Notice of Intent to Sole Source and Executive Search Services Contract

This document is a Notice of Intent to Sole Source issued by Pinellas County, Florida's Administrative Services Purchasing & Risk Management Division regarding professional executive search services. The County intends to establish a contract with one or more firms to conduct nationwide recruitment for executive-level positions including Department Directors, Division Directors, Engineers, Assistant County Administrators, and other roles as needed. The initial contract term is 12 months with two optional 12-month renewal periods. Interested contractors were required to submit responses via OpenGov by the specified deadline to demonstrate their ability to meet or exceed stated requirements, with the County's Purchasing Department using these responses to determine whether bona fide competition exists. A proposal submission deadline of April 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM via the OpenGov procurement portal has been established, with questions due by April 2, 2026 at 3:00 PM. No site visits or pre-bid conferences are scheduled.

Mandatory qualifications for contractors include a minimum of five years in the executive recruitment business, previous experience with government entities of similar size or larger than Pinellas County (population 959,107 or more), three references from similar local government work, and proof of at least five successful executive recruitments for local government entities. Evaluation criteria weight qualifications at 30 percent, approach at 30 percent, statement of work at 25 percent, compensation at 10 percent, and exceptions to RFP terms at 5 percent. Pricing is structured as a percentage of the annual base salary of placed candidates plus a minimum flat fee per recruitment, with hourly-rate fees for ancillary services. Contractors must maintain Commercial General Liability Insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 general aggregate, and Cyber Risk Liability Insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 general aggregate. The contract is non-exclusive, with the County retaining the right to contract concurrently with other firms for similar services. No specific budget amount or award value is stated; pricing will be evaluated as part of the proposal assessment.