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PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Title: Technology Acquisition Center Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting Core-Plus Specialization in Digital Services Training Program

1. BACKGROUND

The mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Procurement, Acquisition, and Logistics, Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) is to support our Nation’s Veterans by providing acquisition and logistics solutions for VA. In meeting these goals, TAC is responsible for preparing and executing quality contracts that support the Information Technology (IT) efforts and needs of its customers across VA, which enables our customers to provide best value solutions to Veterans and their families. TAC has a large population of General Schedule series 1102’s (GS-1102’s) that are responsible for these IT procurements, all of whom either have obtained Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) or are working toward obtaining FAC-C certification.

On May 18, 2018, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) launched the new digital services certification program (FAC-C-DS) with the goal of creating a digital IT acquisition professional (DITAP) community. This new specialization aligns with the President’s Management Agenda in the areas of modernizing the government’s IT, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our services, and developing a 21st century workforce. A common component of these strategies is delivering data, information, and transactional services across multiple platforms to transform how citizens interact with their government. To develop this new generation of digital services, the workforce must learn and apply new skills. Buying digital services is not a skill that is gained through the FAC-C curriculum, thereby necessitating a specialized and immersive training and development program called the DITAP, which leads to the FAC-C-DS. This specialization meets an urgent need for digital services expertise and will be part of a larger effort to raise the overall competency of the acquisition workforce in acquiring IT solutions. In order to understand how to craft acquisitions to procure digital services, the TAC GS-1102 workforce has a need for the training required to obtain their FAC-C-DS certification.

2. SCOPE OF WORK

TAC requires the training necessary to obtain FAC-C-DS certification for its GS-1102 workforce. The Contractor shall provide all labor, materials, transportation, and other incidentals necessary to develop and provide the instructor guided education, in the area of FAC-C-DS described, focused on enhancing the skills and understanding, to a diverse GS-1102 workforce. The training program curriculum shall be validated by OFPP and U.S. Digital Service.

3. CONTRACT TYPE

The government anticipates the award of a firm-fixed task order

4. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The anticipated period of performance is 6 months for the cohort.

5. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The tasks under this Performance Work Statement (PWS) shall be performed both virtually and face to face at the TAC offices in Eatontown, NJ, as discussed in Section 7 below.

6. DELIVERABLES

* Curriculum based upon an open source learning management system, allowing students to interact, and featuring self-directed, guided, and applied learning, classroom instruction, case studies, guest speakers, and hands-on skills building through a live digital assignment structured similar to the following:

· Nine days of classroom instruction consisting of three separate, three-day face to face sessions*

· Fifteen hours of virtual instructor led training

· Twelve hours per week of asynchronous, self-paced material

For each cohort, curriculum provided shall include course detail outline, course pre-work, classroom materials, and course evaluations/feedback forms.

7. TRAVEL

The Government anticipates travel under this effort. Travel must be pre-approved in writing by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). Each Contractor invoice shall include copies of all receipts that support the travel costs claimed in the invoice. Local travel within a 50-mile radius from the contractor’s facility is considered the cost of doing business and will not be reimbursed. This includes travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time. Travel performed for personal convenience and daily travel to and from work at the Contractor’s facility will not be reimbursed. Travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time for travel beyond a 50-mile radius of the Contractor’s facility are authorized for reimbursement on a case-by-case basis and must be pre-approved by the COR and must be planned and executed according to Federal Travel Regulations. General and Administrative expenses will not be reimbursed.

The FTR can be referenced at:

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/ext/public/site/FTR/file/FTRTOC.html/category/21865/hostUri/portal

Travel is not expected during this task order.

8.1 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide the COR with Monthly Progress Reports in electronic form in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. The report shall include detailed instructions/explanations for each required task or data element, to ensure that data is accurate and consistent. These reports shall reflect data as of the last day of the preceding Month.

The Monthly Progress Reports shall cover all work completed during the reporting period and work planned for the subsequent reporting period. The report shall also identify any problems that arose and a description of how the problems were resolved. If problems have not been completely resolved, the Contractor shall provide an explanation including their plan and timeframe for resolving the issue. The Contractor shall monitor performance against the previous month’s approved Monthly Progress Report and report any deviations. It is expected that the Contractor shall maintain communication with VA accordingly so that any arising issues are transparent to both parties to prevent escalation of outstanding issues.

Deliverable:

0. Monthly Progress Reports

8.2 FAC-C-DS CERTIFICATION COURSE

The Contractor shall provide the OFPP and U.S. Digital Service validated DITAP certification course for the TAC GS-1102 workforce.

The Contractor shall provide an immersive, six-month training program as required under DITAP in order for the TAC GS-1102 workforce to obtain their FAC-C-DS certification. The curriculum shall be based upon an open source learning management system, allowing students to interact, and shall feature self-directed, guided and applied learning, classroom instruction, case studies, guest speakers, and hands-on skills building through a live digital assignment, all of which the Contractor shall be responsible to provide.

This Contractor shall ensure each cohort is provided to 25 students and lasting approximately 6 months. For each cohort, the Contractor shall provide a validated training program, consisting of, at a minimum, the following:

· Nine days of classroom instruction consisting of three separate, three-day face to face sessions*

· Fifteen hours of virtual instructor led training

· Twelve hours per week of asynchronous, self-paced material

· Participants receive up to 80 continuous learning points (CLPs)

The Contractor shall ensure the program incorporates the most current resources, tools, and best practices in digital service acquisition, including:

· Methods to acquire and monitor contracts for services such as human-centered design, Agile development methodology, DevSecOps, cloud, and X-as-a-service

· How to use and apply metrics and incentives appropriately

· Techniques to create a culture of innovation and lead customers to the best solutions

*The Contractor shall travel to the TAC office in Eatontown, NJ, in order to provide the face to face classroom instruction required for each of the cohorts. In the event of potential COVID-19 restrictions, the Contractor shall provide virtual classroom sessions in place of the required face-to-face classroom sessions.

Deliverable:

A. Digital Services Training Cohort (6 month cohort)

8.2.1 FAC-C-DS TRAINING COURSE MATERIAL

The Contractor shall provide, for each participant in each cohort, a Training Material Set which includes hard copy and electronic copies of such items as course hand-outs, instruction manuals, briefing slides, group activities, lecture notes, case studies, application exercises, and group presentations. All material shall be provided to the training participants at the start of the training, except for video, audio or other software-based demonstration or exercise material which may not be available to provide.

Deliverable:

A. Training Material Set

8.2.2 FAC-C-DS TRAINING SUPPORT

The Contractor shall maintain course rosters for each cohort and record training completions, indicating attendance for each participant. The rosters shall include the cohort number, the names of all the employees in attendance, the dates training was conducted, and the course/class title. Employees will sign in at the beginning of the course day and again after any lunch break (if applicable). The Contractor shall annotate absent periods greater than one hour for any participant on the course roster.

The Contractor shall provide a Course Evaluation Form to be filled out by each participant and returned to the Contractor, for submission to the COR at the end of each cohort.

At the course completion, the Contractor shall report each student’s attendance into a Course Roster and Training Completion Record. The Contractor shall submit the record to the COR. The Contractor shall provide a Course Completion Certificate for each student with their name, dates of course (cohort), and number of CLPs to the VA COR.

Deliverables:

A. Completed Student Course Evaluation Forms B. Course Roster and Training Completion Record C. Course Completion Certificates