36C26318Q9716-0002002.pdf

VHA NCO 23 ACQUISITION SUPPORT SERVICES

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) has a need for acquisition support personnel to provide support in procuring services, leases, sharing/selling agreements, construction, commodities, and clerical work related to procurement for the VA.

This contract will be a single award, firmed fixed price, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract.

2. SCOPE OF WORK

The contractor shall provide two types of services: 1) acquisition support services, and 2) administrative/procurement technician services. These services may be performed at any of the eight (8) office locations NCO 23. These locations are as follows:

• Saint Paul, MN (Health Care Requirements, Construction)

• Saint Cloud, MN (Supply)

• Coralville, IA (Leasing and Specialized, Supply, Prosthetics, Government Purchase Card)

• Des Moines, IA (Construction)

• Fargo, ND (Supply)

• Sioux Falls, SD (Services)

• Fort Meade, SD (Services)

• Omaha, NE (Construction)

At no time will contract support personnel perform functions that are inherently governmental as listed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 7.503(c)(12). The contractor shall have a working manager at one of the sites that performs acquisition support while also managing the contractor workforce. This manager will be the single point of contact for NCO 23 product line managers, division chiefs, the Contracting Officer Representative (COR), and the Contracting Officer. This manager will be sent requirements from the NCO 23 product line managers for assignment to contractor staff. See paragraph 6.1 below for additional details on the acquisition support manager.

2.1. Acquisition Specialist Support.

The acquisition specialist support personnel shall provide multifunctional “cradle to grave” acquisition support services as requested by the Government. The acquisition support services shall be conducted in accordance with the FAR, Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR), Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Procurement Manual, and VA policies and procedures issued as policy memorandums or Acquisition Flashes.

Successful performance of the acquisition support tasks listed below requires a wide variety of associated activity including research, analysis, data entry, writing, acquisition document preparation, editing, scanning, document management, copying, phone calls, faxing, filing and other activities as necessary to complete the requested tasks.

Acquisition specialist support services include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Supporting the acquisition planning process, including review of customer-submitted procurement packages to ensure completeness; market research; recommendation of procurement strategy; recommendation of contracting methods and types; development of written acquisition plans; interpretation and application of relevant laws, policies, standards and procedures; development of cost/price estimates; construction of quality assurance surveillance plans; review and finalization of customer-supplied statements of work; interacting with potential product and service providers; establishment of acquisition milestones.

• Supporting the solicitation process, including preparation and publishing of market research requests, pre-solicitation notices/synopses, requests for quotation, invitations for bids and requests for proposals; communications with vendors; development and publishing of solicitation amendments; tracking, updating and compliance with acquisition milestones.

• Supporting evaluation of offers, including review of vendor submissions to determine compliance with solicitation requirements; analysis of proposals to recommend establishment of competitive ranges; analysis of offers to support development of negotiation strategies and objectives; research to determine vendor responsibility and suitability for award; price/cost analysis; interacting with customers to ensure proper technical proposal analysis.

• Supporting the award process, including preparation of award documents, clearances, compliance checks, data management in both VA and other Federal Government systems including the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) and notifications to offerors.

• Contract administration support, including review of contractor performance;

development of contract modifications; investigation of contract discrepancies; review of contractor billing and other submissions; contract file maintenance including scanning/indexing/uploading of contract documents into the Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS).

• Contract close-out support, including preparation of releases of claims and other documentation; review of final payments; archival of records.

2.1.1. Quality Standards

NCO 23 performs a wide range of contracting actions including supply, construction, services, medical sharing and services, leasing, inter-agency agreements, and selling agreements. For any action that the Government requests contractor support in performing, the following quality standards are expected:

• Documents are written and/or produced in a professional manner, that is substantially error free, requiring no more than 3 contracting officer reviews per action.

• Contractor personnel shall adhere to VA’s established milestones for processing contract actions with no missed milestones attributable to contractor personnel missteps.

• Contractor personnel shall respond to email or voice mail communications in a timely manner, but no more than 24 hours after receipt. Communications with Government personnel shall be conducted professionally and respectfully, with no more than 2 substantiated complaints.

