which will include formal classroom training and on-the-job training; and may include security training. After completion of initial training, the RHPO will be assigned to the place of performance.
Overseas USPSCs may be authorized to telework or remote work only from a location within the country of performance, in accordance with Mission policy. Telework or remote work from outside the country of performance may only be authorized in certain situations in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract.
8. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Five (5) years tentatively 145 day estimated start date from closing.
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 The United States Agency for International Development (https://www.usaid.gov/) (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) works to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the impact of disasters by helping people in need become more self-reliant. BHA is responsible for planning, coordinating, developing, achieving, monitoring, and evaluating international humanitarian assistance falling into two conceptual areas: 1) Humanitarian Response during emergencies and 2) Early Recovery, Risk Reduction, and Resilience (ER4) activities to address longer-term recovery after emergencies. You can learn more about BHA on our website (https://www.usaid.gov/humanitarian-assistance).
The Office of Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean (ALAC) 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. To achieve these objectives, USAID humanitarian experts based overseas work with local authorities and USAID Missions, while humanitarian experts based in Washington coordinate with USAID Regional and Pillar Bureaus.
ALAC consists of (3) three geographic divisions: Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and South and Central Asia. These divisions are responsible for providing 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 to ensure the implementation and delivery of this assistance. These divisions also oversee BHA’s nonresponse efforts in disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience, and humanitarian transition.
BHA’s DIVERSITY PHILOSOPHY
Your Uniqueness is Welcome Here!
It takes talented people with unique experiences to provide the best humanitarian aid possible. We are committed to having a workforce that reflects the global communities we serve. We strive to create an inclusive workplace, where everyone brings their authentic selves to work. We invite you to join us in providing humanitarian assistance to save lives and alleviate the suffering around the world.
STATEMENT OF DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED
LAC requires the services of a RHPO with a place of performance in San Jose, Costa Rica, in order to meet its objectives of programming, monitoring, coordinating, and evaluating disaster response activities and carrying out its lead role in facilitating and coordinating U.S. Government (USG) emergency assistance in the LAC region.
Working under the guidance and supervision of the LAC Deputy Regional Director, the RHPO supports the Office through the management of humanitarian activities in LAC, assisting with program analysis, monitoring, strategy development, and coordination with partners in the humanitarian community. The RHPO will work closely with the programs team that includes the Regional Director, DRD, Regional Humanitarian Advisors, Senior RHPOs, and D.C.-based LAC Division team. The RHPO will perform the following:
Contextual Specialty:
● Develop a baseline understanding of the humanitarian context in LAC and monitor changes to the context, including political, social, and operational issues impacting humanitarian efforts.
● Develop and maintain knowledge of USG foreign policy priorities in LAC and USAID’s humanitarian and development strategies and objectives, including priority sectors, geographic areas of focus, and key humanitarian stakeholders.
● Provide regular reporting, through cables and other means, on issues related to the humanitarian situations in LAC.
● Provide regular reports on site visits, meetings, relevant current events, and other issues that impact humanitarian relief efforts.
● Brief on portfolio programs and strategies and provide programmatic input for information products.
Portfolio Management:
● Work with BHA’s Washington-based LAC Team to develop program strategies for emergency response, resilience, and DRR activities in LAC, overseeing day-to-day management of the portfolio and its budgets.
● Support team members in assessing emergency response and ER4 needs in LAC in order to ensure BHA’s programs are appropriately responsive.
● Assist Agreement Officer’s Representatives (AORs) in managing and monitoring humanitarian awards by providing field-based insights, knowledge, and perspectives.
● In coordination with the AOR, provides oversight and in-person and remote monitoring of programs, where possible.
● Travel as permitted, to assess, evaluate, and monitor humanitarian conditions in LAC, and make strategic recommendations for appropriate and relevant interventions.
● Provide guidance on regulations and policies.
● Assist in humanitarian activities outside of immediate areas of responsibility, as needed.
Representation:
● Support the regional team in maintaining relations with senior leadership in the humanitarian community, including but not limited to UN agencies, IOs, NGOs, USG personnel, donors, host-country authorities, and others.
● Assist the Country Team with the donor community on policy issues affecting humanitarian operations, and develop integrated, non-duplicative programs, as needed.
● Engage in and report on joint donor humanitarian evaluations and UN-led assessments and participate actively in the international community response structures.
● Prepare briefing papers, notes, and presentations on BHA programming for official USG visitors interested in humanitarian issues.
● Represent BHA with various audiences, as requested.
Leadership:
● Serve as peer mentor to team members on grants and portfolio management, to include BHA’s business process, portfolio-specific budget and workload management, and post-award monitoring and management.
● In close coordination with program team members and Washington colleagues work with NGOs, IOs, and UN agencies that are developing proposals for BHA (including grant amendments and extensions) to ensure compliance with BHA’s guidelines.
● Participate in office-wide discussions on initiatives that impact program implementation to provide field-based perspectives, as assigned.
