J and A NRAC Signed.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

J&A No: FY26-75

11.07.2025 v.2.0

J&A No.: FY26-75 PR No.: PR-26-USSS-TBD

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1)

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.103 (FAR Class Deviation 25-11) and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.104 (FAR Class Deviation 25-11), the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR 6.103 (FAR Class Deviation 25-11) is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.104-1 (FAR Class Deviation 25-11) as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Secret Services (USSS), Office of Procurement (PRO) Office of Human Resources (HUM) proposes to enter into a contract on a basis of other than full and open competition.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved.

(a) Nature of action. The USSS PRO intends to execute a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) bridge contract to continue services for the National Recruitment and Advertising services. The performance period is for 12-months (August 6, 2026 – August 05, 2027).

(b) Name and address of the contractor.

NCN Technology, Inc.

11890 Sunrise Valley Dr, Suite 515 Reston, VA 20191

(c) Contract type. Firm Fixed Price

(d) Estimated total value, including options.

Procurement Action Period of Performance Contract Amount Base Period 08/6/2026 – 02/5/2027 $10,739,533.00 Option Period 02/6/2027 – 08/5/2026 $9,648,217.00 Total Contract Amount $20,387,750.00

(e) Type of funding. O&S

(f) Year of funding. FY 2026

(g) Solicitation number. 70US0926R70094081

(h) Background information about the requirement. The USSS has an ongoing need to increase the number of special agents and Secret Service police officers to ensure there is adequate manpower to sustain the USSS’ protective operations mission.

3. Description of supplies/services.

The requirement is to provide support services for recruiting, marketing, advertising, and conduct various types of applicants hiring events etc. The support is provided to the Office of Human Resources, Recruitment Division (REC) in Washington DC and various CONUS locations.

4. Identification of statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

Identify the most applicable statutory authority that will be used to justify other than full and open competition from the seven listed under FAR 6.103 (FAR Class Deviation 25-11).

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) pursuant to FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Identification of exception to the Buy American Statute. Buy American Statue is not applicable.

6. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The incumbent, NCN Technology, Inc provides administrative and technical functions in support of varied recruiting, marketing, and advertising of law enforcement open positions for the USSS through HUM’s National Recruitment and Advertising contract. The continuation of services will ensure that REC can provide applicants for law enforcement positions.

(a) The incumbent contractor, NCN Technology, was awarded the prior National Recruitment and Advertising Campaign (NRAC) Services contract (70US0925C70093625) on July 31, 2025, which included a base period of six (6) months and two (2) 6-month option periods. Only NCN Technology can do the work under this contract, as they are currently in place performing the work, possess all the necessary skills and training, and all their staff are currently clear to work.

No other source can perform these services until the re-compete is done and transition of services from the incumbent to a new contractor is complete. Without the required contractual support for this requirement, the services become “non-existent,” and would significantly jeopardize the USSS’ “zero-fail” mission.

(b) On July 22, 2026, the USSS awarded Contract No. 70US0926D70092088 for NRAC services. All the award notices were sent to the 34 unsuccessful offerors. To date, the Government has received 10 protests, causing that award to be suspended until all protests are resolved. Due to multiple protests, the continuation of services is required to prevent unacceptable interruptions to the Recruitment Division.

(c) Market research for the extension period was not conducted. An assessment of recent market research conducted for the re-compete enabled the consideration of whether contractors other than the incumbent could perform the contract during the short contract extension. Given that it would take a contractor other than the incumbent a minimum of 60 days to transition-in (and would require the incumbent contractor to stay on board to transition out) and that it would take that same contractor an additional 60 days to get up to speed on a multitude of tasks, it was determined that the incumbent was the only responsible source who could satisfy the Agency’s requirements for this short time frame.

(d) In accordance with 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), only one responsible source is capable of fulfilling the requirement. Only NCN Technology, as the incumbent contractor, has the in-place resources and infrastructure needed during the extension period to continue these critical services without USSS incurring unacceptable work delays. NCN Technology's unique capability to perform uninterrupted services at a reasonable cost and limited performance risk to the Government makes NCN technology the only responsible source that will satisfy the agency’s requirements.

(e) No other contractor could provide the unique level of quality required to meet the Agency’s requirements with limited risk during the time period involved. Without continuation of the support services, the accuracy and integrity of the national recruitment and advertising campaign may be compromised.

7. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

USSS will make this justification publicly available pursuant to FAR 6.305 on or after August 6, 2026.

8. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer anticipates the proposed price will align with the Independent Government Estimate established for this contract. In addition, historical pricing information and a rough order magnitude was made available for all services that are being provided for this contract which was the basis for the government cost estimate.

As a result, the contracting officer and USSS project leads have determined that continuing with this contract via sole source follow-on will represent the best value to the Government without interruption of services for recruitment and advertising.

9. Description of Market Research.

The requirement is to allow the USSS to resolve multiple protests of the current contract award.

To continue the required services, the incumbent contractor is the only one source who can provide these services following protest of the award of the re-compete. Market research was in fact conducted, as previously mentioned, but only the incumbent was found to be capable of providing services in the most expeditious manner.

10. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

NCN Technology is a small woman owned small business and has an active registration with no exclusions on SAM.gov.

11. A listing of the sources, if any that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

A total of 35 vendors submitted proposals in response to Solicitation No. 70US0926R70093666.

12. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for supplies or services required.

There are no plans to foster competition for this bridge contract because only NCN Technology has the necessary knowledge and resources to continue critical operations for the Recruitment Division, while the NRAC Contract protests are resolved.

13. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification. I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.

Marc Jones Date Technical Representative/COR USSS, Office of Human Resources

14. Contracting Officer’s Certification. I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Erik Syfert Date Contracting Officer USSS, Office of Procurement

APPROVAL:

Salvatore Saraceno Date Head of the Contracting Activity USSS, Office of Procurement