Solicitation_--Epidemiologist.pdf

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72062118B00008

ISSUANCE DATE: February 23, 2018

CLOSING DATEffIME: March 16,2018 at 4.00pm East African Time

SUBJECT: USAlDfTanzania Solicitation ror OFFSHORE United States Personal Service Contractor (USPS C) Applied Epidemiologist I Data Use Advisor

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAJD), 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 VI of this solicitation.

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 infonnation.

Regards, Patrice Lopez Contracting Officer

OFFSHORE USPSC APPLIED EPIDEMIOLOGIST

SOLICITATION No. 720621 18B00008

ATTACHMENT 1

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)fI'anzania Solicitation for USPSC OFFSHORE United States Personal Service Contractor (USPSC)

APPLIED EPIDEMIOLOGIST / DATA USE ADViSOR

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 72062118B00008

2. ISSUANCE DATE: February 23, 2018

3. CLOSING DATErrIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: March 16, 2018 at 4.00pm East African Time.

4. POSITION TITLE: Applied Epidemiologist / Data Use Advisor

5. MARKET VALUE: $89,370 - $116,181 equivalent to GS -14, final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value

6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Two (2) years with possibility of extension

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with possible travel as stated in the Statement of Work.

8. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Facility Access

9. STATEMENT OF DUTIES

1. General Statement of Purpose of the Contract USAID/Tanzania's integrated Health Office focuses on programs in HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis (TB), maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), family planning (FP), nutrition, and health systems strengthening. The Health Office vision is to improve the health of all Tanzanians, especially the health of the most vulnerable groups of women, girls, newborns and children under the age of five. Under this vision, the Health Office supports the Govenunent of Tanzania's efforts to reach Millemlium Development goals (MDOs) 4,5 and 6: the substantive reduction of deaths among children under five years of age, reduced maternal mortality by 2015, and combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.

In addition, USAID's health sector strategy is aligned with the Government of Tanzania (GOT) national plans and focuses on service delivery, health systems strengthening and

SOLICITATION No.72062118B00008 district-level orientation.

The integrated Health Office has approximately 40 staff members, comprising Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs), U.S. Direct Hires, U.S. Personal Service Contractors (PSCs), Local PSCs, and Fellows. The Health Office portfolio has an annual budget of roughly $300 million, overseeing over 70 bilateral and field-support mechanisms, many of which directly support indigenous organizations and host country systems. There are four teams within the Health Office: Facility Based Services, Health Systems, Community Based Services, and Programs and Operations.

This position will be based in the Strategic Information (SI) Unit, which is within the Health Systems team. However, the incumbent will be expected to work across the four teams mentioned above, bringing epidemiologic data to bear on programmatic decision making. Within the four teams is technical staff focusing on HIV, TB, malaria, maternal and child health, and reproductive health I family planning; the Applied Epidemiologist will work closely with these technical staff. Mentoring others in using data for program improvement and building the capacity of program staff to understand and use their data will be an important part of the position's duties.

2. Statement of Duties to be Performed

a) Provide Technical Leadership in Applied Epidemiology (55%)

The incumbent will maintain close communication and work collaboratively with the SI unit lead and the other 3 members of the SI team (the Data Analyst, the M&E Officer, and the HMIS Officer). The incumbent will also work closely with health staff from other units on the team, including the facilities team, the community team, and the health systems team, which cover I-IIV, TB, malaria, matemal and child health, and family planning. The incumbent will need to apply his/her knowledge of data use to build the capacity of these team members to use data for program improvement. S/he will also conduct special analyses of routine and survey data to help program teams understand in more depth what the predictors of disease and health-seeking behavior are, whether health outcomes are improving or getting worse, and, where feasible, whether USAID programs are having the desired impact. The incumbent will work closely with all health teams to understand data needs for program planning, implementation, and evaluation.

The incumbent will help advise the USAID Sl team and USAID implementing partners on data management and data quality, so that data is of sufficient quality to be used for program improvement. The incumbent will also try to identify potential new data sources for use by the Health team.

