Solicitation - Senior Program and Project Development Advisor.pdf

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72030624R00011

ISSUANCE DATE: August 16, 2024

CLOSING DATE/TIME: August 30, 2024 / 16:30 (ET)

SUBJECT: Solicitation for a U.S Personal Service Contractor (USPSC) – Senior Program and Project Development Advisor, GS-14

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking offers from qualified persons to provide personal services under contract as described in this solicitation.

Offers must be in accordance with Attachment 1 of this solicitation. Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all offer materials for their records.

USAID will evaluate all offerors based on the stated evaluation criteria. USAID encourages all individuals, including those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, to respond to the solicitation.

This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a PSC contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the offers.

Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in the Attached 1.

Sincerely, Julie Lamadrid Contracting Officer

U.S. Agency for International Development Great Massoud Road

Kabul, Afghanistan Tel: +1.301.490.1042

Email:

kblaiddocinformation@usaid.gov https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan

ATTACHMENT 1 72030624R00011

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 72030624R00011

2. ISSUANCE DATE: August 16, 2024

3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: August 30, 2024 no later than 16:30

(ET)

4. POINT OF CONTACT: Julie Lamadrid, e-mail at kblaidhr@usaid.gov

5. POSITION TITLE: Senior Program and Project Development Advisor

6. MARKET VALUE: $104,604 - $135,987 equivalent to GS-14 Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value and will include Locality pay for domestic USPSCs based on the location of the Official USAID Worksite, or the approved alternative worksite if approved for remote work. USPSCs performing overseas are not entitled to Locality Pay.

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Astana, Kazakhstan.

Overseas USPSCs may be authorized to telework or remote work only from a location within the country of performance, in accordance with Mission policy. Telework or remote work from outside the country of performance may only be authorized in certain situations in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract.

8. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 1 year estimated to start on/before January 2025.

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: United States Citizens.

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Secret Clearance.

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES

1) General Statement of Purpose of Contract:

The Senior Program Advisor serves as a senior member of the Office of Program and Project Development (OPPD) team, reporting directly to the Office Director or Deputy Office Director.

The incumbent may serve as Deputy Office Director in the event of a vacancy and backstops the Office Director or Deputy Office Director during their absences. The incumbent provides management, oversight, and technical guidance to the Program Office staff performing project design, budget management, outreach and communications (DOC), and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). The incumbent serves as the senior technical advisor and expert on program cycle functions for the Program Office, assisting the Office Director in ensuring the Program Office staff have the necessary knowledge, skills, tools, and systems to effectively support the Mission.

USAID/Afghanistan is rebuilding processes and activities following the evacuation of the country in August 2021. The Mission’s Strategic Framework was approved in April 2024, which provides a flexible framework for working in the evolving and challenging conditions in Afghanistan. The strategy focuses on four programmatic areas: Health, Education, Livelihoods, and Democracy/Rights. Without a presence in Afghanistan programs are run through implementing partners and their local partners in-country. This requires that the Program Office manage a robust MEL program to monitor the achievement of Mission goals and objectives for its activities in Afghanistan. The Mission also receives considerable scrutiny by Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), and the USAID Inspector General (OIG) so it is important that the Mission is accomplishing what it said it would and that programs and funds support the Afghan people but not the Taliban. The Senior Program Advisor will need to balance these requirements with the normal reporting and accountability provided by the Program Office to the Mission.

2) Statement of Duties to be Performed:

The incumbent will provide expert guidance and oversight across the broad range of Program Office tasks and responsibilities including programming, planning, budgeting, process improvements, and MEL. The incumbent may lead or be a key resource in coordinating and preparing standard activities such as the Operating Plan, Performance Plan and Report, Mission spend plan, budgeting actions, updates on the Performance Management Plan, outreach and messaging, and portfolio reviews. The incumbent directly supervises the Program Support Team responsible for developing the Mission’s strategy, activity design, MEL, data management/GIS system, environmental compliance, gender integration, donor coordination and audits and other assigned Agency initiatives that fall under the OPPD. The incumbent, in concert with Technical Offices, responds to Agency, Interagency, Congressional, SIGAR, OIG, or other queries. The incumbent liaises with the Desk, and various offices within the Asia Bureau, other support offices within the Mission, other donors, and with the Afghanistan Affairs Unit (AAU). S/he regularly advises Mission leadership on a range of policy and strategic issues related to his/her core responsibilities.

