Attachment 7 - SEATS Task Order - Statement of Work v2.doc

Statement of Work I. Project Title: Task Order #1 Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Science and Engineering Analytical and Technical Support (SEATS) II. COR: Vivica Brooks, Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering; 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314. Telephone: 703-292-7105 and e-mail: VBROOKS@nsf.gov III. Period of Performance: The period of performance shall be one base year (twelve months) from the date of award and four additional option years.

IV. Background or Overview: This statement of work is for the first CISE task order of the SEATS contract, CISE is requesting 1 contractor for OAC, 1 contractor for CCF, 2 contractors for CNS, and 1 contractor for IIS.

CISE Background The mission of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is to enable the U.S. to uphold its leadership in computing, communications, and information science and engineering; promote understanding of the principles and uses of advanced computing, communications, and information systems in service to society; support advanced cyberinfrastructure that enables and accelerates discovery and innovation across all science and engineering disciplines; and contribute to universal, transparent, and affordable participation in an information-based society.

To achieve this mission, CISE supports investigator-initiated research and education in all areas of computer and information science and engineering, fosters broad interdisciplinary collaboration, helps develop and maintain cutting-edge national cyberinfrastructure for research and education, and contributes to the development of a computer and information technology workforce with skills necessary for success in the increasingly competitive global market.

In addition to an Office of the Assistant Director, CISE comprises four other units: the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC), the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), the Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS), and the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS). Each unit manages a portfolio of programs that issue solicitations and announcements, receive proposals, conduct a merit review process, and award and manage grants and cooperative agreements. While individual program directors may be designated as the point of contact for specific sub-disciplines, collaboration takes place within each program, across each unit, between units, and with other directorates, agencies, and organizations.

III. Scope of Work:

The following section outlines the contract support for CISE. The tasks delineated below are non-inherent governmental work currently being performed by program officers and communications and outreach and additional non-inherently governmental work that could be delegated to a support contractor. In particular, the contracting support will augment the CISE workforce to reflect our workload and associated needs.

The contractors will assist CISE program officers in reviewer identification and recruitment, scientific support on merit review panels, post-award management, program portfolio analysis, and community outreach. Importantly, the contractors will not replace the roles of a program officer or any of the existing administrative staff. The overall areas of work the contractors could perform are:

Work Area 1‐ Program Planning:

· Assist in the preparation, staffing, and clearing of program solicitations and management plans.

· Assist in developing communication materials/slides for public presentations by Program Officers.

· Assist Program Officers with coordination and logistics planning for workshops and other community and interagency coordination and planning activities.

Work Area 2 ‐ Review Management:

· Provide support to Program Officers through the maintenance and distribution of process documents, templates, timelines, etc., to maintain accountability for award and decline processing.

· Aid in binning proposals into panels utilizing available tools.

· Coordinate panel scheduling among Program Officers in various divisions or within a working group.

· Provide support in panelist recruiting; aid Program Officers in finding new reviewers through the use of multiple methods, including the administration of reviewer surveys, curating resulting data, and coordinating the use of those resources.

· Provide initial vetting of panel and individual reviews and initial drafts of public project abstracts and review analyses; identify and report on problematic or insufficient comments to Program Officers for their action.

· Act as the primary scheduling Point of Contact for setting up site visits/reverse site visits in the review process, as well as production and posting of correspondence, minutes, team presentations, and review products as applicable.

· Capture and provide meeting minutes for panel meetings, workshops, site visits, and program working group meetings.

· Help with future panel development through the analysis of reviews for reviewer quality and quality of reviews, panelist surveys, etc.

Work Area 3 ‐ Program Management:

· Assist Program Officers in non-decisional aspects of program management.

· Assist in the coordination of working group activities and meetings

· Through correspondence, scheduling, agenda development and, note- taking, etc.

· Maintain program calendars, milestones, and shared document libraries.

· Coordinate and follow through on partner requirements, interagency agreements, funds transfers, etc.

· Develop slides for public presentations about NSF programs

· Monitor project web pages and annual/final reports for accomplishments/outcomes that could be highlighted to the NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs and CISE outreach staff.

· Perform data analytics (e.g., look at geographic/gender/ethnic diversity of panelists and Principal Investigators) as required.

· Assist in developing and organizing NSF workshops and Principal Investigator meetings – inparticular, ensuring required deliverables for meetings, contacting PIs, organizing special sessions, etc.

