Statement_of_Work_Solicitation-SOL-306-17-00001.pdf

USAID/Afghanistan

Statement of Work Online Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

A. BACKGROUND

USAID/Afghanistan is the largest USAID Mission in the world with a workforce consisting of U.S.

Direct Hires (USDHs) and three categories of Personal Services Contractors: U.S. citizens (USPSC), Foreign Service Nationals (FSNPSC), and Third Country Nationals (TCNPSC). The Executive Office

(EXO) leads the Mission’s human resources programs and policies and manages the overall recruitment for approximately 320 positions. Within the Executive Office, the Human Resources

Office (EXO/HR) oversees the work force management portfolio engaging in talent acquisition and retention and is responsible to ensure consistency and compliance in the recruitment and selection process for the Mission.

USAID/Afghanistan currently uses a manual system to advertise vacancies and screen applications. As such, both internal and external applicants must contact EXO/HR to learn the status of their application.

B. PURPOSE

The primary purpose of the Online Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is to have a user-friendly, efficient, automated, and configurable system that USAID can customize. The ATS is expected to enable USAID/Afghanistan to streamline and improve the delivery of HR services pertaining to recruitment, selection, and the on-boarding of successful candidates.

C. ATS FUNCTIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

The ATS is required to have the following functionalities:

1. Electronic vacancy announcement submission Application submission

2. Posting on select social media, targeting specific fields and Web sites

3. Customized web-based form upload

4. Automated regret responses to unsuccessful candidates

5. Application status indicator

6. Customized automated short listing system

7. Unlimited application depository capacity

8. Robust candidate data mining and search capability

9. Application management system

10. Interview scheduling portal

11. Hiring Manager portal that permits viewing of candidate resumes and the ability to evaluate Human Resource Staff notes, etc. to promote a paperless recruiting process and streamline communication between HR Staff and hiring managers;

12. Improved process efficiencies by reducing unnecessary processing time by increasing efficiencies in the applicant data entry, tracking, and information retrieval;

13. Enhanced data collection, reporting and data analysis capabilities improve the ability to prepare reports regarding recruitment and applicant activity;

14. Reduced time to build vacancy announcements

15. Automated screening of applications that results in a valid and effective evaluation of applicants’ training and experience (minimum qualifications) as well as an evaluation of answers to job specific questions that results in the identification of the best qualified applicants;

16. Decreased potential errors caused by duplicate data entry

17. Streamlined recruitment process that minimizes time spent in organizing applications and resumes

18. Optional cloud computing data hosting capability to store applicant data, client-based server or offeror-hosted

19. Improved recruitment cycle timeline and capacity to capture the overall recruitment life cycle;

20. Display of open positions to internal employees and provide them with a method to express interest in internal transfer opportunities (with a streamlined application process);

21. Ability to create offer letters for selected candidates, communicate with non-selected candidates, maintain a pool of candidates, and continue communication with non-selected candidates

22. Create new hire packets, orientation packets for the new employees and hiring managers;

23. Manage the amount of time it takes an applicant to apply.

D. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

The Offeror must have proven abilities and experience in providing ATS as described in the scope of work. Specifically, the Offeror must have:

i. Access to and appropriate licensing for operating software that includes an applicant tracking system which meets the description outlined in the Scope.

ii. Current experience operating an application and applicant tracking.

iii. Recent experience implementing an applicant tracking system for an organization of similar size to USAID/Afghanistan.

iv. The organizational capacity to host an online recruitment and applicant tracking system, to provide the necessary implementation and customization required, to provide the necessary staff training, and to provide the help desk and user assistance support required.

v. The technical capability and after-hours support to ensure access to the system 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and to provide the necessary backups should a system failure occur.

E. Scope of Work

More specifically, key areas where EXO/HR seeks improvements include:

The ATS should automate and streamline these processes while complying with Federal laws and regulations. Specifically:

1. ATS must be a safe, secure and user friendly online solution that can be accessed anywhere in the world at any time with the ability to sort, file and screen up to 1,000 applications per single job announcement;

2. ATS solution should facilitate a proven, simple implementation process that can be completed within a short time frame;

3. ATS must provide an employment website that mirrors the graphics and approved logos of USAID/Afghanistan;

4. Per individual solicitation, ATS must provide an online application for users to enter pertinent job recruitment information such as personal data, job experience, education, etc. (online application must collect same information as required on the Application for US Federal Employment (DS-174) for FSNPSC positions or Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts (AID302-3) for US/TCNPSC positions.

5. ATS should further create the possibility to extrapolate the candidate’s information into the specific forms of DS-174 and AID302-3 as both forms are required as mandatory by the USG.

6. ATS must provide the ability for applicants to attach resumes, cover letters and educational and/or other pertinent documents for specific positions in order to substantiate their eligibility for consideration, if desired, all of which must be stored in the ATS for later retrieval by HR personnel; allow applicant to submit a resume, cover letter, references, and application information. Ideally, users will create accounts enabling them to upload/complete required information at their leisure and submit all of it in a bundled fashion when ready.

