Attachment 8 - T1 OandI Award Fee Plan.pdf

Attachment 8 Award Fee Plan

National Defense Space Architecture

Tranche 1 Operations and Integration

HQ0850-22-R-0002

Award Fee Plan

18 January 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Definitions

3.0 Fee Determining Official

4.0 General

4.1 Overall Contract Fee Limitation

4.2 Contract Fee Type

5.0 Award Fee

5.1 Objectives:

5.2 Organization and Responsibilities

5.2.1 Award Fee Board

5.2.2 Technical and Business Monitors

5.2.3 AFB Recorder

5.3 Award Fee Process

5.4 Schedule

5.5 Evaluation Periods and Distribution of Potential Award Fee Pool

5.6 Evaluation Criteria

5.7 Scoring and Rating Performance

5.8 Award Fee Plan Changes

5.9 Interim Feedback to the Contractor

6.0 Disposition of Unearned Fee

7.0 Termination for Convenience

Appendix A: Award Fee Board Membership & Advisors

Appendix B: Fee Evaluation Periods, Milestones, & Fee Allocations

Appendix C: Award Fee Evaluation Criteria

C1.0 CLIN 1 – DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION (PRIMARY CLIN)

C1.1 Technical Performance

C1.2 Program Management

C1.3 Business Performance

C2.0 CLIN 18 – GEP INTEGRATION

C2.1 Technical Performance

C2.2 Program Management

C2.3 Business Performance

1.0 Introduction

This contract fee plan prescribes the responsibilities, procedures, and criteria required to evaluate contractor performance and to determine the amount of fee to be earned by the contractor pursuant to the fee provisions of the contract. Award fee determinations are made by the Fee Determining Official (FDO). These determinations and the methodology for determining the award fee are unilateral decisions made solely at the discretion of the Government.

This fee plan applies to the Space Development Agency (SDA) Operations & Integration (O&I) contract.

2.0 DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply to this contract fee plan:

Award Fee Board (AFB) is the team of individuals identified in the contract fee plan who have been designated to assist the FDO in making award fee determinations.

Award Fee Evaluation is the formal process by which the members of the Government's award Fee Board assess contractor performance for purposes of recommending to the FDO an appropriate amount of fee to award.

Award Fee Milestones are the technical or schedule events against which the contractor's performance is evaluated using pre-defined evaluation criteria to determine the amount of fee earned.

Award Fee Pool is the total of the available award fee for all evaluation periods and award fee milestones for the life of the contract.

Award Fee Period is a period of time specified in the contract fee plan, defined by a fixed start date and end date, during which the contractor's performance is evaluated against predefined evaluation criteria to determine the amount of award fee earned.

Earned Award Fee is that portion of the award fee pool for a particular award fee period or milestone that the FDO determines has been earned by the contractor based on the Government's evaluation of the contractor's performance. Award fee is earned by the contractor when the contract is modified to formally incorporate the FDO decision.

Fee Determining Official (FDO) is the designated SDA official who reviews the recommendations of the AFB and determines the amount of fee to be earned by the contractor for each evaluation period and milestone.

Unearned Award Fee is the balance of the award fee allocation remaining after paying the contractor the award fee earned for a given award fee period or milestone.

3.0 FEE DETERMINING OFFICIAL

The FDO is the designated Government official who reviews the recommendations of the AFB, considers any other appropriate data, and determines the amount of fee to be earned by the contractor for performance in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract. The FDO is also responsible for approving AFB membership and any changes to this plan. The FDO shall make a determination for each fee evaluation period detailed in this plan.

The FDO for this contract is the Director, SDA Tranche 1 Program.

4.0 GENERAL

4.1 OVERALL CONTRACT FEE LIMITATION

The total amount of fee earned under this contract shall not exceed the amounts set forth in the contract schedule.

4.2 CONTRACT FEE TYPE

Table 1 below shows the CPAF CLINs for the O&I contract.