Work Area 4 ‐ Award Management:

· Support the development of cooperative agreement terms and conditions through coordination with cognizant Program Officers and administrative staff. Coordinate with identified stakeholders to support issue identification and resolution.

· Follow-up and coordinate with CISE partners (external to NSF) for transfer and commit funds to new and existing awards (e.g., Interagency Agreements).

· Perform analyses of funded projects by technology area and application domain in response to questions from senior leadership.

· Assist in drafting presentations that summarize the program including extracting information from award databases using search tools and help build program highlight briefings.

Work Area 5 ‐ Post‐Award Oversight:

· Assist with the receipt and review of quarterly/annual project reports, including performing a preliminary review of annual/final reports to highlight issues for further consideration (e.g., does the report describe different results from the prior year, do published papers acknowledge NSF, is the PI team making spending progress) and scheduling calls with PIs, if needed, after consultation with the cognizant Program Officer.

· Monitor/follow-up on fulfillment of any partner sharing arrangements (e.g., distribution of reports to partners, inclusion in calls/meetings/visits, etc.).

· Review the financial expenditures of the project for compliance and alignment with project plans.

· Coordinate with the cognizant Program Officer to issue communications with awardee teams for matters of reporting and oversight. Coordinate the scheduling and conduct of oversight site visits/reverse site visits.

Specifically for this task order CISE requires:

OAC Contractor (1)- Will perform duties mostly in Work Area #1, #2 and #3. Some duties this contractor will be responsible to complete are as follows:

· Manage Advisory Committee for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure to include scheduling meetings, preparing meeting minutes, maintaining committee member information, maintaining and updating committee external SharePoint site.

· Manage OAC Monthly Newsletter.

· Manage OAC participants for the CISE Distinguished lecturer series.

· Assist OAC with preparing briefing packages, including visual presentations and newsletters, and assembling background materials to include any highlights from OAC projects. Send out presentations to appropriate audiences after meetings.

Many of the tasks are routine. However, often, there could be unique assignments. The expectation is that the individual will be able to perform the assigned duties above with little guidance and close coordination from OAC Office Director, OAC Office Deputy Director, OAC Business Operations Manager. Currently, the onsite requirement for this position is three times per year for a total of six days. This position would need to be onsite to support two Advisory Committee meetings two days per meeting and one OAC retreat for two days.

This position requires project management experience with proven business acumen in managing complex projects and experience in communications. Equivalent experience and/or certifications in project management or communications are acceptable in leu of a master’s degree in science, engineering or mathematics.

b. CNS Contractor (2): Will perform duties in Work Areas #1, # 2, #3, #4. Some duties this contractor will be responsible to complete are:

· Supporting program directors with data retrieval and analysis

· Scientific writing, and presentation preparation for panels, site visits, and principal investigator meetings.

Many of the tasks are routine. However, often, there could be unique assignments. The expectation is that the individual will be able to perform the assigned duties above with little guidance and close coordination from CNS Program Directors. The work performed under this Contract shall be accomplished at the contractor site, telework, and/or the National Science Foundation, Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.

This position requires a Science background: a Master’s degree in CISE‐ supported fields (Computer or Information Science, Engineering or Mathematics)– background to understand the funded research. Experience in managing research projects and teams. Familiarity with research, project and program management. Project management with proven business acumen in managing complex projects and budgets. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal and be highly proficient with Microsoft Office specifically Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. The contractor should also be proficient with calendar and schedule management using Outlook; Zoom, OneDrive and Microsoft Teams, Box and Slack; and should be familiar with Microsoft SharePoint and/or other online collaboration tools; must be able to automate and innovate.

c. CCF Contractor (1): Will perform duties in Work Areas #1, and #2. Some duties this contractor will be responsible to complete are:

· Assist program staff in the aspects of the management of the program that include but are not limited to:

1. Assist in preparation, staffing, and clearing of program solicitations and management plans.

2. Assist in developing communication materials/slides for public presentations by Program Officers.

3. Coordination and logistics planning for workshops and other community and interagency coordination and planning activities.

4. Provide support to Program Officers through the maintenance and distribution of process documents, templates, timelines, etc., to maintain accountability for award and decline processing.

5. Aid in binning proposals into panels utilizing available tools.

6. Provide support in panelist recruiting; aid Program Officers in finding new reviewers through the use of multiple methods, including the administration of reviewer surveys, curating resulting data, and coordinating the use of those resources.

