USPSC Regional Humanitarian Program Officer

USPSC Regional Humanitarian Program Officer

USPSC Regional Humanitarian Program Officer

USPSC Regional Humanitarian Program Officer

Published
June 13, 2022
Location
Nairobi, Kenya
Position type
Experience (minimum)
2-5 Years
Education (minimum)
Bachelor's
Travel required?
Not specified
Base salary (minimum)
$60,000 - 70,000

Description

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720BHA22R00044

ISSUANCE DATE: June 10, 2022

CLOSING DATE AND TIME: July 8, 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 Regional Humanitarian Program Officer (RHPO) 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. 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.

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 IDENTIFIER (UEI) NUMBERS 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 award. 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 UEI 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: BHA.AfricaRecruitment@usaid.gov

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

I. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. SOLICITATION NO.: 720BHA22R00044
2. ISSUANCE DATE: June 10, 2022
3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: July 8, 2022, 12:00 P.M.
Eastern Time
4. POINT OF CONTACT: OA Recruitment Team, BHA.AfricaRecruitment@usaid.gov
5. POSITION TITLE: Regional Humanitarian Program Officer
6. MARKET VALUE: $68,299 - $88,792 equivalent to GS-12 (not eligible for locality pay)
Salaries over and above the top of the pay range will not be entertained or negotiated.
7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Five (5) years
8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Nairobi, Kenya
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 Washington training, the Regional Humanitarian Program Officer will be
assigned to the place of performance.
9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: U.S. Citizens
10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret up to Top
Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level clearance as provided by USAID.

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES

BACKGROUND

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Bureau for Humanitarian
Assistance (BHA) is responsible for facilitating and coordinating U.S. Government (USG)
humanitarian assistance overseas in response to all types of international disasters, including
slow-onset disasters such as droughts or famine, natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods,
or man-made disasters such as conflict or war. BHA is responsible for planning, coordinating,
developing, achieving, monitoring, and evaluating international humanitarian assistance falling
into two conceptual areas:

● Humanitarian Response activities comprise needs-based humanitarian assistance
provided to save lives, alleviate suffering, and protect human dignity during and in the
aftermath of emergencies. Humanitarian assistance is grounded in humanitarian
principles and is directed toward the most vulnerable populations.

● Early Recovery, Risk Reduction, and Resilience (ER4) activities will set the initial
foundations for longer-term recovery as appropriate, and will work in close conjunction
with humanitarian assistance. Early recovery is an approach that supports communities
impacted by crises to protect and restore basic systems and service delivery. Early
recovery builds on humanitarian response efforts and establishes the initial foundations of
long-term recovery. Early recovery activities are implemented for a specified, appropriate
timeframe that assists populations recovering from an identifiable shock. Risk reduction
is the prevention of new and reduction of existing disaster risk and management of
residual risk, which contributes to strengthening resilience and to the achievement of
sustainable development. Resilience is the ability of people, households, communities,
countries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a
manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth.

BHA has seven offices, as follows:

The Bureau’s three geographic offices are: (1) Office of Africa; (2) Office of Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean; and (3) the Office of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
Each geographic office designs, provides, and assesses humanitarian assistance for their
respective regions, including assistance related to responding to, recovering from, and reducing
the risk of man-made and natural disasters, while linking with other USAID investments that
build resilience.

The Office of Global Policy, Partnerships, Programs, and Communications (G3PC) shapes and
influences USAID’s role within the international humanitarian system; leads engagement on a
range of policy, programmatic, and operational issues; and positions the Agency to influence
collective response to emergency needs across the globe.

The Office of Technical and Program Quality (TPQ) leads the Bureau's efforts to provide
high-quality programmatic and technical leadership, oversight, and guidance. In addition, TPQ
leads the Bureau’s external engagement with academia and coordinates research to advance the
effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of humanitarian and multi-year programming.

The Office of Humanitarian Business and Management Operations (HBMO) is responsible for
maintaining 24/7 operability by providing leadership, planning, quality assurance, technical
expertise, and process management. HBMO ensures effective stewardship of the Bureau’s
support services, including workforce planning, staffing, financial management, internal
controls, facilities operations and infrastructure.

The Office of Field and Response Operations (FARO) leads and manages operational assistance
and the purchase and delivery of goods and services in response to declared foreign disasters and
international humanitarian needs in key functional areas, including supply-chain management,
procurement, logistics, oversight, and operational coordination with the U.S. military.

INTRODUCTION

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. 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 including United Nations (UN) agencies; and to other partners. These
divisions also oversee BHA Office of Africa’s nonresponse efforts in disaster risk reduction
(DRR), resilience, and humanitarian transition.

To fulfill its mandate, and to effectively respond to disasters worldwide, BHA has established six
regional offices in the following locations: San Jose, Costa Rica; Nairobi, Kenya; Dakar,
Senegal; Pretoria, South Africa; Budapest, Hungary and Bangkok, Thailand. BHA also has other,
smaller sub-regional and program offices around the world.

The Regional Humanitarian Program Officer (RHPO) plays a major role in OA’s effort to
promote excellence in humanitarian assistance and meet BHA’s mandate to save lives, alleviate
suffering, and reduce the social and economic impact of disasters. Under the guidance of the
Regional Humanitarian Advisor, the RHPO supports the coordination and management of BHA
disaster response, preparedness, mitigation, and training programs in the region of responsibility.
The RHPO will ensure that BHA’s objectives for disaster response and assistance, strategic
reporting, and analysis are met.

