RFI__GSA_AWARD_FOR_PROGRAM_ASST_final.pdf

Notification of Sources Sought and Request for Information

RFI No: 7200AA20Q00003 Agency: US Agency for International Development (USAID) Requiring Office: Bureau for Food Security (BFS) Project Title: Program Assistant Activity Estimated Period of Performance: Five years Location: Worldwide Notice Type: Sources Sought Notification/Request for Information Set-aside: Small Business Set-aside Posted Date: October 31, 2019 Response Due Date: November 14, 2019 at 10:00 AM Washington, DC Time

Purpose of the Notice and Overview of the Requirement:

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is contemplating an activity as described within the document. The purpose of this notice is to solicit information from industry and determine what types of firms/organizations are capable of doing the work described herein.

USAID is posting this Request for Information (RFI) on www.fbo.gov and eBuy, however the agency plans to issue a Request for Quotation (RFQ) from Professional Services Schedule holders only or a Best in Class contract vehicle through Category Management. USAID is seeking responses from U.S. Small Businesses only, as this will be a total small business set-aside.

This is not an invitation for bid, request for proposal or other solicitation; and in no way obligates USAID to award a contract. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party's expense. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked PROPRIETARY will be handled accordingly. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations. Proprietary information or trade secrets should be clearly identified. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. The RFI may be used to limit the pool of companies that receive the RFQ, based on responses and the number of qualified organizations, if the Agency thinks it will satisfy competition requirements.

Background:

The USAID Bureau for Food Security (BFS) leads the Agency’s resilience and food security efforts and the coordination and implementation of the U.S. Government Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative to combat global hunger, poverty, and malnutrition. With an annual initiative budget of roughly $1 billion, BFS has overall responsibility for strategic planning, funding, design, implementation, oversight, and evaluation of all programs and projects that contribute to the GFSS.

For more information: https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/increasing-food-security-through-feed-future.

Objectives:

Provide assistance to the Bureau for Food Security to stand up the Country Support Teams (CSTs), the Bureau’s new field support model and to provide programmatic and administrative support to each of the four Transition Teams that cover the Bureau’s core technical areas called Centers, as well as to the transition teams for other Bureau functions such as Policy and Analysis.

The four new Centers will be 1) The Center for Agriculture-led Growth, 2) The Center for Nutrition, 3) The Center for Water, and 4) The Center for Resilience.

Activity Synopsis:

The purpose of this activity is for the contractor to provide staffing assistance to the Bureau for Food Security in the three areas listed below. It is envisioned that entry level through junior level of Program Assistants (GS 9-11equivalent) would be sourced through this activity.

1. Research, Informational Content Generation, and Knowledge Management

2. Basic Project Management

3. Administration

Research, Informational Content Generation, and Knowledge Management.

Under the direct supervision of their Division Chief or Office Director, and under the guidance of Division Chiefs, Country Support Officers (CSOs), and Transition Team Leads, Program Assistants will provide a crucial service to coordinate and manage the increased information flow that will be necessary to support the standing up of four future Centers, three Support Offices, and a robust new field support model. They will lessen the administrative management burden on Transition Team leads, CSOs and Country Support Team (CST) co-chairs. The Program Assistants would be assigned geographic and/or technical areas of responsibility, and work closely with their teams on assignments. Functions would include:

a. Research, coordination and production of various information products, including fact sheets, strategic country narratives, and other spreadsheets, situational updates, briefers, briefing books

b. Meeting notes / summaries of conclusions

c. Management of online knowledge management portals

d. Coordinate with other Program Assistants to link Office/Transition Team resources together

e. Information dissemination within and across CSTs, Transition Teams, and

Leadership councils

f. Assist in the production of success stories, strategic narratives, and other public documents.

Basic Project Management.

Under the guidance of Division Chiefs, Country Support Officers (CSOs), and/or Transition Team Leads, as assigned, Program Assistants will provide basic project management assistance.

Specific tasks will include:

g. Documentation of project activities, milestones, challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned

Administration.

Under the guidance of Division Chiefs, Country Support Officers (CSOs), and Transition Team Leads, as assigned, Program Assistants will provide basic administration of routine work done by the CSTs and Transition Teams. Specific tasks will include:

h. Setting up of meetings/calls such as by sending out invitations, following up with participants, and working with the Administrative staff to book lines and rooms.

i. Sending out routine requests for information, meeting/call readouts, and updates.

j. Tracking and following clearances for bureau documentation and ensuring that such formal documentation is of a high quality nature.

Submission Information:

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Interested parties must address the information requested below and must prepare their submission in English. All submissions shall be submitted by the closing date and time noted on page 1 of this notice. Submission via email is required; no hard copy delivery will be accepted. E-mail submissions must be sent to Mr. Matthew Case, at mcase@usaid.gov and Mr. Paul Burford, at pburford@usaid.gov.

All submissions must include Section I “Cover Page”, Section II “Comments/Questions” and Section III “Capability Statements” (applicable to U.S. Small Businesses only). Submissions shall use only 8.5-inch by 11-inch paper, single-spaced pages for all narrative documents and each page numbered consecutively. Interested parties must use Times New Roman font 11 or a similar size typeset and should be provided in MS Word or PDF format.

I. Cover Page with Business Information (1 page)

● Organization/firm: name, address, contact information.

● Point of Contact(s): name, title, phone number, address, e-mail address.

● Statement of self-certification of business size

● Socio-economic status of the Organization/firm.

● Organization/firm’s DUNS number and certification that organization/firm is registered in the System for Award Management

(SAM).

● Federal Supply Schedules (GSA, etc) or Government-wide Acquisition Contracts, including Best in Class vehicles through Category Management.

II. Comments/Questions (1 Page Limit)

Comments and Questions not to exceed one page (1) will be accepted from all interested parties. This is not a formal solicitation Q&A period; therefore the government will not be providing responses. All comments and questions will merely serve to inform the government on current market trends and further refine the Statement of Objectives or Statement of Work.

Comments may include but are not limited to feedback on the Activity Synopsis, recommendations on contract type, NAICS code designation, other market considerations, etc

In order to maximize potential, USAID is seeking to receive feedback on the project approach, including opportunities and potential pitfalls, and individual or institutional perspectives on programs, policies, research, data, activities, and/or development approaches that might be useful for the project design, including past successes and failures, opportunities to leverage existing efforts and resources, and gaps that need to be addressed. Please ensure that comments are concise and specific to the information within this RFI.

In addition to comments on the Activity Synopsis, USAID is also seeking input from the development community and industry on the following items:

a. What are the best ways to ensure a diverse candidate pool?

b. Is it reasonable to seek to employ entry through junior level programmatic assistants for these tasks listed under the Activity Synopsis?

c. How can we ensure that candidates are qualified for the proposed work?

d. What skills sets and educational backgrounds are most useful for this type of work?

e. Is it reasonable to set required minimum interview questions for the program assistants?

f. How can we ensure that a diverse pool of candidates apply for the proposed work?

III. “Capability Statements” (1 page Limit)

Small Businesses having the skills and capabilities necessary to perform this work should submit a response of no more than one (1) page in length. This page limitation includes any attachments.

The Government will not review any information, including attachments, in excess of the one (1) page, unless otherwise stated in this section. Small Businesses should provide clear and unambiguous evidence to substantiate their capability to fulfill any or all of the areas of work sought. Please describe the firm’s in-house experience addressing the activities described in this RFI. If interested firms are only able to perform some or one of the posted activities they should indicate that in their response to this Notice and describe the areas of expertise for which they are capable of performing.

[End of RFI Notice]