SOL.720514R00012_USPSC_Short_Term.pdf

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72051421R00012

ISSUANCE DATE: August 24, 2021 CLOSING DATE/TIME: September 7, 2021

SUBJECT: Solicitation for U.S. Personal Services Contractor (USPSC) Resident Hire. - Single Vacancy

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking offers from qualified persons to provide personal services under contract as described in this solicitation. For further information about USAID/Colombia please visit https://www.usaid.gov/colombia.

Offers must be in accordance with Attachment 1 of this solicitation. Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all offer materials for their records.

This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a PSC contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the offers.

Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in the attachment 1 or to BogotaUSAIDHRTeam@usaid.gov.

Sincerely, Joseph Sidari Supervisory Executive Officer

U.S. Agency for International Development Cra 45 # 24B 27 Gate 2 Bogotá

COLOMBIA

Tel: (571) 275 2000 Fax: (571) 275 2319 www.usaid.gov

Joseph Sidari Digitally signed by Joseph Sidari Date: 2021.08.23 10:13:30 -05'00'

ATTACHMENT 1 72051421R00012

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NUMBER: SOL: 72051421R00012

2. ISSUANCE DATE: August 24, 2021

3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR

RECEIPT OF OFFERS:

September 7, 2021

4. POINT OF CONTACT EXO/HR, Bogotausaidhrteam@usaid.gov

5. POSITION TITLE: Project Management Specialist Peacebuilding and Governance

6. MARKET VALUE: $79,468 - $103,309 per annum - Equivalent to GS-13 Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.

7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Six months estimated to start on November 2021

8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: USAID/Colombia

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS U.S. Citizens (including lawful permanent U.S. residents) or Third Country Nationals.

Third Country National (TCN): An individual (i) who is neither a citizen nor a permanent legal resident alien of the United States nor of the country to which assigned for duty, and (ii) who is eligible for return to his/her home country or country of recruitment at U.S. Government expense.

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED:

The successful offeror shall be required to obtain a Facility Access security clearance

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES

1. General Statement of Purpose of the Contract

This position will support USAID/Colombia . PGO currently works in three major areas: 1) Good Governance and Transparency; 2) Reconciliation, cohesive and inclusive society resilient to conflict and improved citizen-responsive governance. It also supports Colombian efforts to transition from conflict toward a sustainable, inclusive peace by addressing key drivers of conflict, including weak State presence, human rights violations, inequality, and citizen insecurity, among others. The incumbent will be leading and managing initiatives and PGO activities.

2. Statement of Duties to be Performed

A. Activity Management and Design (60%): The incumbent provides broad-based program management support for peacebuilding and governance activities. Specifically, the incumbent will assist PGO to carry out any or all of the following tasks: oversee and evaluate contractor/grantee performance, project cost and progress, project reporting, and other relevant program management constructs. The incumbent also will assist with activity design and procurement.

B. Country Analysis and Program Reporting (20%): The incumbent will provide strategic leadership on the development and implementation of USAID programs and other PGO initiatives to achieve results in line with USAID objectives. Among other things, s/he will provide policy and technical analysis and develop and support programming to achieve results. S/he also will engage Mission/Agency/Embassy leaders and technical/high-level external counterparts related to her/his analysis, recommendations and programming.

Additionally, the incumbent will assist the PGO Office in fulfilling a number of program support requirements, which are substantial due to the high-profile nature of the portfolio. The incumbent must be able to prepare briefing documents in a professional manner. The incumbent will support PGO in a wide variety of assigned tasks, including contributing to annual performance reviews of programs and developing Mission Operating Plans; organizing donor coordination events in support of project activities; arranging site visits for high-level U.S. government visitors; and facilitating meetings between partners, Colombian government officials, and Mission staff.

C. Communication and Partnerships (20%): The incumbent will lead PGO efforts to build, expand and maintain partnerships with the private sector, civil society, foundations, academic institutions, Colombian government entities, other donors, etc. S/he will maintain an active dialogue with key counterparts to advance programming objectives and results. S/he will brief PGO, Mission and Embassy leadership on PGO issues and programming, as well as represent USAID within the Mission and Embassy and to technical and high-level external counterparts.