7. ATS must be able to score (pass/fail) online applications for minimum qualifications;

8. The system must allow for the Human Resources staff to view or update any applicant’s information throughout the entire application/hiring process and to override the referral status of the applicant. HR staff must be able to transcribe notes associated with any specific position regarding these or other actions. All information in the system must be accessible at any time by HR Staff;

9. The system must provide a reporting mechanism so that HR personnel can use the most current data to create ad-hoc queries and reports;

10. The system should provide the ability to interface with current USAID/Afghanistan HR databases;

11. Based on a defined rule, system should automatically remove a closed job from view by applicants;

12. Applicants must have the capability of printing applications, saving them and exiting the system;

13. A built-in client aide validation feature to ensure that error messages are displayed on screen immediately if required data is missing;

14. ATS should send an automatic email to each applicant after successful submission of job information;

15. ATS should send an automatic ‘regret’ email to each shortlisted applicant who has not been accepted;

16. ATS should have the ability to prevent multiple submissions of application for a single solicitation;

17. Allow the applicant to complete an online application and later retrieve the application for viewing, modification, or conversion to applications for additional openings.

18. The system should be able to identify and mark if an applicant has applied for multiple positions during the last six months and is under the recruitment process at any status;

while tracking ability of applicants under each stage of the hiring process;

19. The system should have tracking ability so that an applicant is marked as his/her application is considered for next step of the recruitment;

20. Seamless integration with virtually any Human Resource Information System (HRIS), eliminating redundant data entry and enabling efficient hiring of new employees into USAID/Afghanistan

21. The system should allow automated processes enabling a streamlined requisition/offer creation, offer approval and posting as well as candidate profile completion, including parsing

22. Enhanced candidate relationship management and engagement through in-built communication modality

23. Improving the quality of candidate data mining and search tools to match existing applicants and current employees to open requisitions and pipeline potential candidates

24. A system that will house and track candidates originating from various portals

25. Allow for each opening to include a set of questions that will be generated by the hiring office using a database maintained in the system. These questions must be able to be automatically loaded into the system and must include both multiple‐choice and narrative formats.

26. Provide each applicant the ability to respond to job specific questions developed from each opening in a job-specific questionnaire that outlines the desirable knowledge, skills, and abilities.

27. Allow multiple hurdles scoring of applicants such as on minimum qualifications or minimum qualifications plus preferred. Multiple hurdle scoring may also include allowing some questions to be scored based upon a pass/fail basis (such as minimum qualifications) and other questions (such as preferred) to be scored through a compilation of scores based upon responses to a set of questions.

28. Allow for questions to be scored individually or aggregated into composite scores. The system must be able to score an individual item in combination with another item.

29. Allow for easy addition of status and interview notes to candidate files.

30. Generate and electronically distribute new hire packet to candidates who accept offers including employment agreement, benefits enrollment forms, etc.

31. Applicants are able to create unique profiles in the ATS, which can store historical information and can apply to positions based on that historic information;

32. The applicant should also be able to select different applications if the applicant has multiple applications on file and should be able to (1) update application and/or (2) submit application while the solicitation is still active.

33. Applicant should be able to select an option to update and/or to submit previously created and saved applications from main menu with their user ID and password;

34. Help hiring supervisors identify their best applicants; supervisors must be able to compose job-related preferred qualification questions for applicants to answer when applying for a specific position. These questions shall be multiple-choice or open-ended and shall serve as a mini interview. Once entered by the applicant during the application process, the responses are evaluated by the ATS to determine whether or not an applicant passes minimum qualifications or as a basis for determining the eligibility of an applicant;

35. The ATS must have a dynamic mechanism for weighting and scoring applicant responses based upon equivalencies for combined qualifications (eg levels of experience versus education, etc.). The criteria and scoring for electronically pre-screening applicants shall be determined on a situational basis;

36. ATS allows HR staff to input skill test results, EPT results and any other pertinent recruitment related tasks and actions status for each applicant in ATS database;

37. Applicants are notified of exam requirements, additional documents or further action that may be required for a position through on-screen notifications;

F. REPORTS

At a minimum, the ATS must provide the following report capabilities:

1. Total applications received per solicitation and employee profile; e.g., number of male and female and number of applicants who made the cut from the total applicants;

2. Able to generate and print a single report for all applications with respective attachments for each solicitation;

3. Hiring ratios, such as (interview: hire and applications: hire)

4. Multiple job requisition reports by hiring manager, recruiter, department, cost center, job code, etc.

5. Business process analytics to assess process lifecycle, recruiter workload count and performance assessment, progressive annual growth/decrease of number of applicants for each solicitation

G. IMPLEMENTATION AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

At a minimum, the Contractor must meet the following training requirements:

1. System Users (Administration)

a. Shall provide knowledge transfer with overviews of system functionality via application previews and demos;

b. Work with the EXO team for end user training to ensure EXO’s workforce is prepared to accept and utilize new functionality;

c. Develop end user training and quick solutions guide materials.

d. The system should be able to have a trial period and should be able to accept changes/suggestions and should grant post trail for six months period

2. User training (HR Staff and Technical Office)

H. Instructions for Proposal Submission

Each Offeror should submit separate technical and cost proposal.

a. Technical Proposal

The Technical Proposal in response to this solicitation must address how the Offeror intends to carry out the Statement of Work contained in this solicitation. The proposal must clearly demonstrate how the proposed approach will best achieve the purpose and objectives of the activity, and fulfill the Contractor’s implementation responsibilities. Offeror’s proposal should reflect a clear strategy to the achievement of USAID’s objectives. The proposal must be specific, complete, concise, and responsive to the instructions contained herein.

