Solicitation.docx

ATTACHMENT 1 720-612-18-R-00011

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720-612-18-R-00011

ISSUANCE DATE: September 27, 2018 CLOSING DATE/TIME: October 16, 2018, 5pm Lilongwe Time

SUBJECT: Solicitation for a U.S or Third Country National Personal Service Contractor for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist, GS-12 equivalent US AID/Malawi

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, Sections I through V of this solicitation. All application packages are to be submitted via email to: malawijobs@usaid.gov. Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all offer materials for their records.

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 offer.

Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in the attached information.

Sincerely, Janine Scott Supervisory Executive Officer

Solicitation for a Personal Service Contractor (PSC) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist, GS-12 equivalent

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 720-612-18-R-00005

2. ISSUANCE DATE: September 27, 2018

3. CLOSING DATE/TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: October 16, 2018 no later than 1700 Hrs Lilongwe Time.

4. POSITION TITLE: Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist

5. MARKET VALUE: $63,600 to $82,680 per annum (GS-12 equivalent). Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.

6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The Personal Services Contract will be for an initial two (2) year period, with three (3) one-year option years. Option years may be exercised based upon satisfactory Contractor performance, mutual agreement between the Contractor and USG, continued Mission requirements and the continued availability of funds. Tentative start date is o/a January, 2019.

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Lilongwe, Malawi; with possible travel as stated in the Statement of Duties.

8. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: USPSCs - Secret; TCNPSCs - Employment Authorization

9. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Hiring preference - Reference: ADS 309.3.3

U.S. Nationals

Third Country Nationals

U.S. citizen or permanent resident/registered alien (“green card holder”); offerors will be evaluated in isolation first, and only when there is no USN and US Legal resident alien qualified and "responsible" (including SAM and OFAC verifications), can the CO give the technical evaluation committee (TEC) any TCN offers for review.

10. STATEMENT OF DUTIES

Background

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) is the largest provider of food assistance in the world. FFP works together with others to reduce hunger and malnutrition and assure that adequate, safe and nutritious food is available, accessible to and well-utilized by all individuals at all times to support a healthy and productive life. Each year on average FFP provides more than $2 billion of food assistance, reaching 45-55 million beneficiaries in approximately 50 countries.

Food for Peace works in both emergency and development contexts, with emergency and recovery activities comprising 80 percent of total spending. Through its emergency activities, FFP strives to provide food assistance to save lives, reduce suffering and support the early recovery of populations affected by both conflict and natural disasters.

FFP also recognizes that repeatedly responding to emergencies is not sufficient to end hunger and increase food security. FFP development activities help chronically food insecure populations reduce their long-term need for food assistance by strengthening the capacity of developing societies to ensure access to food for their most vulnerable communities and individuals, especially women and children. FFP also helps individuals and communities better withstand future shocks through resilience-building activities.

Food for Peace works closely with many other parts of USAID, especially the Bureau for Food Security, which plays a key role in implementing the President’s Feed the Future initiative, and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, which leads on disaster response around the world. Food for Peace employs a staff of over 100 in Washington and also has officers posted abroad.

More Information on FFP is available at: http://www.usaid.gov/food-assistance

USAID manages a regional mission for Southern Africa, based in Pretoria, South Africa. The incumbent would be part of the regional FFP Southern Africa (FFP/SA) team. S/he would report to either the Office Director or Deputy Director in South Africa, but be based in Lilongwe, Malawi. The FFP/SA team has five current members: Office Director, Deputy Director, Program Management Specialist (Supply Chain and Logistics), M&E Specialist, and Administrative Assistant (shared with USAID’s regional Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance). Together they provide daily management and support to eleven countries in the region. At the moment, three countries (Zimbabwe, Malawi and Madagascar) have in-country bilateral FFP teams to oversee FFP development and emergency programs more directly. FFP/SA provides support to these “presence” countries for M&E, needs assessments, commodities, strategic planning and budgeting, as well as donor and implementer relations. In addition, FFP/SA directly handles any emergency or development programs for FFP in the remaining countries (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Lesotho, eSwatini, Zambia and Mozambique).

Introduction

As a member of the M&E team, the successful candidate will be responsible to provide M&E technical support to Southern Africa and other regions on an ad hoc basis as determined by the global FFP M&E team. The primary purpose of the technical support is to enhance and strengthen FFP and its awardees technical capacity to monitor and evaluate the performance of development and emergency food security programs, working closely with Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) and Public International Organizations (PIOs). The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist will support the effective management of FFP resources by providing technical assistance and training to ensure effective development and implementation of monitoring systems for food security programs. The incumbent will take direction from the FFP M&E Team Lead and be assigned to the Regional FFP Office for Southern Africa, based in Pretoria, South Africa. The position, while regional, will be based at the USAID Mission in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Duties and Responsibilities

The work of the M&E Specialist requires teamwork and personal responsibility. The incumbent must have demonstrated initiative and ability to manage competing work priorities and work independently when required. The incumbent must be able to coordinate with a range of technical experts, management and program staff, and liaise with other agency members.

