HR System for Diversion 1.2 RFI.pdf

Request for Information (RFI) - Integrated Applicant Assessment and Onboarding System for DEA Diversion Investigators (1801 Series)

1. Overview

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), is conducting market research for a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that will modernize and accelerate the onboarding of Diversion Investigators (DI), GS-1801. This RFI is issued solely for information gathering and planning under FAR 15.201(e) and does not constitute a solicitation.

DEA’s Diversion Control Program is a cornerstone of the agency’s mission to enforce the Controlled Substances Act and prevent, detect, and investigate the diversion of legal pharmaceuticals and chemicals into illegal channels. Diversion Investigators are essential to this mission, carrying out complex investigations, regulatory compliance checks, and interagency coordination with law enforcement and regulatory partners at the local, state, and federal levels.

Given the high volume of applicants and the complexity of the assessment process, the agency is seeking a comprehensive solution that not only streamlines and automates applicant tracking but also enhances transparency, enforces sequential evaluation milestones, reduces time to hire and delivers enterprise-level analytics to agency managers and leadership. The future system will be critical to maintaining operational readiness, supporting rapid staffing in response to evolving threats, and ensuring the integrity and consistency of the hiring process across all DEA offices nationwide.

This RFI seeks industry feedback on how such a system can be successfully implemented using modern, scalable technologies that align with DOJ/DEA and GSA standards, while also enabling outcomes-based performance management and seamless integration with federal HR/Suitability systems.

2. Background and Mission Need

Diversion Investigators play a pivotal role in DEA's efforts to safeguard public health and safety by preventing, detecting, and investigating the diversion of legally manufactured controlled substances and listed chemicals into illicit channels. Their duties encompass regulatory inspections, criminal investigations, intelligence collection, evidence analysis, and working collaboratively with law enforcement partners across the United States and internationally.

As the threats posed by synthetic opioids, prescription drug abuse, and transnational criminal organizations grow increasingly complex, the DEA’s need to onboard highly qualified, mission-ready Diversion Investigators in a timely manner has become more urgent than ever. However, the current hiring process is decentralized, fragmented, and heavily reliant on manual coordination across various assessment components—such as interviews, writing samples, polygraph examinations, psychological and medical evaluations, physical task tests (PTT), and background investigations. These steps often occur in silos, with limited system-based visibility, workflow automation, or efficiencies.

This inefficiency results in prolonged time-to-hire, administrative bottlenecks, and inconsistent applicant experiences. Moreover, DEA lacks an integrated solution to ensure that applicants only progress through the pipeline after meeting defined milestone criteria, creating risks to process integrity and compliance. The agency urgently requires a modern, flexible, and secure digital platform that can unify these processes, reduce hiring delays, enhance inter-office coordination, and deliver real-time insights into applicant progression for HR professionals, Suitability professionals, hiring officials, and leadership.

A mission-critical system of this nature will not only support DEA’s operational readiness but also strengthen its ability to attract, assess, and onboard diverse and qualified talent capable of navigating the regulatory and enforcement demands of the Diversion Control Program.

3. System Goals and Objectives

DEA seeks to implement a modern, centralized, cloud-based solution that:

• Serves as the authoritative, end-to-end applicant tracking and onboarding system for the DI hiring process with scalability for other job categories and series specialties.

• Tracks applicants across every assessment stage, including qualifications review, structured interviews, writing samples, polygraph exams, medical evaluations, physical task tests, and background investigations.

• Enforces sequential gatekeeping, ensuring applicants may only advance upon successful completion of previous milestones

• Automates communications and reminders for both applicants and internal stakeholders to reduce manual coordination and missed deadlines

• Delivers secure, role-based access for DEA HR personnel, hiring managers, adjudicators, medical reviewers, and other authorized users

• Provides a secure, self-service applicant portal to track progress, view upcoming requirements, and upload necessary documents

• Integrates with external systems such as USAJobs, USA Staffing, eOPF, Suitability, and onboarding/training platforms to minimize redundancy and streamline data flow

• Supports advanced analytics and configurable dashboards to provide insights into hiring performance, applicant pipeline health, and workflow bottlenecks across offices

• Enables AI-assisted triage and candidate scoring models (in future-state architecture) to prioritize applicants based on agency-defined success indicators

• Improves transparency and standardization of the DI hiring process across DEA’s national footprint

• Reduces average time-to-hire through automation, internal efficiencies, and outcomes-driven design

• Aligns with DEA’s transition to outcomes-based contracting, incorporating measurable success criteria and milestone-driven performance tracking

4. Core Functional Requirements

4.1 Multi-Hurdle Assessment Management

• The system must enforce sequential gatekeeping (e.g., completion of SF-86 prior to polygraphy examine scheduling)

• Support must be provided for each of the following: writing sample, interview, polygraph, and medical exams, physical task tests (PTT), background investigation

• Incorporate minimum proficiency scoring, fail/pass thresholds, and rule-based progression logic

4.2 Candidate Experience

• Provide a secure, user-friendly portal to view assessment status, receive reminders, and upload documentation

• Enable notifications and facilitate overall communication (e.g., automated alerts and candidate confirmations)

4.3 Office Coordination and Workflow Visibility

• Display candidate status to multiple DEA users across offices and roles

• Assign, manage, and monitor assessment and adjudication tasks

• Support role-based access controls for HR, adjudicators, investigators, medical personnel, etc.