Proposal is to be submitted in the following format and include the following information:

1. Management summary – Provide an overview of your organization and its history including length of time providing the proposed system, key personnel profile and contact information, organizational structure, financials to demonstrate long‐term viability of the company, and any other information that will assist us in understanding/evaluating your organization.

2. Proposal Summary – Provide a description of the system you propose and how the proposed service and system meets the customization, implementation, training, and on-going service needs outlined in the Scope of Service. The proposal should also outline the technical requirements and capacity of the proposed service and system.

3. Corporate Experience and Capacity – Describe in detail your company’s experience in implementing and operating an online recruitment and applicant tracking system.

Describe your experience as an Applicant Tracking System provider with examples of current users. Identify clients in the property management industry and their sizes if possible.

4. Proposed timeline and deliverables ‐ Describe the timeline required to accomplish the implementation of the system and describe separately the Offeror's and USAID/Afghanistan’s role in that process and associated payments.

5. System requirements ‐ Describe the technical requirements of the proposed system. In order to fully utilize the Applicant Tracking System the prospective vendor must have cloud based system with security features. .

6. Past Performance References – Provide a list of clients of similar size and structure to USAID/Afghanistan, with whom your company has done work specific to this RFP.

Include their name, title, and phone number. They should be able to speak to the ease of implementation, have an understanding for how their system works, and the services received from you and comment on their overall satisfaction. Include a minimum of 3‐5 references.

7. Additional Data/Information – Provide any additional information that will aid USAID/Afghanistan in the evaluation of your proposal.

b. Past performance

i. Past performance information shall include prior experience and similar performances undertaken by the contractor.

ii. Furthermore Past performance can be obtained from the Government’s Past

Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS). The Government will review the Offeror’s three (3) most recent reports in PPIRS.

c. Cost Proposal

1. Proposed system price ‐ Provide the proposed pricing information for provision, installation, and setup of the system; including price schedule for the hosting, maintenance, Training and support services for the entire Contract Term.

i. Describe the on‐going cost maintenance including system upgrades.

ii. Describe any other cost applicable to provision, implementation, and operation of the system.

iii. All pricing in your proposal should be identified as one‐time or recurring. Include quantity discounts where applicable.

2. Proposed support price – Provide pricing information including but not limited to the cost for customization, implementation, initial training, and ongoing support and maintenance.

3. Provide cost for on‐going services based on access by 20 human resources staff members, as well as an additional 20 internal USAID/Afghanistan- Human Resources Office customers and unlimited number of external applicants at a given time. Specify if additional incremental cost for additional user access will be required.

4. Provide a payment schedule against proposed deliverables.

I. PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

USAID/Afghanistan will evaluate and select a vendor based on its assessment of the vendor in the following areas:

1. Proposed ATS ability to meet USAID requirements:

a. Technical capability

b. Software capability to meet USAID Requirements

c. Functionality

d. Ease of use

e. Flexibility and ease of product implementation

f. Results of requested demonstrations and presentations (which may be required during proposal evaluation or before contract award)

g. Software integration ability with current/future system

h. Implementation Plan and Support

2. Implementation and support plan

a. Training and after-sales vendor support,

b. Responsiveness and customer follow‐up;

c. Vendor expertise outlining qualified technical staff and the management plan

3. Past Performance

a. List in an annex (Annex A) to the technical proposal up to five (5) largest federally awarded contracts or task orders over the last three (3) years for efforts similar to the work in the subject proposal. The most relevant indicators of performance are contracts of similar size, scope, and complexity and how recently they were performed.

b. For all contracts listed above that are not in PPIRS, provide a list of contact names, job titles, mailing addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, explanation of relevance to the proposed acquisition and a description of the performance to include:

• Scope of work or complexity/diversity of tasks,

• Primary location(s) of work,

• Term of performance,

• Dollar value, and

• Contract type, i.e., fixed-price, cost reimbursement, etc.

• Point of contact information for the Contracting Officer or Project Manager of the five (5) largest federally awarded contracts or task orders over the last three (3) years.

(USAID recommends that you alert the contacts that their names have been submitted and that they are authorized to provide performance information concerning the listed contracts if and when

USAID requests it.)

Sincerely, Procurement Division USAID, Afghanistan Kabul, Afghanistan