SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720BHA21R00054
ISSUANCE DATE: June 22, 2021
CLOSING DATE AND TIME: July 20, 2021, 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) Offices of Middle East, North Africa, and Europe (MENAE) and Asia, Latin America and Caribbean (ALAC) are 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? (beta.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 DATA UNIVERSAL NUMBERING SYSTEM (DUNS) NUMBERS AND THE SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT
All USPSCs with a place of performance in the United States are required to have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) 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 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:
MENAE Recruitment Team
E-Mail Address: BHA.MENAERecruitment@usaid.gov
Website: www.BHAjobs.net
Any questions on this solicitation may be directed to the MENAE Recruitment Team via the information provided above.
Sincerely,
Renee Newton
Contracting Officer
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Working under the guidance and supervision of the Division Chief or Deputy Regional Director of the assigned region, the SHA will manage complex and high-profile responses, build and retain staff capacity, and fill critical leadership requirements within the office. The SHA will lead, manage, and support BHA portfolios that require significant USG policy engagement and humanitarian program management. SHAs can expect to move between portfolios in Washington, D.C. and in the field depending on the changing nature of BHA’s humanitarian engagement in specific crises. The SHA will work in close collaboration with a program team that may include Deputy Regional Directors, Regional Advisors, Program Officers, Field Monitors, Humanitarian Assistance Officers, and /or Program Assistants, depending on the portfolio assigned. A significant amount of travel may be required as outlined below. The SHA will perform the following functions:
Leadership:
· Serve in leadership positions such as Regional Advisor, Senior Humanitarian Advisor, or Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) Leader or Deputy Team Leader on field-based response teams. The length of their assignment will be reviewed every 90 days against office priorities.
· Serve in leadership positions such as Division Chief, Deputy Team Leader, Team Leader, or Response Management Team (RMT) Response Manager or Deputy Manager on headquarters-based response teams for extended periods of time, up to one year.
· Adhere to BHA’s personnel management expectations by managing teams effectively, providing feedback, and ensuring staff well-being.
· Provide training and mentoring to Humanitarian Assistance Officers and Program Assistants on the portfolio management, representation, and contextual specialty functional areas outlined below.
· Participate, as assigned, in a wide range of office-wide policy, process, and strategic initiatives to ensure MENAE’s and ALAC’s Office priorities and operating realities are reflected in outcomes. Actively solicit and consolidate feedback from the division on these initiatives and work with the Office Directors, Division Chiefs, Team Leaders, and Deputy Team Leaders to identify the division’s strategic interests and to find creative ways to find solutions that are beneficial to the division as well as the office. Ensure the division is regularly updated on the progress of these initiatives.
Representation:
· Represent BHA at senior levels within the USG and with other humanitarian stakeholders to address humanitarian concerns and priorities from the BHA perspective through oral and written briefings, as well as through coordination and policy development meetings to include the following:
- Meetings with individuals and groups of implementing partners and other humanitarian actors, including Humanitarian Country Teams, Donor Working Groups, NGO fora, etc. to discuss programmatic priorities, objectives, progress, results, and challenges.
- Discussions, meetings, and papers informing USG foreign policy in areas with humanitarian concerns or impacts.
- Participation in USG Interagency forums on humanitarian issues.
- Supporting/leading coordination mechanisms with BHA and USAID.
· Provide representation support outlined above when assigned in a leadership role on a response team in Washington, D.C. or in the field and provide ad-hoc representational support for the Office as needed.
Portfolio Management:
· Acquire and maintain subject-matter expertise in BHA’s award making, managing, and monitoring policies and processes.
· Directly manage complex humanitarian award portfolios, manage and mentor staff managing award portfolios, and/or provide guidance on portfolio management, as needed, to include items such as:
- Work with implementing organizations on project proposals submitted for BHA funding to ensure proposals meet BHA’s program objectives and grant guidelines.
- Prepare all documentation to obtain timely grant project approval. This will involve properly inputting data to various information management systems.
- Ensure AOR functions are properly carried out.
- Track program reports from grantees and ensures reports are received in a timely manner; review program reports to ensure that program objectives have been achieved; collate input from the report for feedback to the grantee, and share reports with regional team members, as appropriate.
- Upon completion of programs, close out awards according to Agency policies, identifying funds for de-obligation and/or equipment for disposal.
- Expedite the flow of programmatic and other documents through the clearance process.
· Provide regional support as needed to BHA field operations to include the making, managing, and monitoring of BHA programs, performing assessments, strategy development, and providing general field office coverage.
· Assist the Deputy Office Directors and Regional Directors in managing the strategy development process for the region, monitoring program funding and implementation against established strategies, and actively participating in strategy-related activities for the region.
· Serve as a resource for program-related planning efforts such as event and scenario- based contingency planning; budget development and planning, and ad-hoc program strategy development.
Contextual Specialty:
· Develop and maintain knowledge of the key humanitarian and disaster risk reduction issues associated with assigned responses.
· Maintain an in-depth understanding of political, humanitarian, organizational, and stakeholder interests specific to the assigned region or portfolio of responsibility.
· 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.
· Assist in identifying humanitarian issues, priorities, lessons learned, and opportunities in the area of responsibility and apply them to program strategy development and implementation.
· Prepare and/or provide substantive assistance in the preparation of regular strategic and analytical reports on current or anticipated emergencies, as well as comprehensive preparedness documentation on assigned countries.
General Duties:
· Become certified and serve as an Agreement Officer’s Representative/Contracting Officer’s Representative (AOR/COR), as assigned. The AOR/COR provides financial and programmatic oversight of all aspects of managing the agreement or contract; this includes but is not limited to reviewing invoices, requests for approvals, program/project deliverables (i.e. work plans, annual reports, 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.
· Serve as the BHA after-hours duty officer on a rotational basis for approximately one week every six months.
· May serve as needed, RMTs, which provide services and support to DARTs deployed in response to disasters. The duties on RMTs will vary.
· May serve on DARTs which may require immediate (within 24 hours) deployment overseas for an extended period of time; and
· As needed, may serve on temporary detail within the office 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.
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Offerors who do not meet all of the education and experience factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)
Bachelor’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field (including, but not limited to, international relations, political science, humanitarian assistance, food security, public health and disaster management) and at least nine (9) years of relevant work experience with the USG, Private Voluntary Organization (PVO)/NGO, IO, or UN Agency. Such experience must have a humanitarian focus and include responsibility in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, and/or managing and evaluating funded programs in a results type framework. Experience must include five (5) years of cumulative field work (foreign or domestic) in international humanitarian assistance and/or domestic disaster response needs assessment, analysis, emergency relief program operations, or post-emergency rehabilitation.
OR
Master’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field (including, but not limited to, international relations, political science, humanitarian assistance, food security, public health and disaster management) and at least seven (7) years of relevant work experience with the USG, PVO/NGO, IO or UN Agency. Such experience must have a humanitarian focus and include responsibility in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, and/or managing and evaluating funded programs in a results type framework. Experience must include five (5) years of cumulative field work (foreign or domestic) in international humanitarian assistance and/or disaster response needs assessment, analysis, emergency relief program operations, or post-emergency rehabilitation.
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 a Department of State medical clearance.
● Must not appear as an excluded party in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).
● Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.
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 future phase of the selection process.
How to apply
Via email: BHA.MENAERecruitment@usaid.gov