TABLE 1: O&I CLIN STRUCTURE

CLIN Description Details Contract Type

Development and Integration (primary

CLIN)

Design, development, integration and delivery of two (2) integrated operations centers with development, test and integration capabilities and external interface connectivity supporting T1 Transport Layer capability.

CPAF

Qty: 1 Unit: Lot Base Fee: 0% Award Fee: 12%

T1 Tracking Layer (Option)

Design, development, and integration of T1 Tracking Layer capability addition into the NDSA.

CPAF

Qty: 1 Unit: Lot Base Fee: 0%

T1DES (Option) Design, development, and integration of T1DES capability addition into the NDSA.

CPAF

Qty: 1 Unit Lot Base Fee: 0%

18 GEP Integration Design, development, integration and delivery of Ground Entry Points with development, test and integration capabilities and external interface connectivity.

CPAF

Qty: 1 Unit Lot Base Fee: 0%

5.0 AWARD FEE

Award fee covers contract work which can be evaluated qualitatively and subjectively. In that all potential factors for consideration cannot be defined precisely, award fee evaluations, recommendations, and determinations will not be strictly limited to the criteria defined in this plan. The Government may consider additional items which may drive contractor performance. Initial award fee criteria are set forth in Appendix C to this plan.

5.1 OBJECTIVES:

• Clearly communicate to the contractor the Government's objectives and priorities as they relate to contract performance

• Incentivize the contractor to improve performance and exceed contract objectives. Enhance Government-Contractor communications in all areas of contract performance

• Provide a systematic method to fairly evaluate contractor performance and determine the amount of award fee to be earned

• Allow the Government flexibility to prioritize Contractor performance to those areas of greatest importance to the Government at any given time, and to assure that the Contractor understands these priorities

5.2 ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSIBILITIES

5.2.1 AWARD FEE BOARD

The AFB is comprised of Government officials responsible for establishing specific focus areas and milestones for each evaluation period, establishing their relative order of importance, and assessing contractor performance against those criteria. The AFB provides the FDO with recommendations for award fees commensurate with its evaluation of contractor performance. The AFB Chairperson appoints the Technical and Business Monitors, and the AFB Recorder. AFB membership is specified in Appendix A of this plan.

5.2.2 TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS MONITORS

The Technical Monitor of this contract is the COR unless otherwise defined in this plan. The Technical and Business Monitors shall:

• Monitor contractor performance, determining whether minimum contracted effort is being accomplished and, if accomplishments exceed minimums, determining by how much.

• Determine if established performance objectives are met or exceeded.

• Acquire data and information on contractor performance to document positive and negative achievements by the contractor.

• Independently present to the AFB their conclusions reached in accordance with paragraphs 5.3 a) and b) below.

• Rate contractor performance in accordance with Table 3, and recommend to the AFB new focus areas for contractor performance.

5.2.3 AFB RECORDER

The Recorder is an AFB member (often a non-voting member) responsible for coordinating and documenting AFB actions as well as assuring this fee plan is followed by the Government.

5.3 AWARD FEE PROCESS

The award fee process consists of the following steps:

a) The Technical and Business Monitors will evaluate contractor performance against the criteria, and document their observations. They will provide the results of their evaluations in detailed briefing charts to the AFB within ten days of the completion of each award fee evaluation period and milestone. These reports will describe observed contractor performance issues (i.e., areas where the contractor did not meet expectations), and areas where the contractor exceeded performance expectations against each evaluation criterion, and recommend future focus areas/milestones. The Contractor performance will be reviewed on a monthly basis which will provide input to the award fee process. The reports may also recommend an award fee amount.

b) AFB members must consider what changes should be made to the focus areas for the next period and provide the revised criteria for the upcoming period as part of the FDO briefing. The revised criteria will be provided to the contractor no later than the date of the FDO determination.

c) The AFB Chairperson or FDO may request a Contractor performance self-assessment in writing.

d) The AFB will review the reports from the Technical and Business Monitors and obtain/consider pertinent data from other sources as desired, including the contractor's self-assessment and their own assessments. The AFB establishes the relative importance of each evaluation criterion which must be consistent with the relative order of importance of the criteria previously provided to the contractor.