OBJECTIVE

BHA requires the services of an RHPO for the Sudans, East and Central Africa Regional Office
(SECARO), based in Nairobi, Kenya, to ensure that BHA’s objectives for disaster assistance,
disaster risk reduction, resilience programming, strategic reporting, and interagency coordination
for the region are met.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Working under the guidance and supervision of the Regional Humanitarian Advisor, the RHPO
supports BHA/SECARO through the management of humanitarian, resilience, and DRR
activities in the region, assisting with program analysis, strategy development, and coordination
with partners in the humanitarian community. The RHPO will work closely with a program team
that includes field-based Senior Humanitarian Advisors, Senior Regional Humanitarian Program
Officers, and Program Management Specialists. The RHPO will also be expected to deploy to
support programs throughout the region on a regular basis, as well as serve on humanitarian
responses as required.

This position requires effective daily coordination with several BHA staff members, as well as
representatives from other USAID offices, Embassy staff, and the humanitarian community, and
therefore requires a highly collaborative work style. This position requires travel for an extended
period of time, and the willingness to deploy within the region for one month or more annually
on sudden-onset emergency responses.

The RHPO will perform the following duties and responsibilities:

Contextual Specialty:
● Develop and maintain a thorough understanding of humanitarian developments across the
region to include political, social, and operational issues impacting humanitarian efforts.
● Develop and maintain knowledge of USAID and USG humanitarian priorities and
strategies within the region, and BHA’s contributions and comparative advantages to
those efforts.
● Develop strong understanding of country specific portfolio priorities across the region in
humanitarian and resilience interventions.
● Provide regular reporting, through cables and other means, on issues related to the
humanitarian situations within the region.
● Provide regular reports on site visits, meetings, relevant current events, and other issues
that impact humanitarian relief efforts.
● Develop fluency in BHA program systems and guidelines across sectors and streams of
funding within the region.

Portfolio Management:
● Work with BHA’s Washington-based and SECARO program staff to develop program
strategies for emergency response, early recovery, resilience, and DRR activities within
the region, overseeing day-to-day management of portfolio and its budgets.
● Support team members in assessing emergency response, early recovery, resilience, and
DRR needs in the region to ensure that BHA’s programs are appropriately responsive.
● Assist Washington-based Agreement Officer’s Representatives (AORs) in managing and
monitoring humanitarian awards by providing field-based insights, knowledge, and
perspectives.
● Provide guidance on USAID and USG regulations and policies.
● Participate in USAID Mission Kenya and East Africa discussions in technical areas to
ensure complementarity and help to leverage BHA funding for longer term sustainability,
specifically focusing on complementarity outside of Kenya and throughout the region.
● Assist in humanitarian activities outside of immediate areas of responsibility, as needed.
● Travel as needed to support team efforts to assess, evaluate and monitor humanitarian
conditions in the assigned portfolio, to support the management of portfolios, and to
make strategic recommendations for appropriate interventions.

Representation:
● Support the regional team in maintaining relations with senior leadership in the
humanitarian community through regular coordination and collaboration with BHA,
relevant USG staff, and the humanitarian community.
● Assist the regional team to coordinate 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 in the SECARO, and Washington, DC
office, work with NGOs, international organizations , 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.
● Participate in technical evaluation committees for staffing and programming, as
requested.
● Participate in both field-led and Washington-based working groups and committees, as
requested.
● 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 AOR/Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), as
assigned. AORs/CORs provide financial and programmatic oversight of all aspects of
managing an 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, USAID Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR) and relevant 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. Duties performed while on
detail will be aligned with the Team’s existing duties and responsibilities and will be
directly related to the statement of duties provided.

SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP:
The USPSC will take direction from and will report to the Regional Humanitarian Advisor in
SECARO or his/her/their designee.

SUPERVISORY CONTROLS:
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 is generally sedentary and does not pose 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).

13. WORK ENVIRONMENT
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.

14. START DATE: Immediately, once necessary clearances are obtained.

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 in any discipline. Must have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant work
experience with a humanitarian or development focus and include responsibility in determining
budget levels, selecting programs for funding, and managing or evaluating funded programs.
Experience must include one (1) year of cumulative experience in international or domestic
humanitarian or development assistance, emergency management/relief, disaster risk reduction,
post-emergency rehabilitation or recovery, or resilience.

OR

Master’s degree in any discipline. Must have a minimum of four (4) 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 one (1) year of cumulative experience in international or domestic humanitarian
assistance or development, 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:

Matrix (30 points)
● At least six months of experience working in a grantmaking organization (4 points)
● At least six months of experience working for a humanitarian or development donor
organization. (4 points)
● One year of experience supporting or directly implementing humanitarian or resilience
programming (4 points)
● Experience designing strategies or programs (4 points)
● Experience developing or reviewing proposals (4 points)
● Experience monitoring or evaluating programs (4 points)
● Experience drafting or editing documents. (6 points)

Timed Writing Test (20 points)

Interview Performance (40 points)

Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks (10 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.

IV. SUBMITTING AN OFFER

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. 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.

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: BHA.AfricaRecruitment@usaid.gov

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