The incumbent will assist in the management of special studies funded by USAID, including: (1) the DRS and SPA surveys; (2) impact evaluations; (3) surveillance activities; and (4) other special studies.

SOLICITATION No. 72062 I I8B00008

The incumbent will provide infonnal and fannal training to program staff on identifying data needs for program implementation and interpreting data analyses for program improvement. The incumbent will also work closely with USAID implementing partners and staff from Government of Tanzania to advise them on all aspects of data collection, cleaning, and analysis. The incumbent will work collaboratively with national technical working groups and muitilaterals, such as WHO, UNAIDS, and UNICEF.

The incumbent will present information in a concise, understandable format, and will use these presentations to build the capacity of staff to ask questions of their data and to interpret results correctly.

The incumbent will triangulate data from different sources to better understand a given issue.

Finally, the incumbent will help the SI team in producing key estimates needed for program planning, e.g., number ofPLHIV, HIV prevalence, orphans and vulnerable children, need for medical male circumcision. The incumbent may also be called upon to assist with Tanzania's annual workshop to produce Spectrum-based HIV estimates.

Thus, knowledge of dynamic epidemic (aka mathematical) modeling techniques is a plus.

b) Supervise the Data Analyst (25%)

A critical aspect of the responsibilities will be to work with his/her supervisee in the SI Team, the Data Analyst. There are requisite administrative, staff·deveiopment, and coordination responsibilities involved in supervising staff at USAID.

1. Personnel Management

• Provide mentoring to the Data Analyst (as well as the M&E Officer and

HMIS Officer) on data analysis and management

• Monitor the activities of the Data Analyst and provide technical assistance and professional guidance as needed

• Maintain updated work objectives and performance measures for the Data

Analyst Complete annual perfonnance evaluations for the Data Analyst, and provide ongoing feedback on his/her performance.

• Oversee, review and approve actions of Data Analyst including: approving leave, time sheets, E2 travel authorizations and vouchers, and after·hours building access

• Provide coaching and mentoring to team members to achieve professional program objectives (work objectives, targets, intermediate results, etc.)

11. Program & Technical Leadership

• Provide guidance to members of the team in the design and implementation of projects/activities related to data use, quantitative

SOLICITATION No.720621 18B00008 evaluation, surveillance, etc.

• Support the team's use of existing and new program data and reports, by facilitating quarterly reviews of partner targets/results in order to possess a grasp of overall partner performance across the team.

• Ensure that analyses are coordinated and complementary with those of other teams within USAID, the usa, and other donors and stakeholders in Tanzania, maximizing opportunities for integration and efficiencies

• In collaboration with CORs and AORs, participate in site visits and meetings with key partners and stakeholders to review program implementation and data quality and use.

• Provide quantitative analyses for USAID strategic planning processes.

Stay updated (e.g., USAID policies and guidelines, technical journals, trainings, conferences, etc.) and recommend appropriate data-collection approaches and analyses to implement new technical developments, policy initiatives, and research

iii. Support

• The incumbent will assist the Health Office with other tasks related to the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of US AID support to health and HIV- AIDS programs in Tanzania.

c) Provide Activity Management (20%)

The incumbent may be asked to help with activity management of SI partners and special studies, like impact evaluations. All USAID partners have SIIM&E staff, and the incumbent will be expected to work closely with the technical and SI staff from implementing partners; s/he will at times need to advise them on all aspects of data collection, cleaning, management, and analysis.

The incumbent may also be asked to manage special studies commissioned by USAID, e.g., impact evaluations. Such management duties would include the drafting and review of concept notes, scopes of work, research protocols, data collection tools, analysis plans, and study reports and manuscripts. For such studies, the incumbent needs to work collaboratively with the partner conducting the study, other USAID health staff, staff from the USAID Program Office (who manage all evaluations for USAID), and of course other members of the USAID SI team.