The incumbent provides support to the Office Director on policy and strategy recommendations, serves as a resource and mentor to the Mission on programming principles, updating Mission orders and policies, and improving Mission processes. S/he ensures the professional development of Program Office staff and recommends continuous learning opportunities for Mission staff. The incumbent edits a wide range of documents through the clearance process and prepares high-quality materials, including reports, memos, briefers, and presentations.

3) USAID Consultation or Orientation:

The selected applicant may be required to proceed to Washington, D.C. for mandatory training or consultation.

4) Supervisory Relationship:

The incumbent reports directly to the Office Director or Deputy Office Director. The Office Director or Deputy Office Director provides administrative direction in terms of broadly defined missions or functions and the incumbent is expected to independently plan, design and carry out projects, studies and programs.

5) Supervisory Controls:

The incumbent supervises the Program Support Team Lead, subject to any limitations imposed by USAID regulations related to hiring status. The incumbent may be required to supervise other staff pending the final outcome of the Mission staff plan.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

To be considered for the position, a candidate must meet the Minimum Qualifications. Offers will be pre-screened and only those that meet the Minimum Qualifications will be considered.

The minimum qualifications necessary to be considered for the position are as follows:

a) Education: A Master’s degree in sociology, business, economics, management, organizational studies, development studies, international studies, international affairs, political science, or related fields is required.

b) Work Experience: A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible and relevant work experience with USAID, an NGO, development agency, or international affairs institution.

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. The Contracting Officer (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.

The technical evaluation committee may conduct reference checks, including references from individuals who have not been specifically identified by the offeror, and may do so before or after a candidate is interviewed. Reference checks will be made only for applicants considered as finalists. The applicant’s references must be able to provide substantive information about his/her past performance and abilities.

After the closing date for receipt of applications, application(s) will be reviewed for basic eligibility (quality check, submitted all required documents, meeting the set requirements, education and experience). Successful Applications will be forwarded to the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) or the hiring office for review. The TEC will review and score the application based on the submitted evaluation factor responses. As part of the selection process, finalist candidates may be interviewed.

Applicants will be scored based on the documentation submitted within the application.

EVALUATION FACTORS

• Factor #1: Education (10 points)

• Factor #2: Technical and Professional Experience (20 points)

• Factor #3: Skills and Abilities The incumbent must have the ability to establish rapport and maintain contacts in the technical and support offices of the USAID/Afghanistan Mission, NGOs, country donors, the interagency, and Washington stakeholders. The ability to explain USAID project and activity design and MEL guidance, its policies, practices, analytical and documentation requirements to officials within USAID and its stakeholders outside is important. The ability to perform any of the mandatory analysis and formulate non-technical aspects/sectors of a design document; the skill to organize and present aspects of a project and activity design into appropriate written and/or oral formats is needed. The ability to design evaluation and assessment statements of work, advise on monitoring and evaluation of activities, including selecting indicators and MEL methodology, is required. Good verbal presentation skills, good writing capability, ability to concisely synthesize complex concepts into understandable terms, ability to advocate for USAID interests with AAU, State or other Agency and Interagency actors, or partners and donors. The incumbent must have proficiency in using MS Office Suite (e.g. MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). The incumbent must have strong managerial experience and provide leadership and support to his/her direct reports. The incumbent must be able to plan and carry out assignments with a high degree of independence and accuracy. (20 points)

The Evaluation Factors listed will be the basis for evaluating and ranking applicants for the position. Only the highest-ranked applicants may be interviewed.