• In addition to other requested actions for this category of work, contractor personnel shall close out no less than 25 actions per week to assist NCO 23’s overall goal of closing out all contracts that are more than 180 days expired.

2.2. Administrative/Procurement Technician

The administrative/procurement technician personnel shall provide support to NCO 23 staff by assisting in the management of the Government Purchase Card (GCP) program, the procurement process for medical prosthetic purchases below $25,000, and various procurement actions associated with the close out of contracts.

Personnel that primarily support the GPC program shall perform the following tasks (but may be requested to perform other closely associated tasks):

• Performing general clerical work including but not limited to; typing, data entry, scanning, filing, copying, preparing correspondence, faxing, project preparation, research, creating spreadsheets, and assisting with data calls.

• Gathers, inputs, organizes, data from available information systems, to included but not limited to VISTA (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture), US Bank Government Services website and Internal SharePoint Servers.

• Review cardholder and Approving Official training data and initiate a follow up with employees to obtain certificates.

• Ensuring that a cardholder’s delegation of authority (VA Form 0242) is maintained and updated including preparation and proper maintenance.

• Notify employees of requests for audits. Track and receive accountable documents from the credit card holders and Approving Officials for audit.

• Use Standard Operating Procedures to determine if all documentation is complete.

• Maintain Spreadsheets and SharePoint lists and folders that include: cardholder and approving official training data, VA Form 0242 delegation of authority, audit tracking data, and document requests for new credit card accounts and/or updating existing accounts

• Contractor personnel shall follow up with Cardholders and Approving Officials to ensure credit card charges are approved and reconciliation actions are completed in a timely manner. Incumbent will contact Purchase Card coordinator staff of noncompliance.

Personnel that primarily support contract closeout shall perform the following tasks (but may be requested to perform other closely associated tasks):

• Performing general clerical work associated with contract close. The tasks include but not limited to; typing, data entry, scanning, filing, copying, preparing correspondence, faxing, project preparation, research, creating spreadsheets, and assisting with data calls.

• Gathers, inputs, organizes, data from available information systems, to included but not limited to VISTA (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture), US Bank Government Services website, Fiscal Management System (FMS), and Internal SharePoint Servers.

2.2.1. Quality Standards

For any action that the Government requests contractor support in performing, the following quality standards are expected:

• When assigned to support GPC functions the contractor shall prepare documentation in preparation for an audit on no less than 25 cardholder files per month.

• When assigned to support GPC functions the contractor employees shall run standardized reports that are distributed to NCO 23 customers each Monday and once per month on/about the 15th with no missed publications.

• When assigned to support close out functions, contractor employees shall close out no less than 100 actions per week.

3. IDENTIFICATION OF CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES:

3.1 Identification Badge

In accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12), Office of Management and Budget guidance M-05-24, and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication number 201, the contractor and any subcontractors shall comply with the following:

• Contractor employees shall be submitted for background investigation in order to determine suitability for routine access to Government facilities and systems.

• Contractor shall work with the Government POC to submit employees for fingerprinting, background investigations, and issuance of Personal Identification Verification cards.

• Throughout the period of performance the contractor shall provide the same data for any new employees.

3.2 Answering Telephones

Contractor personnel shall identify themselves as Contractor employees when answering Government telephones, or working in situations where their actions may be construed as official Government acts.

3.3 Utilizing Electronic Mail

When prime Contractor or Sub-Contractor personnel send E-mail messages as a part of contract performance (or otherwise relating to contract matters), each sender shall include his/her name (both first and last names), E-mail address and the name of the individual's employer. At the beginning of the email the contractor shall have the following statement: THIS

CORRESPONDENCE IS FROM A CONTRACTOR SUPPORTING THE NETWORK 23

CONTRACTING OFFICE.

4. ORDERING PERIOD AND ORDERING PROCEDURES

The ordering period for this contract shall be for five years after contract award. Task orders may be issued from this contract up to the last day of the ordering period, but shall not operate for more than twelve (12) months after the ordering period of this contract expires. Task orders may have option periods, but the total period of performance for a task order shall not exceed twelve (12) months beyond the expiration of the ordering period.

4.1 Ordering Procedures

When services are required at an NCO 23 location, a task order will be issued to support that site.

