SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720BHA22R00040
ISSUANCE DATE: June 1, 2022
CLOSING DATE AND TIME: July 1, 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. 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 ENTITY 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 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: 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.: 720BHA22R00040
2. ISSUANCE DATE: June 1, 2022
3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: July 1, 2022, 12:00 P.M.
Eastern Time
4. POINT OF CONTACT: OA Recruitment Team, BHA.AfricaRecruitment@usaid.gov
5. POSITION TITLE: Senior Humanitarian Advisor
6. MARKET VALUE: $95,973 - $124,764 equivalent to GS-14 (not eligible for locality pay)
Salaries over and above the top of the pay range will not be entertained or negotiated.
If the position is for a Washington based PSC, offerors who live outside the Washington, D.C.
area will be considered for employment, but no relocation expenses will be reimbursed.
7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Five (5) years
8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Maputo, Mozambique
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 Senior Humanitarian Advisor 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
POSITION DESCRIPTION

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 manmade 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 highquality 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 (IO) including United Nations (UN) agencies; and other partners to
ensure the implementation and delivery of this assistance. These divisions also oversee BHA
Office of Africa’s nonresponse efforts in disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience, and
humanitarian transition.

OBJECTIVE
BHA requires the services of a Senior Humanitarian Advisor (SHA), based in Maputo,
Mozambique to ensure that BHA’s objectives for disaster assistance, disaster risk reduction,
resilience programming, strategic planning, and interagency coordination in Mozambique are met.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
This position requires an individual to support the management and representation of the
humanitarian portfolio for Mozambique. Reporting to the BHA Country Lead, the SHA will be
responsible for program analysis and strategy development and work closely with the
USAID/Mozambique staff, the U.S. Embassy, U.S. military representatives, and other USG
interagency partners, other donors, Government of Mozambique 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.

Working under the direction of the BHA Country Lead and in close coordination with the BHA
Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA), the SHA will work in close collaboration with and
may supervise a team that includes other Regional Humanitarian Advisors, Senior Humanitarian
Advisors, Humanitarian Program Officers, Technical Specialists, Monitoring, Evaluation,
Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) Advisors, Regional Team Leaders, Humanitarian
Assistance Officers, Program Assistants, Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs), and others depending
on the work assigned.

The individual will perform the following duties:

Contextual Specialty
● Develop and maintain knowledge of the key humanitarian and DRR issues and
political, organizational, and stakeholder interests in Mozambique.
● 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 Mozambique 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 Mozambique.

Portfolio Management
● 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 Mozambique.
● Maintain regular communication and close coordination with BHA/ROSA and
BHA/Washington on these efforts.
● Monitor ongoing humanitarian assistance efforts in Mozambique. Liaise with partners and
other donors, coordinate with the ROSA 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:
o 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 Mozambique 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/ROSA
● Ensure reporting on a timely basis to BHA/Washington and ROSA on the quality of
grantees’ work, noting deficiencies, attributes, and evolving operational conditions.

Representation
● 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.
● 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 Humanitarian Advisor
and BHA’s technical advisors to discuss and understand sectoral priorities.
● 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 Mozambique
portfolio to include programmatic, budgetary, and human resource requirements.
● 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 AOR/Contracting Officer’s Representative (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 office 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 statement of duties provided.

SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP:
The USPSC will report directly to the BHA Country Lead or his/her/their designee in Mozambique
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.

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 nine (9) years of relevant work
experience. Such experience must include humanitarian or development focus and responsibility
in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, or managing or evaluating funded
programs. Experience must include three (3) years of cumulative international experience in at
least one of the following: humanitarian assistance, emergency management, relief, DRR, post-emergency rehabilitation, recovery, or resilience.

OR

Master’s degree in any discipline. Must have a minimum of seven (7) years of relevant work
experience. Such experience must include humanitarian or development focus and responsibility
in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, or managing or evaluating funded
programs. Experience must include three (3) years of cumulative international experience in at
least one of the following: humanitarian assistance, emergency management, relief, DRR, post-emergency rehabilitation, 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)
● Demonstrated experience working with host or local governments on the planning and
implementation of humanitarian or development interventions.
● Demonstrated experience working with donor organizations or diplomatic missions.
● Demonstrated experience working with international or national non-governmental
partners at senior levels.
● Demonstrated experience delivering verbal 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.

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