Applying appropriate judgment and striving to achieve an equitable and fair evaluation, the AFB will develop and present to the FDO its evaluation of contractor performance, and recommend to the FDO a fee amount to be awarded to the contractor. The AFB will also develop and present a recommendation on the allocation of award fee to the next applicable period.

e) The FDO will review the AFB evaluation and recommendations, and consider pertinent data from any other sources, including any additional information provided by the contractor at the FDO's request. The FDO will determine the contractor's performance rating and the amount of award fee to be awarded, and shall document his/her decision in writing. The FDO must sign and date an award determination before the award fee contract modification may be signed by the Contracting Officer.

f) The FDO's award fee determination must be conveyed to the Contractor in a manner that provides a concise assessment of the contractor's overall performance, with emphasis on those areas in which improvement is required. The AFB Chairperson shall offer a more detailed assessment of performance to the Contractor.

5.4 SCHEDULE

The following actions will normally be accomplished within the number of calendar days shown following completion of each evaluation period:

TABLE 2: AWARD FEE ACTIONS

Action Calendar Days After Award Fee Period

Provide Contractor with Revised Evaluation Criteria and Fee Allocation for Next Award Fee Period

Modify Contract 45

5.5 EVALUATION PERIODS AND DISTRIBUTION OF POTENTIAL

AWARD FEE POOL

The Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor in writing of the exact award fee amount allocated to the next fee evaluation period in accordance with the Award Fee Actions table above (Table 2). The allocated amount may be changed after the start of the period only by mutual agreement of the parties. The award fee amount applicable to the final evaluation period shall be the total amount of award fee set forth in the contract, including any modifications thereto, less the amounts allocated to previous evaluation periods.

Appendix B contains an evaluation period and milestone summary with inclusive dates for each period and any amounts that have been allocated. Fee may be unilaterally reallocated from one evaluation period to a subsequent period prior to the start of the period from which the fee is being removed.

5.6 EVALUATION CRITERIA

The criteria against which the Contractor's performance will be evaluated are specified in Appendix C of this plan.

Revised award fee evaluation criteria for the subsequent evaluation period will be provided to the Contractor no later than 30 days after the end of the evaluation period. Failure to provide revised evaluation criteria means that the existing criteria still apply. Revised evaluation criteria will be incorporated into the contract in the award fee modification for the previous period.

All the factors that bear on the Contractor's performance for any given period cannot possibly be identified in advance. Therefore, it is understood that the evaluation criteria identified will be representative of the factors pertinent to evaluation of contractor performance, but do not represent an all-inclusive list.

5.7 SCORING AND RATING PERFORMANCE

THE CONTRACTOR WILL EARN AWARD FEE BY ACHIEVING A LEVEL OF EXPECTATION FOR

THE PERIOD OR MILESTONE, AS DETERMINED BY THE FDO, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE

AWARD FEE EVALUATION CRITERIA AND THE RATING SCALE. THE AFB WILL EVALUATE

EACH ITEM LISTED IN APPENDIX C IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RATING SCALE SET FORTH

IN THE TABLE BELOW. CONSIDERATION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE

DELIVERED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES MEET OR EXCEED MISSION EXPECTATIONS. THE

FDO WILL DERIVE THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE RATING FOR THE PERIOD BASED UPON

ALL INFORMATION AVAILABLE.

TABLE 3: AWARD FEE RATINGS AND DEFINITIONS

Adjectival Rating Definition

Excellent (90-100)

The Contractor has exceeded almost all of the award fee criteria and has met overall cost, schedule, and/or technical performance requirements of the contract in the aggregate as defined and measured against the criteria in the award fee plan for the award fee evaluation period.