4.4 System Interoperability

• Must support integration with:

o USAJobs/USA Staffing (bidirectional) o National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) eApplication (eApp) OPM systems (e.g., eOPF) o Training tracking systems o DEA/DOJ cybersecurity and IT operations tools, as applicable o Polygraph Enterprise System (PES)

• API-driven data exchange preferred

4.5 AI-Ready Architecture

• Support future-state AI integration for candidate scoring, pattern recognition, and success prediction

• Provide transparency, fairness, and auditability in algorithmic decisions

5. Technical and Regulatory Standards

• FedRAMP Moderate (minimum), Fedramp High strongly preferred

• Federal, DOJ/DEA cybersecurity policy-compliant architecture (e.g., FISMA, EO 14028)

• Section 508 accessibility

• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

• Configurable licensing (enterprise, seat-based, etc.)

• Audit trail, data validation, and system uptime reporting

6. Outcomes-Based Contracting and Performance Alignment

DEA intends to structure any resulting acquisition under an outcomes-based contracting (OBC) framework. Vendors should propose how their platform will help DEA:

• Reduce average time-to-hire for Diversion Investigators

• Increase assessment milestone throughput and reduce drop-off

• Improve candidate communication satisfaction and transparency

• Deliver system uptime, data quality, and interoperability against defined SLAs

• Support milestone or incentive-based payment models tied to mission outcomes

Respondents are encouraged to share examples of how their solution has supported outcome-based performance models in other federal contexts, especially those involving talent acquisition, law enforcement, or suitability processing.

7. Questions for Industry

1) Does your company (or teaming partnership) have an existing contract for a system or services like the ones described in this Request for Information? If so, can you share contract information or the statement of work, or evaluation criteria for that contract.

a) Please provide a point of contact for the agency’s requirement.

b) Does the other agency permit ordering from their contract vehicle?

2) Describe your experience integrating with USAJobs or OPM’s staffing systems. How do you validate eligibility and synchronize status?

3) What outcome-based metrics (e.g., average time-to-hire, percentage milestone clearance) does your solution support?

4) Can your solution support milestone-based invoicing or performance incentives aligned with SLAs?

5) Have you deployed similar systems in other federal agencies? How could DEA leverage those deployments to accelerate implementation?

6) Recommend contract structures (e.g., firm-fixed-price CLINs, modular licensing, SaaS subscription) suitable for OBC.

7) What SLAs would you recommend (e.g., system uptime, API response, ticket resolution)?

8) How do you enable DEA to retain full data rights and prevent vendor lock-in?

9) Gatekeeping Logic: How does your system ensure that applicants may not proceed to the next step in the hiring process unless all previous requirements are met (e.g., background initiated before polygraph scheduled)?

10) Assessment Enforcement: How does your system support minimum qualification enforcement and multiple hurdle progression logic (e.g., pass/fail thresholds, weighted scores)?

11) Dashboard Insights: What standard or custom dashboards and alerts does your platform provide to track candidate progression, bottlenecks, and attrition points across multiple offices?

12) AI-Enhanced Evaluation: Describe your platform’s current and planned capabilities for AI-supported candidate ranking, prioritization, or risk scoring. How is fairness, auditability, and human review managed?

13) Role-Based Workflow Customization: How does your system support DEA-specific roles (e.g., HR specialist, adjudicator, polygraph unit coordinator, DMS reviewer) with task assignments and security controls?

14) Compliance & Security:

a) Confirm your current FedRAMP authorization level and hosting model. How do you ensure DOJ/DEA/FISMA and Section 508 compliance?

b) Has any agency or FedRAMP revoked an Authority to Operate (ATO)? If so, why?

c) Has your solution ever been the victim of a significant cybersecurity incident? If so, please provide all non-proprietary information.

15) Implementation Timeline: Based on your current platform maturity, what is your estimated implementation timeline for a fully functional system across 10–15 DEA field divisions?

16) Contract Structure: What acquisition and licensing structures (e.g., FFP, modular CLINs, enterprise license, per-applicant) have you used for similar federal projects, and which would you recommend for DEA?

17) Prior Federal Experience: Provide examples of past federal projects where your solution supported:

• Law enforcement or public safety hiring workflows

• Complex, multi-stage candidate evaluations

• Integration with federal HR systems (e.g., OPM, eOPF, e-APP, USA Staffing)

• Continuous Authority to Operate (cATO) efforts

18) Reuse and Acceleration: If your solution is already in use by other federal agencies (e.g., DOJ components, DHS, VA), how can DEA leverage existing authority, configuration templates, or shared service models to reduce time-to-implementation?

Response Instructions

• Submit to: Teresa Roshau-Delgado, Contract Specialist; teresa.a.roshaudelgado@dea.gov

• Due: 1:00pm EDT, 08/27/2025

• Format: 15 pages max, must be provided in PDF and Word, ≤10 MB. Clearly mark proprietary content.

• Include: company info, relevant experience, platform overview, technical architecture, implementation roadmap, contract vehicles, and ROM pricing if available.

Disclaimer

This is a market research document only. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), obligation to issue an award, or a guarantee of acquisition.

mailto:teresa.a.roshaudelgado@dea.gov