3. Supervisory Relationship:

The incumbent will receive direct supervision from the PGO Deputy Director. The incumbent must be able to work with minimal supervision and implement tasks independently. S/he will be expected to report on the progress of activities assigned.

4. Supervisory Controls:

This is a non-supervisory position.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

a. Education:

public administration, political science, law, economics, or related field is required.

b. Work Experience: Minimum of five years of experience in a professional environment with increasing responsibility. Knowledge and understanding of conflict prevention, democracy, human rights, and governance or related programming and project management is required.

c. Post Entry Training: The USAID Automated Directive System (ADS) and the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) provide the policies and procedures which govern work in project management. There are also several applicable Mission Orders which interpret and apply ADS information at the USAID/Colombia mission level.

d. Job Knowledge: General knowledge of Peacebuilding and Governance-related issues in international contexts is required. The incumbent will design and procure new activities and provide technical direction to implementing partners operating in this complex environment.

Given mobility restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is likely that the incumbent will monitor activities remotely. The incumbent will not be expected to travel to areas where his/her personal security could be at risk.

e. Skills and Abilities: The incumbent must be able to obtain, analyze, organize, and interpret data from a variety of sources and present findings in oral and written form. Must be able to prepare complete, accurate, and well-presented reports, as well as develop and present ad-hoc briefings. Must be diplomatic and able to work effectively with other USAID and Embassy staff. Strong leadership and management skills, excellent organizational skills, sound judgment, and an ability to work independently

f. Language Proficiency: Level IV English (spoken and written) and Level II Spanish (spoken and written) are required.

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. The CO reserves the right at any point in the evaluation process to establish a competitive range of offerors with whom negotiations will be conducted pursuant to FAR 15.306(c). In accordance with FAR 52.215-1, if the CO determines that the number of offers that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the CO may limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated offers. The FAR provisions referenced above are available at https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.

USAID policy specifies that U.S. citizens or resident aliens (USNs) are preferred over third country nationals (TCNs). Therefore, USN and TCN offers will not be evaluated together.

USAID will evaluate USN offers first and if the CO determines that there are no qualified

US

TCN personal services contractor must provide at least two hours/week of training to a cooperating country national (CCN) designated by USAID. The PSC Supervisor will establish a training plan with benchmarks to measure the TCNPSC's progress toward achieving this

A. Selection Process

After the closing date for receipt of applications, a committee will convene to review applications that meet the minimum requirements and evaluate them in accordance with the evaluation criteria. Applications from candidates who do not meet the minimum requirements will not be scored. As part of the selection process, finalist candidates will be interviewed.

references must be able to provide substantive information about his/her past performance and abilities. If an applicant does not wish USAID to contact a current employer for a reference s concurrence.

B. Evaluation Factors:

Those applicants who meet the minimum education and experience qualifications will be presentation, and communication skills. On a supplement document included with the application package, applicants should cite specific, illustrative examples to address each factor. Responses are limited to 500 words (approx. 1/2 type written page) per factor.

Applicants should describe specifically and accurately experience, training, education and/or awards they have received that are relevant to the factor. Applicants should include their name and the announcement number at the top of each additional page. Failure to specifically address the Evaluation Factors may result in the applicant not receiving full credit for pertinent experience.

FACTOR #1: Technical expertise in conflict prevention, democracy, human rights, and governance international development programming.

FACTOR # 2: Experience in management of contracts and grants.

FACTOR # 3: Experience in working with national and local governments. Experience in Colombia or the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Applicants who clearly meet the Education/Experience requirements and basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on scoring of their Evaluation Factor responses.

Those applicants determined to be competitively ranked will also be evaluated on their interview performance and satisfactory professional reference checks. The Applicant Rating System is as follows:

Evaluation Factors:

Factor #1: 25 points Factor #2: 25 points Factor #3: 25 points Interview Performance 25 points

Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks Pass/Fail (no points assigned)

Total Possible Points: 100

IV. SUBMITTING AN OFFER

All offers must be submitted by e-mail with the subject line: SOL: 72051421R00012 Project Management Specialist Peacebuilding and Governance at bogotausaidhrteam@usaid.gov

Attention: Executive Officer USAID/Colombia Human Resources Office

Offerors must submit their application by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3 and submitted to the Point of Contact in Section 1.