Good (80-89)

The Contractor has exceeded some of the award fee criteria and has met overall cost, schedule, and/or technical performance requirements of the contract in the aggregate as defined and measured against the criteria in the award fee plan for the award fee evaluation period.

Satisfactory (50-79)

The Contractor has met overall cost, schedule, and/or technical performance requirements of the contract in the aggregate as defined and measured against the criteria in the award fee plan for the award fee evaluation period.

Unsatisfactory (0-49)

The Contractor has failed to meet overall cost, schedule, or technical performance requirements of the contract as defined and measured against the criteria in the award fee plan for the award fee evaluation period.

Formulae:

$ Fee = 0, for final performance scores < 50%

$ Fee = [(final performance score/100) x available fee pool during period], for final scores > 50

5.8 AWARD FEE PLAN CHANGES

This is the Government's plan for administering the award fee provisions of the contract.

Therefore, the Government may modify the award fee provisions of this plan unilaterally, in whole or in part, at any time during performance of the contract, with or without prior notice to the contractor. Notwithstanding, if award fee is reallocated during an evaluation period, after the contractor has been notified of the allocation, it requires the mutual agreement of both parties.

5.9 INTERIM FEEDBACK TO THE CONTRACTOR

During an evaluation period, typically at the midpoint, the AFB Chairperson may ascertain whether any areas of contractor performance require improvement. The AFB Chairperson will document areas needing improvement and other areas of Government concern. After FDO approval, the Contracting Officer will send this document to the Contractor.

The need for interim feedback will vary according to the circumstances involved, such as the length of the evaluation period, contractor performance in previous periods, and the nature or criticality of the period's work. Government failure to provide interim feedback does not preclude the FDO from considering failures in contractor performance in the award fee determination.

6.0 DISPOSITION OF UNEARNED FEE

In accordance with FAR 16.401(e)(4), the use of rollover of unearned award fee is prohibited.

7.0 TERMINATION FOR CONVENIENCE

Termination for default is not addressed in this fee plan. If the Government terminates this contract for convenience, the amount of award fee to which the Contractor is entitled shall be determined as follows:

a) Award fee earned or earnable by the contractor for award fee evaluation periods or milestones completed prior to the effective date of the termination are not affected by the termination.

b) Award fee determined to be earned and to be paid for performance during the period in which the termination becomes effective will be a matter of equitable adjustment in accordance with the termination clause of the contract.

c) The remaining award fee dollars allocated to all periods and milestones to be determined after the period in which the termination becomes effective will not be considered earned or earnable and, therefore, will not be paid.

APPENDIX A: AWARD FEE BOARD MEMBERSHIP & ADVISORS

• SDA Tranche 1 Program Director (FDO)

• SDA Support Cell Chief

• SDA Tranche 1 Chief Engineer

• SDA O&I Program Manager

• SDA Ground Segment Lead Engineer

• Award Fee Board Chairperson (the FDO unless otherwise appointed by the FDO)

• COR (Technical Monitor)

• Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist

• Program Security Officer (PSO)

• Division/Staff Chiefs

• *Recorder

• *Advisors (As appropriate and approved by the FDO or AFB Chairperson)

* Non-voting

APPENDIX B: FEE EVALUATION PERIODS, MILESTONES, &

FEE ALLOCATIONS

Notional award fee allocations are shown in the tables below.

TABLE B1-1: SDA O&I AWARD FEE EVALUATION PERIODS FOR CLIN 1 – DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION

(PRIMARY CLIN)

Evaluation Period Start Completion Award Fee

Available*

Earned Award Fee

(TBD)

1 ATP 30 Sep 22 10% / $ 2 1 Oct 22 31 Mar 23 15% / $ 3 1 Apr 23 30 Sep 23 15% / $ 4 1 Oct 23 31 Mar 24 20% / $ 5 1 Apr 24 30 Sep 24 20% / $ 6 1 Oct 24 31 Jan 25 20% / $ Total: 100% / $

If exercised, the SDA O&I award fee evaluation periods for CLIN 6 – Tracking Layer and CLIN 12 – T1DES will conform to the Government’s standard Apr to Sep cycle.