Multiple sites can be on the same task order at the discretion of the Contracting Officer. Task orders will specify the category of services needed (Acquisition Support Specialist or

Administrative/Procurement Technician), the number of personnel needed (expressed in terms of full time equivalent hours), and the location(s).

5. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Contractor personnel will work in one of the following locations:

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Saint Paul 316 Robert Street North, Suite 506 Saint Paul, MN 55101

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Saint Cloud 4801 Veterans Drive Saint Cloud, MN 56303

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Coralville 1303 5th St, Suite 300 Coralville, IA. 52241

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Des Moines 3600 30th Street Des Moines, IA 50310

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Fargo 2101 North Elm Street Fargo, ND 58102

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Sioux Falls 2501 W 22nd Street Sioux Falls, SD 57105

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Black Hills 113 Comanche Road Ft Meade, SD 57741

Network 23 Contracting Office (NCO 23) – Omaha 111 South 18th Plaza, Suite C38 Omaha, NE 68102

6. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

6.1. ACQUISITION SUPPORT MANAGER

The contractor shall provide an Acquisition Support Manger that shall be responsible for the performance of the work under the contract. The manager shall be an individual providing service in accordance with the PWS, and can be located at any of the sites that require service under the contract. The contractor shall designate this individual, in writing, to the Contracting

Officer (CO) before the start of performance. The manager shall have authority to direct contract employees on the contract. An alternate or assistant manager may be designated, but the contractor shall identify those times when the alternate shall be the primary point of contact.

The manager shall provide a report to NCO 23 division chiefs and product line managers once a month detailing the work done by contract staff in support of each product line. The report shall cover (at a minimum) the following areas of work:

• Contract award documentation assistance

• Solicitation documentation assistance

• Assistance in evaluation of offers received

• Contract administration support

• Close outs

Qualifications: The Acquisition Support Manager shall have (at a minimum) a Bachelor’s Degree with at least 24 semester hours course work in business, law, economics, management, accounting, or business-related fields. The manager shall have at least four (4) years’ experience in relevant and related fields, with at least one (1) year of experience in supervising. No substitutions will be allowed for the education requirement.

6.2 HOURS OF OPERATION

On-site acquisition support services shall be provided by each contract employee for up to 40 hours per week during the core hours of operation which are Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, excluding Federal holidays. Contract employees are only able provide acquisition support services on-site when a Government employee is present. Contract employees are permitted to take up to 30 minutes for lunch each work day, however, this period is not reimbursable.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management Designated Federal Holiday’s:

New Year’s Day Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Washington’s Birthday Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day

6.3 BILLING

This is a firm fixed price, performance based, contract. The contractor agrees to bill only for the hours of performance on the contract. The contractor shall not be paid for candidates in the hiring or background check process, or for vacant positions.

6.3.1 Overtime

The contractor personnel may work overtime upon request to the CO/COR but only at the approval of the CO. Overtime hours shall be billed at 1.5 hours per overtime hour worked.

6.4 PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND PERFORMANCE

Contract employees must adhere to professional conduct standards that include appearance, professional courtesy, and punctuality. Should any contractor employees be determined to be unacceptable in terms of professional conduct during duty hours, the contractor shall immediately remove and replace the unacceptable on-site personnel at no additional costs to the Government.

The contractor shall not employ persons for work under this contract without assuring the personnel do not pose potential risk to health, safety, security, general wellbeing or operational mission of the facility and its employees. If a contract employee is identified to be a potential threat to the operational mission of the facility and its employees, the contractor shall immediately remove and replace the unacceptable on-site personnel at no additional costs to the Government.

Contract employees are expected to present a professional appearance always while in the performance of the contract. The dress code for NCO 23 is business casual, however when meeting with NCO 23 customers professional attire is appropriate.

6.5 EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

Acquisition specialist support contractor employees providing services under this contract must have a Bachelor’s Degree, at a minimum, and must have at least two (2) years of relevant and recent experience. Experience with VA systems (IFCAP/VISTA, Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS)), and policies is preferred. Substitution of experience for the degree is allowable so long as the specialist has twenty-four (24) semester hours of course work in business, law, economics, management, accounting, or business-related fields, and has at least two (2) additional years of experience.