Incomplete offer packages may be eliminated from further consideration. All documentation will be reviewed to ensure offerors meet the minimum requirements, and offerors who do not meet the minimum requirements will not be scored.

Offerors may be invited to take a written technical test. Final offerors may be interviewed.

information about his/her past performance and abilities. If an offeror does not wish USAID to contact a current employer for a refere

HOW TO APPLY

Qualified offerors must submit the following documents in English, or their application will not be considered for this position:

1. Eligible offerors are required to complete and submit the offer form AID 309-2 https://www.usaid.gov/forms

2. Current curriculum vitae (CV) or resume containing sufficient relevant information that respond to the requirements of the position (maximum 3 pages) PDF format.

3. List (not a written letter of reference) of a minimum of three (3) professional references with complete name, title, organization where he/she works, description of relationship, and with working/accurate telephone and e-mail information. These professional references must not be family members or relatives. The offeror's references must be able to provide substantive information about his/her past performance and abilities. At least one reference must be from a current or former supervisor (Three contacts in one page) PDF format.

4. Supplemental Narrative with written responses to the evaluation criteria education, prior

- Minimum Qualifications Required for this Position imum 2 pages)

PDF format.

1. IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

At the time of the offer, candidates must fully meet the education requirement (graduated and degree and/or diploma already received) as specified and must also meet in full the work experience requirement. There is no exception for these requirements.

USAID retains the right to cancel or amend the solicitation and associated actions at any stage of the recruitment process.

USAID reserves the right to obtain information on finalists from any and all sources inside or outside the US Government.

V. LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS PRIOR TO AWARD

Once the CO informs the successful candidate of being selected for a contract award, the CO will provide him/her instructions about how to complete and submit the following forms.

1. Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306).

2. Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet (AID 1420-17).

3. Medical clearance.

4. Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions (for National Security) (SF-85).

5. Fingerprint Card (FD-258) if it is needed for security.

VI. BENEFITS/ALLOWANCES:

As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a USPSC is normally authorized the following benefits and allowances:

(a)

(b) Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance

(c) Pay Comparability Adjustment

(d) Annual Increase (pending a satisfactory performance evaluation)

(e) ompensation

(f) Annual Sick Leave

ALLOWANCES (If Applicable):

Section numbers refer to rules from the Department of State Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas), available at https://aoprals.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=282&menu_id=101

Allowances applicable for TCN PCSs per Mission Director approval

VII. TAXES

USPSCs are required to pay Federal income taxes, FICA, Medicare and applicable State Income taxes.

VIII. USAID REGULATIONS, POLICIES AND CONTRACT CLAUSES PERTAINING

TO PSCs

USAID regulations and policies governing USPSC awards are available at these sources:

1.

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/aidar_0.pdf

2. Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at https://www.usaid.gov/forms Pricing by line items is to be determined upon contract award as described below:

LINE ITEMS

ITEM No.

(A)

SUPPLIES/SERVICES (DESCRIPTION)

(B)

QUANTI

TY

(C)

UNIT

(D)

UNIT PRICE

(E)

AMOUNT

(F)

0001 Base Period Compensation, Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) Award Type: Cost Product Service Code: R497 Agency/Bureau: 72/72 Appropriation: 7219/201037 BFY/Fund: 514-DOAG-514-012 Program Area: PO2. Program Element: PO2.1 EOCC: 1130000 and EOCC: 1210000

1 LOT LC$TBD LC$TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor

3. Acquisition & Assistance Policy Directives/Contract Information Bulletins (AAPDs/CIBs) for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals available at https://www.usaid.v/work-usaid/aapds-cibs

4. Ethical Conduct. By the acceptance of a USAID personal services contract as an Standards of Ethical

Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, Government Ethics, in accordance with General Provision 2 and 5 CFR 2635. See https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/OGE%20Regulations

5. PSC Ombudsman

The PSC Ombudsman serves as a resource for any Personal Services Contractor who has entered into a contract with the United States Agency for International Development and is available to provide clarity on their specific contract with the agency. Please visit our page for additional information: https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/personal-service-contracts-ombudsman