● Consistently model behaviors that demonstrate a commitment to fostering a non-hostile work environment free of discrimination, bias, unfairness, exclusion, offensive behaviors, and harassment of any kind.
General Duties:
● This position is expected to be able to qualify, train for and routinely serve on disaster/humanitarian responses in Washington DC or in the disaster area for 6 to 8 weeks (or more) intervals. These can either be Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) and/or Response Management Teams (RMTs). DARTs are deployed to the field in response to disasters and operate in the field, providing staff an opportunity to deploy overseas for an extended period of time (e.g., 6-8 weeks). RMTs are based in Washington, DC and provide services to support DARTs, such as coordination and external engagement, communications, planning, logistics, travel coordination, or other similar duties (depending on the RMT role).
● As needed, may serve on temporary short-term assignments (“detail”) on other teams within the office or bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages. Duties performed while on detail will be aligned with existing duties and responsibilities and will be directly related to the position’s scope of work.
● As needed, staff is expected to support BHA’s hiring efforts and serve on PSC hiring committees. Training will be provided.
● The PSC may be expected to obtain an AOR or Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) certification. The AOR/COR oversees agreements and/or contracts. This includes but is not limited to reviewing invoices, approvals, program/project deliverables (i.e. work plans, annual reports, month status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, financial/budget reports, contractor performance evaluations, and compliance. More information about the AOR/COR responsibilities and related requirements can be found in the COR designation letter (https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-300/references-chapter/302mar) and the AOR designation letter (https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-300/references-chapter/303mai). In the event that this role requires an AOR/COR certification, mandatory training will be provided.
SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP:
The USPSC will take direction from and will report to the USAID/BHA LAC Deputy Regional Director or their designee.
SUPERVISORY CONTROLS:
The supervisor sets overall objectives and resources available and works with the USPSC to develop deadlines, work to be done; the USPSC is responsible for planning and carrying out assignments, coordinating with others and interpreting policy in terms of established objectives. May also determine the approach to be taken and the methodology to be used, keeping supervisor informed of progress.
12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The work requested does not involve undue physical demands..
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). 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.
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.)
A High School Diploma or its equivalent and at least eight (8) years of experience working in administrative management, international policy research or analysis, humanitarian or development assistance, or portfolio management (including application development, grant or award administration, determining budget levels, budget oversight, or monitoring and evaluating programs).
OR
A Bachelor’s degree in any discipline and at least four (4) years of experience working in administrative management, international policy research or analysis, humanitarian or development assistance, or portfolio management (including application development, grant or award administration, determining budget levels, budget oversight, or monitoring and evaluating programs).
OR
A Master's in any discipline and at least two (2) years of experience working in administrative management, international policy research or analysis, humanitarian or development assistance, or portfolio management (including application development, grant or award administration, determining budget levels, budget oversight, or monitoring and evaluating programs).
AND
Specialized Experience:
● Field experience in international humanitarian assistance.
● Experience managing, supporting, or directly implementing international humanitarian assistance, emergency management, relief, DRR, or resilience programs.
AND
● Offeror is a U.S. Citizen.
● Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Level Clearance. (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 Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level clearance as provided by USAID). Failure to do so may result in the withdrawal of an offer or removal.
● Ability to obtain a Department of State medical clearance and maintain it throughout the life of the contract. More information on medical clearance classifications can be found in 16 FAM 211.2 Clearance Classifications or the Department of State webpage on medical clearances.
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.
The technical evaluation committee may conduct reference checks, including references from individuals who have not been specifically identified by the offeror, and may do so before or after a candidate is interviewed.
III.A 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 section IV 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 may be accepted.
● Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret clearance. 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. Failure to do so may result in the withdrawal of an offer or removal.
● Ability to obtain a Department of State medical clearance and maintain it throughout the life of the contract. More information on medical clearance classifications can be found in 16 FAM 211.2 Clearance Classifications or the Department of State webpage on medical clearances.
● Must not appear as an excluded party in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).
● Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.
III.B 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:
Education and General Experience
See Section II
Pass or Fail
Specialized Experience
See Section II
30 points
Offeror Interview
See Section III.C
60 points
Professional Reference Checks
See Section III.D.
10 points
III.C Interview (60 points)
During the interview process, a selection panel will assess the candidate’s suitability for the position.
III.D Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks (10 points)
Offerors must provide their references to USAID upon request no later than seven (7) days from the initial request. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the offeror being removed from consideration for this solicitation. In addition, the Agency has the right to seek any additional feedback on the offeror as needed.
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.
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 the future phase of the selection process.
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) Paid and non-paid experience, job title, location(s), dates held (month/year), and hours worked per week for each position. Dates (month/year) and locations for all field experience must also be detailed. 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.
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. 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.
6. 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.
7. NOTE: All USPSCs with a place of performance in the United States are required to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database and must have an active Unique Entity ID (UEI) number prior to receiving an award. If the SAM registration is not active by the selectee within three months of acceptance of this offer, the offer may be rescinded. The selectee will be disqualified if they either fail to comply with this requirement or if their name appears on the excluded party list.
8. 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.