TABLE B1-2: SDA O&I AWARD FEE EVALUATION PERIODS FOR CLIN 18 – GEP INTEGRATION

Evaluation Period Start Completion Award Fee

Available*

Earned Award Fee

(TBD)

1 ATP 30 Sep 22 10% / $ 2 1 Oct 22 31 Mar 23 15% / $ 3 1 Apr 23 30 Sep 23 15% / $ 4 1 Oct 23 31 Mar 24 20% / $ 5 1 Apr 24 30 Sep 24 20% / $ 6 1 Oct 24 31 Jan 25 20% / $ Total: 100% / $

*The allocations reflect the percentage of the total award fee pool that will be allocated to the award fee evaluation periods. Fee will be computed and expressed as a dollar value at contract award.

APPENDIX C: AWARD FEE EVALUATION CRITERIA

The contractor will be evaluated based upon the following evaluation criteria. The contractor is reminded that exclusion of an item from this list does not in any way obviate the contractor's requirement to satisfy all aspects of the contract work effort and statement of work. The Government intends to use Award Fee wherever possible to reward contractor performance in the execution of the contract.

The Government reserves the right to adjust both the award fee criteria and the weightings among them for each new award fee period, subject to the provisions of FAR/DFARS.

C1.0 CLIN 1 – DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION (PRIMARY CLIN)

(if exercised: CLIN 6 – Tracking Layer, CLIN 12 – T1DES)

The criteria and relative weighting for each element is listed below.

ELEMENT WEIGHTING

Technical and Schedule Performance 40%

Program Management 30%

Business Performance 30%

C1.1 TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE

a. Ability to integrate stakeholders, teammates, and subcontractors into Mission

Systems Engineering and Integration processes and methods to execute the O&I contract.

b. Quality, timeliness and effectiveness of design reviews and Technical Exchange Meetings.

c. Quality, timeliness and effectiveness of schedule evaluation on impacts to current program with associated mitigations based on stakeholders, teammates, subcontractors, and associate contractor inputs.

d. Extent of the collaboration including openness and availability of system data and artifacts with Government staff, FFRDC, Associate Contractors, and other contractors.

e. Quality, timeliness and effectiveness of technical solutions intended to support long-term system integration and new capabilities within the NDSA.

f. Extent (quality and completion) to which delivered products and services meet or exceed mission objectives to include the analysis, interpretation, definition, verification, and/or execution of technical requirements.

g. Extent to which contractor proactively identifies technical and scheduling opportunities, innovations, and approaches to improve operations or gain efficiencies.

h. Ability to perform competent system engineering and planning, integration, test and deployment, meeting all schedule requirements to ensure timely ground segment acceptance.

i. Ability to meet or exceed all schedule requirements to ensure timely ground segment acceptance.

C1.2 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

a. Effective contract execution.

b. Qualified and effective Program Reviews/Business Management Reviews relative to content, level of detail, and timeliness of information.

c. Effective cost/schedule/performance/critical path management.

d. Responsiveness to Government direction and quality of submissions in response to government requests.

e. Effective Program Management in response to unplanned issues.

f. Quality and effectiveness of Risk Management.

g. Demonstrated ability to follow all essential practices/processes associated with execution of the program.

h. Management of the prime contract and all subcontracts with regards to management of staffing - providing the appropriate qualified skills mix, and management of FTE turnover and vacancy rates.

i. Adeptness at subcontractor management and completeness of subcontractor reporting.

j. Timeliness of key prime and subcontractor deliverables (schedule).

k. Extent of collaboration with relevant host base units and services.