The incumbent may be asked to fulfill the formal role of AORICOR. In the capacity as teclmical representative for the agreements officer/contracting officer (AORICOR) or an activity manager for Sl activities, the incumbent will provide day-to-day oversight, as well as strategic and technical input and direction on annual work plans and performance monitoring plans.

Slhe will review financial and perfonnance reports to ensure that partner(s) are in compliance with bilateral government agreements and with the perfonnance

SOLICITATION NO.72062118B00008

expectations outlined in their work plan and contract/agreement with USAID. Ensmc compliance with PEPF AR, Development Objectives, USAID regulations and host government agreements as they relate to the specific mechanisms managed. Maintain specific and in-depth knowledge of applicable USG laws and legislative directives, as well as regulations regarding allowable use of funds (e.g., family plallliing, HIV/AIDS)

Slbe will assure that assigned activities are designed, implemented, evaluated, and documented in an appropriate manner as emphasized in USAIDlTanzania's evaluation mission order and other relevant strategic documents.

3. Supervisory Relationship

Slbe will exercise direct and functional supervision over the Data Analyst. Sound leadership, mentoring and coaching abilities \¥ill need to be applied.

4. Supervisory COlltrols

The work will be performed under the supervision of the USPSC Strategic Infonnation Advisor. PerfOm1aI1Ce will be evaluated annually based on accomplishments.

10. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Offerors/Applicants must be U.S. Citizens For purposes of this solicitation, an OFF-SHORE USPSC means a U.S. citizen or a U.S.

resident alien hired under a contract for personal services abroad, who (a) is brought into the cooperating country at US Government expense, for purposes of the contract, (b) is eligible for repatriation travel at the end of contract at the U.S. Government expense and

(c) is entitled to an offshore hire benefits package as addressed in section VIII of this solicitation.

11. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

12. POINT OF CONTACT: Hussein Tuwa, email: htuwa@usaid.gov Please DO NOT send applications to this email address. For the mailbox to send applications, see section VI of this solicitation.

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIQNS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

a. Education: Possession of a Graduate Degree (Masters or PhD) in the field of epidemiology, statistics, public health, economics, social science, or a related discipline.

b. Prior Experience: Five years or more of progressive and responsible experience in public health or epidemiology is required. Experience in HIV -related programs in

SOLICITATION No.72062118B00008

Africa is a plus. Also required is experience in all aspects of collecting and analyzing health data - e.g., designing data collection tools, assessing data for validity, analyzing quantitative data, and presenting findings in a programmatically useful way; as well as experience in designing epidemiology studies and analysis plans, writing up study, protocols and managing study implementations. Experience working in a PEPF AR program cmmtry is highly desirable, but not a requirement.

c. Skills and Abilities: Demonstrated ability to function as an active member of a team and to lead a team when needed; and advanced knowledge of analytical software (e.g.

Excel, Stata, R, and SAS). Knowledge of GIS and database management is a plus.

d. Language Proficiencies / Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrated skills in oral and written communication in English are required. Demonstrated interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multi-cultural setting required.

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

Candidates will be evaluated and ranked based on the following selection criteria:

a. Education (15%):

Possession of a graduate degree (masters or PhD) in the field of epidemiology, statistics, public health, economics, social science, or a related discipline.

b. Relevant Work Experience (35%):

Five years or more of progressive and responsible experience in public health or epidemiology. Experience in HIV -related programs in Africa is a plus.

c. Technical Knowledge and Ability (40%):

This position requires strong expertise in monitoring and evaluation, surveillance, data use, statistical analysis (descriptive, regression models, etc.). In addition, knowledge of HI V indicators, performance management principles, and using data for program improvement is preferred, as is knowledge of data base management.