Under the direct supervision of the Team Leader or his/her designee, the M&E Specialist will perform the following duties:

· Provide technical assistance to design and implement monitoring systems; review M&E plans and provide constructive feedback for improvements; assist FFP and Mission staff to review monitoring and evaluation portions of planning and reporting documents, and project proposals;

· Participate and co-facilitate M&E workshops for the new awardees in countries; provide technical assistance to further refine theories of change, logic model, and indicators; review M&E documents, and survey and evaluation Scope of Work (SoWs);

· Participate in the baseline and final evaluation survey design, workshop, in country training, and monitor contractor’s field work; review instruments, manuals, data tables, and draft reports;

· Assess technical capacity of the implementing partners’ and FFP M&E staff and arrange/provide appropriate training for them;

· Update guidance and regulations for monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of FFP-funded programs, in coordination with the FFP M&E team members based in the region as well as in Washington, DC;

· Review development and emergency projects’ quarterly and annual reports and associated processes, identify challenges and lessons learned, and share them within and across FFP;

· Further analyze baseline and end-line survey and annual monitoring data to improve FFP’s knowledge and understanding about the pathways to achieve food and nutritional security outcomes, contribute to FFP learning agenda and reporting needs, tracking FFP strategic results framework; and using innovative approaches/ strategies to improve data utilization for decision making;

· Periodically participate in evaluations, technical review and/ or assessments;

· Develop checklists and other tools for FFP Officers in the field to improve objectivity in field visits;

· Improve and standardize FFP development and emergency project quarterly and annual reporting and associated processes, in consultation with implementing partners, field staff, contractors, and consultants;

· Liaise with key USAID partners, including Global Health, and the Bureau of Food Security, on food and nutrition security-related indicators, ensuring complementarity between FFP and BFS indicators and that FFP results are captured in the Feed the Future (FTF) monitoring system to the extent possible;

· Coordinate with the other members of the M&E team, markets team, learning team; geo regional teams, training team, communication team, FFP technical team, the Technical and Operations Performance Support (TOPS) program, the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA III), the Humanitarian Assistance Support Contract (HASC), and Evelyn staff for technical support, training, data utilization, knowledge capture and knowledge sharing;

· Advise FFP Officers in USAID Missions on M&E- related policies, procedures, and guidance to improve effectiveness of FFP programming; and

· As needed, serve on short-term assignments with other USAID offices or bureaus in direct support of FFP programs. These placements shall not exceed three months.

Supervisory Controls

The incumbent will be a member of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team and takes direction from the FFP regional Office Director. The supervisor sets the overall objectives, but the employee is responsible for planning and carrying out assignments. The incumbent develops deadlines for activities and others specialized tasks and is responsible for planning and carrying out assignments, resolving most conflicts that arise, and coordinating the work with others as necessary. The supervisor reviews completed work from an overall standpoint of feasibility, compatibility with other work, or effectiveness in meeting requirements.

The incumbent has greater latitude to carry out assignments, while still consulting with the M&E Team in Washington, DC and his/her supervisor in South Africa. The incumbent keeps his/her supervisor informed of progress in the achievement of objectives and advised of potentially controversial matters. The supervisor will evaluate work for technical soundness and effectiveness in meeting work objectives. The incumbent will not supervise personnel but is expected to mentor staff on the M&E Team

11. AREA OF CONSIDERATION:

For USPSC:

· Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident/registered alien (“green card holder”);

· Submit a complete application as outlined in the solicitation section titled

APPLYING;

· Be able to attain a Secret security clearance;

· Be able to obtain a Department of State medical clearance;

· Be willing to travel to work sites and other offices as/when requested;

For TCNPSC:

· Be a Third Country National Personnel Service Contractor (TCNPSC). “Third Country National” shall mean an individual (i) who is neither a citizen of the United States nor of the country to which assigned for duty, and (ii) who is eligible for return travel to the TCN’s home country or country from which recruited at U.S. Government expenses, and (iii) who is on a limited assignment for a specific period of time.