Administrative/Procurement technician contractor employees providing services under this contract must have a High School diploma or GED, at a minimum. An AA/AS degree is preferable. Further, administrative/procurement technicians must have at least one (1) year of relevant and recent experience. Experience with VA systems (IFCAP/VISTA, Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS)), and policies is preferred.

6.6 ELECTRONIC MEDIA

All contract employees providing services under this contract shall be knowledgeable and proficient in the use of Microsoft Office basic tools and software: Word, Excel, and Outlook. In addition, it is preferred that contract employees be knowledgeable and proficient at using IFCAP/Vista and eCMS. It is mandatory that all contract employees be proficient with modern computing equipment.

7. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY AND SERVICES

The Government will provide the facilities, equipment, materials, and/or services that will be required by the contract employees in the performance of this contract. The VA retains ownership of all Government furnished facilities, equipment, materials, and/or services furnished under this contract.

8. SPECIFIC TASKS

All acquisition tasks associated with Pre-Award, Award and Post-Award are to be carried out in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) and all other federal acquisition policies or directives.

9. NON-DISCLOSURE AND DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

All Contractor personnel will have routine access to proprietary information, which they are required to protect. Personnel applied to the tasks in this statement of work may not work on other tasks for the Contractor or other agency without a formal written request and prior written consent. All Contract Personnel shall sign a statement of non-disclosure (Attachment A).

VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY

1. GENERAL

Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security.

2. ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS

A contractor/subcontractor shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order.

All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures.

The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor’s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination.

3. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE

Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1).

VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor’s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA’s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA’s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct onsite inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements.

The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed.

If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.

4. IF A VHA CONTRACT IS TERMINATED FOR CAUSE, THE ASSOCIATED BAA

MUST ALSO BE TERMINATED AND APPROPRIATE ACTIONS TAKEN IN

ACCORDANCE WITH VHA HANDBOOK 1600.01, BUSINESS ASSOCIATE

AGREEMENTS. ABSENT AN AGREEMENT TO USE OR DISCLOSE PROTECTED

HEALTH INFORMATION, THERE IS NO BUSINESS ASSOCIATE RELATIONSHIP.

SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

The term “security incident” means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access.

To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/subcontractor’s notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/subcontractor considers relevant.

With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement.

In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident.

5. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FOR DATA BREACH

Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. §5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract.

The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a “security incident” as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination.

Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following:

(1) Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access);

(2) Description of the event, including:

(a) date of occurrence;

(b) data elements involved, including any PII, such as full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, account number, disability code;

(3) Number of individuals affected or potentially affected;

(4) Names of individuals or groups affected or potentially affected;

(5) Ease of logical data access to the lost, stolen or improperly accessed data in light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text;

(6) Amount of time the data has been out of VA control;

(7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised (made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons);

(8) Known misuses of data containing sensitive personal information, if any;

(9) Assessment of the potential harm to the affected individuals;

(10) Data breach analysis as outlined in 6500.2 Handbook, Management of Security and Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and

(11) Whether credit protection services may assist record subjects in avoiding or mitigating the results of identity theft based on the sensitive personal information that may have been compromised.

Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $55 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

(1) Notification;

(2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;

(3) Data breach analysis;

(4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;

(5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible; and

(6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs.

6. TRAINING

1) All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete the following before being granted access to VA information and its systems:

2) Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the Contractor Rules of Behavior, Appendix E relating to access to VA information and information systems;

3) Successfully complete the VA Cyber Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior training and annually complete required security training;

4) Successfully complete the appropriate VA privacy training and annually complete required privacy training; and

5) Successfully complete any additional cyber security or privacy training, as required for VA personnel with equivalent information system access [to be defined by the VA program official and provided to the contracting officer for inclusion in the solicitation document – e.g., any role-based information security training required in accordance with NIST Special Publication 800-16, Information Technology Security Training Requirements.]

6) The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COR a copy of the training certificates and certification of signing the Contractor Rules of Behavior for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required.

7) Failure to complete the mandatory annual training and sign the Rules of Behavior annually, within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training and documents are complete.