C1.3 BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

a. Compliance with Government contract requirements.

b. Compliance with the approved OCI plan.

c. Administration of contract and compliance with terms and conditions.

d. Configuration control of documents and deliverables.

e. Accuracy of Cost Estimates and Funding Management.

f. Accuracy of EVM data and timeliness of data delivery.

g. Accuracy and timely delivery of supporting documentation for earned and billed fee.

h. Compliance with contract security policies and requirements.

i. Quality and timeliness of required security documentation and deliverables.

j. Timeliness of contractor personnel security approval requests and any other security needs.

k. Providing sufficient corporate resources to overcome technical challenges in order to maintain cost and schedule.

l. Availability of corporate management for timely resolution of program concerns and issues.

m. Ability to ensure sufficient corporate sponsorship, support, and resources in order to meet delivery expectations from a technical, program management, and schedule perspective.

C2.0 CLIN 18 – GEP INTEGRATION

The criteria and relative weighting for each element is listed below.

ELEMENT WEIGHTING

Technical Performance 40%

Program Management 30%

Business Performance 30%

C2.1 TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE

a. Ability to integrate stakeholders, teammates, and subcontractors into Mission

Systems Engineering and Integration processes and methods to execute the O&I contract.

b. Quality, timeliness and effectiveness of design reviews and Technical Exchange Meetings.

c. Quality, timeliness and effectiveness of schedule evaluation on impacts to current program with associated mitigations based on stakeholders, teammates, subcontractors, and associate contractor inputs.

d. Extent of the collaboration including openness and availability of system data and artifacts with Government staff, FFRDC, Associate Contractors, and other contractors.

e. Quality, timeliness and effectiveness of technical solutions intended to support long-term system integration and new capabilities within the NDSA.

f. Extent of collaboration with relevant agencies including technical inputs associated with spectrum use to meet overall Enterprise objectives.

g. Extent (quality and completion) to which delivered products and services meet or exceed mission objectives to include the analysis, interpretation, definition, verification, and/or execution of technical requirements.

h. Extent to which contractor proactively identifies technical and schedule opportunities, innovations, and approaches to improve operations or gain efficiencies.

i. Ability to perform competent system engineering and planning, manufacture of optical and RF ground terminals and associated components, integration, test and deployment, meeting all schedule requirements to ensure timely site acceptance.

j. Ability to meet or exceed all schedule requirements to ensure timely site acceptance.

C2.2 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

a. Effective contract execution.

b. Qualified and effective Program Reviews/Business Management Reviews relative to content, level of detail, and timeliness of information.

c. Effective cost/schedule/performance/critical path management.

d. Responsiveness to Government direction and quality of submissions in response to government requests.

e. Effective Program Management in response to unplanned issues.

f. Quality and effectiveness of Risk Management.

g. Demonstrated ability to follow all essential practices/processes associated with execution of the program.

h. Management of the prime contract and all subcontracts with regards to management of staffing - providing the appropriate qualified skills mix, and management of FTE turnover and vacancy rates.

i. Adeptness at subcontractor management and completeness of subcontractor reporting.

j. Timeliness of key prime and subcontractor deliverables (schedule).

k. Extent of collaboration with relevant host base units and services.

C2.3 BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

a. Compliance with Government contract requirements.

b. Compliance with the approved OCI plan.

c. Administration of contract and compliance with terms and conditions.

d. Configuration control of documents and deliverables.

e. Accuracy of Cost Estimates and Funding Management.

f. Accuracy of EVM data and timeliness of data delivery.

g. Accuracy and timely delivery of supporting documentation for earned and billed fee.

h. Compliance with contract security policies and requirements.

i. Quality and timeliness of required security documentation and deliverables.

j. Timeliness of contractor personnel security approval requests and any other security needs.

k. Providing sufficient corporate resources to overcome technical challenges in order to maintain cost and schedule.

l. Availability of corporate management for timely resolution of program concerns and issues.

m. Ability to ensure sufficient corporate sponsorship, support, and resources in order to meet site delivery expectations from a technical, program management, and schedule perspective.