· Submit a complete application as outlined in the section titled APPLYING;

· Be able to attain employment authorization;

· Be able to obtain a Department of State medical clearance;

· Be willing to travel to work sites and other offices as/when requested;

· If a third country national (TCN) PSC is selected for award, during the period of this contract, the TCN contractor must provide at least two years of training to a cooperating country national (CCN) designated by USAID. The PSC Supervisor will establish a training plan with benchmarks to measure the contractor's progress toward achieving this training deliverable.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The primary location of work will be in Lilongwe, Malawi. The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

13. POINT OF CONTACT:

Any questions about this solicitation may be directed to: Catherine Masi, Human Resources Assistant cmasi@usaid.gov. All application packages are to be submitted via email to: malawijobs@usaid.gov

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

In order to be considered for the position, a candidate must meet the Minimum Qualifications. Applications will be pre-screened and only those that meet the Minimum Qualifications will be considered. These are the minimum qualifications necessary to be considered for the position:

Education (20 points): A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. or internationally recognized institution. with at least six (6) years of professional experience in the field of monitoring and evaluation with a focus on humanitarian assistance and/or international development, of which three (3) years must be related to food security.

Experience (40 points): Six (6) years of professional experience in the field of monitoring and evaluation with a focus on humanitarian assistance and/or international development, of which three (3) years must be related to food security.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (40 points): Demonstrated professional experience in monitoring or providing oversight of foreign assistance and/or U.S. international food security programs;

Demonstrated experience in providing technical guidance and advice to others on issues related to foreign assistance, and/or international food security programs;

Demonstrated skills in qualitative or quantitative data collection and analysis of food security or economic growth data from U.S. international food security programs;

Demonstrated skills in designing and training on Monitoring and Evaluation topics; and Demonstrated experience in survey and evaluation methodology commonly used in development and humanitarian projects.

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

After an initial application screening, the best qualified applicants may be invited for a written examination and to an oral interview.

Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs):

1. Education – 20 Points

2. Professional Experience – 40 Points

3. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities – 40 Points

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS: 100 points

The successful candidate will be selected based on a review of his/her qualifications, work experience, skills, and abilities; an interview; and the results of reference checks. The hiring panel may check references that have not been specifically identified by applicants and may check references before or after a candidate is interviewed.

NOTE: Due to the high volume of applications received, we will only contact applicants who are being considered. Thank you for your understanding.

IV APPLYING

For an offeror to be considered for this position, s/he must adhere to the following guidelines and complete, sign and submit the following documents by email to malawijobs@usaid.gov . This will enable the evaluation committee to thoroughly and objectively review the offer against the requirements of the position

1. AID 302-3, Offeror Information for Personal Services Contract Form

Eligible offerors are required to complete and submit the offer form AID 302-3, “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts,” available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.

2. Resume/Curriculum Vitae

3. Reference Persons

Offerors are required to provide five (5) reference persons who are not family members or relatives, with working telephones and email contacts. The references must be able to provide substantive information about offerors past performance and abilities. Reference checks will be made only for offerors considered as finalists. If an offeror does not wish for the current employer to be contacted as a reference check, this should be stated in the offeror’s AID 302-3 form and/or resume. The interviewing committee will delay such reference check pending communication with the offeror.

4. Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted to the Point of Contact in Section I, item 13.

5. To ensure consideration of offers for the intended position, Offerors must prominently reference the Solicitation number in the offer submission.

V. LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS FOR PSC HIRES

Once the CO informs the successful Offeror about being selected for a contract award, the CO will provide the successful Offeror instructions about how to complete and submit the following forms.

1. Medical History and Examination Form (Department of State Forms)

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

3. Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions (SF-85)

4. Finger Print Card (FD-258)

VI. BENEFITS/ALLOWANCES

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

1. BENEFITS:

(a) Employer's FICA Contribution

(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) Annual and Sick Leave

2. ALLOWANCES:

Section numbers refer to rules from the Department of State Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas)

(a) Temporary Quarter Subsistence Allowance (Section 120)

(b) Living Quarters Allowance (Section 130)

(c) Cost-of-Living Allowance (Chapter 210)

(d) Post Allowance (Section 220)

(e) Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260)

(f) Education Allowance (Section 270)

(g) Education Travel (Section 280)

(h) Post Differential (Chapter 500)

(i) Payments during Evacuation/Authorized Departure (Section 600), and

VII. TAXES

USPSCs 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/sites/default/files/documents/1868/aidar_0.pdf.

2. Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at https://www.usaid.gov/forms.

3. Acquisition and Assistance Policy Directives/Contract Information Bulletins (AAPDs/CIBs) for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals available at http://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/aapds-cibs.

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 .

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