Many of the tasks are routine. However, often, there could be unique assignments. The expectation is that the individual will be able to perform the assigned duties above with little guidance and close coordination from CCF Program Directors. The work performed under this Contract shall be accomplished at the National Science Foundation, Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.

This position requires a science background: a Master’s degree in CISE‐ supported fields (Computer or Information Science, Engineering or Mathematics)– background to understand the funded research. Experience in managing research projects and teams. Familiarity with research, project and program management. Project management with proven business acumen in managing complex projects and budgets. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal and be highly proficient with Microsoft Office specifically Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. The contractor should also be proficient with calendar and schedule management using Outlook; Zoom, OneDrive and Microsoft Teams, Box and Slack; and should be familiar with Microsoft SharePoint and/or other online collaboration tools; must be able to automate and innovate.

d. IIS Contractor (1): Will perform duties in Work Areas #1, and #2. Some duties this contractor will be responsible to complete are:

· Assist program staff in the aspects of the management of the program that include but are not limited to:

1. Assist in preparation, staffing, and clearing of program solicitations and management plans.

2. Assist in developing communication materials/slides for public presentations by Program Officers.

3. Coordination and logistics planning for workshops and other community and interagency coordination and planning activities.

4. Provide support to Program Officers through the maintenance and distribution of process documents, templates, timelines, etc., to maintain accountability for award and decline processing.

5. Aid in binning proposals into panels utilizing available tools.

6. Provide support in panelist recruiting; aid Program Officers in finding new reviewers through the use of multiple methods, including the administration of reviewer surveys, curating resulting data, and coordinating the use of those resources.

Many of the tasks are routine. However, often, there could be unique assignments. The expectation is that the individual will be able to perform the assigned duties above with little guidance and close coordination from IIS Program Directors. The work performed under this Contract shall be accomplished at the National Science Foundation, Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.

This position requires a Science background: a Master’s degree in CISE‐ supported fields (Computer or Information Science, Engineering or Mathematics)– background to understand the funded research. Experience in managing research projects and teams. Familiarity with research, project and program management. Project management with proven business acumen in managing complex projects and budgets. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal and be highly proficient with Microsoft Office specifically Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. The contractor should also be proficient with calendar and schedule management using Outlook; Zoom, OneDrive and Microsoft Teams, Box and Slack; and should be familiar with Microsoft SharePoint and/or other online collaboration tools; must be able to automate and innovate.

IV. Place of Performance: The work will be performed at the National Science Foundation (NSF) headquarters unless specifically stated in section III within the requested contractor duties. Opportunities for conducting the work virtually are available but members will need to report on site as directed for events and/or other activities. Virtual work could change to fully onsite work depending on guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and/or the NSF Office of the Director.

V. Agency Staff, Roles, and Responsibilities: CISE staff will continue to be responsible for the scientific assessment of program directions, the creation of new programs, award recommendations, and financial/scientific oversight of awards.

VI. Reporting Requirements: The Contractor shall meet with the CISE technical lead and contracting officer representative staff regularly to understand CISE requirements, processes, and systems. The Contractor shall participate in weekly review meetings and be prepared to present and discuss the following:

a. Activities planned for the week;

b. Work and deliverables completed during the period;

c. Status of ongoing activities;

d. Activities planned for the following period;

e. Problems or issues projected or identified;

f. Alternatives and/or recommended solution(s) for identified or projected problems or issues;

In addition, the Contractor shall provide a monthly report that captures deliverables completed within the month and upcoming tasks for the next month.

Furthermore, contractors assigned within this task order shall be accessible Monday through Friday during NSF business hours. Depending on program need and availability of funds, contractors will be available to travel to no more than three major workshops per year.

VII. Government Furnished Property (GFP): A space will be assigned in a manner consistent with NSF space management guidelines. Standard staff computing equipment will also be provided and inventoried once assigned.

VIII. Key Personnel: All five positions in this task order are key personnel and considered to be essential to the work being performed on this task order.

IX. Schedule and Milestones:

· NSF Onboarding – week one.

· Structured training on NSF systems and general processes – week one/two.

· Structured training on processes and practices – week one/two.

X. Deliverables: Describe in detail what deliverables the Contractor will produce under the project and the due date(s). Please see the example below:

Kick‐off meeting

Within ten (10) business days of task order award

Deliverables as requested

Within the time frames specified