Experience analyzing both routine program data and survey data (e.g., DHS) is required, whereas knowledge of HI V epidemiology and programs, especially in Africa, is a plus. The ability to share analytic knowledge and findings with others in a way they can understand is required. This position will also be supervising the Data Analyst, thus ability to supervise in a cross-cultural setting will be needed. Previous supervisory experience is a plus though not a requirement.

d. Language Proficiencies / Interpersonal Skills (10%):

1. Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multi-cultural setting required. Demonstrated positive and productive teaming abilities are absolutely

SOLICITA nON No.720621 18B00008 critical; must be able to get along with others and help elevate and empower those around. Able to motivate tcam members and work toward positive overall performance, work as a member of an technical or office management team, mentor junior staff, and work on his/her own.

2. Strong computer, verbal and writing skill s required .

Must be fluent in English (FSI S-4/R-4) and have: proven ability to communicate quickly, succinctly, and tactfully in both speech and writing; abi lity to facilitate meetings and make oral presentations logically and persuasively to senior officials and partners in a multi-cultural context; ability to produce concise, clear reports, and use word processing, spreadsheet, and database programs.

IV. TERMS OF PERFORMANCE

The base tcnn of the contract will be for a period of two years, which may be extended upon mutual agreement and subject to sati sfactory perfonnance and availability of funds. This position has been classi fied as equivalent to a GS -14 position in the usa Civil Service. The actual salary of the successful candidate will be negotiated depending on qualifications and previous salary history. In addition to the basic salary. differentials and other benefits in effect at the time and which are applicable and subject to change on a similar basis as for direct-hire USG employees will be added.

V. SECURITY AND MEDICAL CLEARANCE

No formal otTer of employment can be made, and no contract can be signed, until USAIDfTanzania has received medical and security clearances. The successful applicant will be required to obtain and submit a certification from a licensed physician that there are no physical or health impediments to working in Tanzania. A Faci li ty Access security clearance is also required for this position. The selected applicant will be issued instructions on how to obtain the necessary clearance; a copy of the USAID/SEC- approved clearance must be received by the Mission prior to signature of a contract.

USAIOffanzania reserves the right to withdraw an offer if the required clearances cannot be obtained within a reasonable period of time.

VI. APPL YIN G

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

OFFSHORE USPSC APPLIED EPIDEM IOLOGIST

SOLICITATION NO.72062 118B00008

2. Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3.

3. Submittals should be sent to USAIDrranzania PSC Applications mailbox, at daressalaampscsap@usaid.gov

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

VII. LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS FOR PSC HIRES

Once the CO infonns the successful Offeror about being selected fo r a contract award, the CO will provide the successful Offeror instructions about how to complete and submit the following fonns.

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 CFD·258)

VIII. BENEFITS/ALLOWANCES

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

I. BENEFITS:

Ca) Employer's FICA Contribution

(b) Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance Ce) Pay Comparabi lity Adjustment

(d) Annual Increase (pending a satisfactory perfonnance evaluation)

(e) Eligibility for Worker's Compensation ({) 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) Cos/·of-Living Allowance (Chapter 210)

(d) Post Allowance (Section 220)

(e) Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260)

(f) Education Allowance (Section 270)

SOLICITATION No.72062I 18B00008

(g) Education Travel (Section 280)

(h) Post Differential (Chapter 500)

(I) Payments during Evacuation/Authorjzed Departure (Section 600), and

(j) Danger Pay Allowance (Section 650)

IX. TAXES

USPSCs arc required to pay Federal income taxes, FICA, Medicare and applicable State Income taxes.

X. 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 0, "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:llwww.usaid .gov/sites/defaultlfiIes/documents/1 868/aidar O.pdf .

2. Contract Cover Page fonn AID 309-1 available at hups://www.usaid.gov/fonns .

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

4. Ethical Conduct. By the acceptance of a USAID personal services contract as an individual, the contractor wi ll be acknowledging receipt of the "Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees ofthe Executive Branch," available from the U.S.

Office of Government Ethics, in accordance with General Provision 2 and S CFR 2635. See https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/OGE%20Regulations .

USAID IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: In selecting personnel, there will be no discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, politics, marital status, physical handicap, HIV/AIDS status, age, or membership or non-membership in an employee organization.