BASIS OF RATING

Applicants who clearly meet the Education/Experience requirements and basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on scoring of their Evaluation Factors. Those applicants determined to be competitively ranked may also be evaluated on their interview performance and satisfactory professional reference checks. The Applicant Rating System is as follows:

Evaluation Factors: 50 points

Factor #1: 10 points Factor #2: 20 points Factor #3: 20 points

Interview Performance: 50 points (If the TEC or hiring office decides to interview as part of the selection process, the interview points will form half of the total scores for hiring)

Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks – Pass/Fail (no points assigned)

Total Possible Points: 100 points

IV. SUBMITTING AN OFFER

1. Eligible Offerors are required to complete and submit the offer form AID 309-2, “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contract with Individuals,” available at:

https://www.usaid.gov/forms/aid-309-2

2. Offerors must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted to Afgpscjobs@usaid.gov

3. Offeror submissions must clearly reference the Solicitation number and position title in the subject line of the email as follows:

72030624R00011 – Senior Program and Project Development Advisor, GS-14

4. Eligible offerors are required to submit the following documents to be considered for this position:

a. Cover Letter

b. A current curriculum vitae (CV) or resume

c. Supplemental document containing responses to the evaluation factors d. AID 309-2 “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contract with Individuals”

V. LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS PRIOR TO AWARD

The CO will provide instructions about how to complete and submit the following forms after an offeror is selected for the contract award:

1. Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet (AID 1420-17 );

2. Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306);

3. Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions for National Security (SF-86), or Questionnaire for

Non-Sensitive Positions (SF-85);

4. Fingerprint Card (FD-258);

5. Statement of Prior Service (SF-144A).

VI. BENEFITS AND ALLOWANCES

As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a PSC is normally authorized the following benefits and allowances:

1. BENEFITS:

a) Employer’s Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) Contribution (for USPSC’s only)

b) Contribution toward Health & life insurance

c) Pay Comparability Adjustment

d) Annual Increase (pending a satisfactory performance evaluation)

e) Eligibility for Worker's Compensation

f) Leave and holidays

2. ALLOWANCES:

Section numbers refer to rules from the Department of State Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas), available at https://aoprals.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=282&amp%3Bmenu_id=101

VII.TAXES

USPSC’s are required to pay Federal income taxes, FICA, Medicare and applicable State income taxes.

VIII. USAID REGULATIONS, POLICIES AND CONTRACT CLAUSES PERTAINING TO PSCs

USAID regulations and policies governing USPSC awards are available at these sources:

1. USAID Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR), Appendix D, “Direct USAID Contracts With a U.S Citizen or a U.S. Resident Alien for Personal Services Abroad,” including contract clause “General Provisions,” available at https://www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/300/aidar

2. Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at https://www.usaid.gov/forms. Pricing by line item is to be determined upon contract award as described below:

LINE ITEMS

ITEM NO

(A)

SUPPLIES/SERVICES

(DESCRIPTION) (B)

QUANTITY

(C)

UNIT

(D)

UNIT

PRICE

(E)

AMOUNT

(F)

0001 Base Period - Compensation, Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) – Award Type: Cost

– Product Service Code: R497

- Accounting Info:

Appropriation: 7214/151037 Fund Code: es-oco/2014/2015

1 LOT $ TBD $ TBD at award after negotiations with contractor

3. Acquisition & Assistance Policy Directives/Contract Information Bulletins (AAPDs/CIBs) for

Personal Services Contracts with Individuals available at http://www.usaid.gov/work usaid/aapds-cibs

- AAPD 22-02

- AAPD 21-05

- AAPD 18-02

- AAPD 10-01

- AAPD 06-10

4. Ethical Conduct. By the acceptance of a USAID personal services contract as an individual, the contractor will be acknowledging receipt of the “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” available from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, in accordance with General Provision 2 and 5 CFR 2635. See https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/OGE%20Regulations.

5. PSC Ombudsman The PSC Ombudsman serves as a resource for any Personal Services Contractor who has entered into a contract with the United States Agency for International Development and is available to provide clarity on their specific contract with the Agency. Please visit our page for additional information: https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/personal-service-contracts ombudsman.

The PSC Ombudsman may be contacted via: PSCOmbudsman@usaid.gov.