Solicitation - 72067421R00013.rtf

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SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72067421R00013

ISSUANCE DATE: December 18, 2020

CLOSING DATE AND TIME: January 01, 2020 – 17:00 – Local Time, Pretoria, South Africa

SUBJECT: Solicitation for US/TCN Personal Service Contractor (US/TCNPSC)

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.

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 offer.

Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in Attachment 1.

Sincerely, Molly Steinbauer Contracting Officer

ATTACHMENT 1 72067421R00013

GENERAL INFORMATION

SOLICITATION NO.: 72067421R00013

ISSUANCE DATE: December 18, 2020

CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: January 01, 2021

POINT OF CONTACT: Thabang Mothupi

POSITION TITLE: Senior Care and Support Advisor

MARKET VALUE: $ 109,366- $ 142,180 equivalent to GS- 15 Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Five years estimated to start on March 2021

“The base period will be two years, estimated to start on March 2021. Based on Agency need, the Contracting Officer may exercise (an) additional option period(s) for three years for the date(s) estimated as follows:”

Base Period:

March 2021 to March 2023 Option Period 1:

March 2023 to March 2025 Option Period 2:

March 2025 to March 2026

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Pretoria, South Africa with possible travel as stated in the Statement of Duties.

ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: United States (U.S.) Citizens and Third Country Nationals (TCN).

SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Employment Authorization - Facility Access.

STATEMENT OF DUTIES

II. SCOPE OF WORK

A. Introduction:

The USAID/South Africa (SA) Health Office (HO) manages one of the largest President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programs in the world. The Health and HIV/AIDS portfolio covers a broad range of health topics, including HIV Treatment, Care, Voluntary Counseling and Testing, Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT), Tuberculosis/HIV, HIV Prevention, and Orphans and Vulnerable Children programs. An estimated 80% of the USAID/South Africa portfolio is implemented through local organizations. These partners are tasked with reaching ambitious targets so that South Africa can reach HIV epidemic control by 2020. This requires USAID and its implementing partners to advocate for strong national health policies, quickly adapt to changing data trends, and adopt reflexive technical and organizational reforms.

B. Position Overview:

The Senior Care and Support Advisor (Senior Advisor) will provide a leadership role in the technical areas of HIV care and support within USAID and the PEPFAR interagency team. The Senior Advisor will provide technical expertise grounded in strong development program implementation and program management experience. The Senior Advisor will also provide significant technical assistance across age ranges and build strong linkages between HIV treatment and other support services. They will assist in the design, integration and implementation of HIV and AIDS care and support programs. The Senior Advisor will participate in the review and evaluation of existing policies on pediatric, adolescent and adult HIV treatment, care and support, including related service platforms and associated policies. The Senior Advisor will provide technical support toward the design and improvement of programs in line with USAID and PEPFAR strategies and objectives. The Senior Advisor will serve as the subject matter expert within USAID/Southern Africa for the HIV clinical continuum including community and facility-based HIV testing, linkage, and treatment services.

C. Duties and Responsibilities:

Improve technical quality of USAID/Southern Africa HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs:

Provide technical assistance, training, and consultation to the Health Office (HO), interagency PEPFAR team, the Government of South Africa, and implementing partners on the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs.

Review the technical quality of projects in the field by conducting site visits, meeting with program planners and managers and providing technical assistance to support program results

Participate in site visits to assess, monitor and evaluate HIV Care & Treatment and TB/HIV programs against goals and objectives.

Regularly analyze program, expenditure analysis, and other related data sources to monitor and evaluate program implementation and inform design.

Advise on Host Government policies on HIV prevention, testing, care and Treatment:

Participate in the review and evaluation of existing policies on pediatric, adolescent and adult HIV treatment, care and support, including related service platforms.

Provide recommendations and suggest modifications to existing HIV clinical services and provide suggestions for the creation of new policies to support and/or enhance USAID HIV activities when applicable.

Serve on relevant PEPFAR and/or National Working Groups and participate in other related collaborations within USAID and the interagency.

Advocate for stronger national health policies through participating in a range of policy development fora.

Strengthen program management of HIV care and treatment programs:

Monitor budgets allocated to USAID care and treatment implementing partners, reviewing budget for appropriateness and monitoring the use of funds for adherence to proposed activities.

Assist the USAID Mission and its implementing partner organizations with the development of work plans for implementing HIV care and treatment activities.

Provide ongoing technical assistance and training to implementing partners on the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS programs.

III. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

Education: Master’s degree in in public health, medicine, international development, social sciences, business, or a related discipline, with relevant academic and/or professional training in HIV/AIDS.

Prior Work Experience: Minimum a minimum 15 years of relevant technical experience in working with international health programs, specifically related to project design, management and performance monitoring.

Language Proficiency: Jobholder must have Level IV knowledge of English.

Job Knowledge: The jobholder should have knowledge of the HIV/AIDS response in the context of highly generalized HIV and familiarity with international treatment initiatives and organizations and the ability to interact successfully with senior level representatives and high-level government officials of international and host country governmental and nongovernmental agencies, multilateral and bilateral organizations. The jobholder should have excellent analytical skills and ability to interpret program, expenditure analysis and other related data sources. The jobholder requires advanced computer skills in office software applications.

The jobholder should be able to work independently, as well as a team member, in carrying out the duties described above. A good knowledge of USG and USAID programming policies, regulations and procedures is required.

Skills and Abilities:

This position requires strong analytic skills and the ability to present the findings from complex data analyses to programmatic staff and leadership in easy to use and interpretable formats. The jobholder must have strong organizational, communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to work within a large cross-cultural team of healthcare technical advisors, program managers and other staff from different USG agencies (USAID, CDC, DOD, DOS, and Peace Corps). S/he must have excellent writing and oral communication skills and be able to prepare written material in a clear manner and according to professional standards.

In addition to the above, experience working with PEPFAR and U.S. Government USAID policies, procedures, reporting requirements, and knowledge of epidemiology and HIV and TB service delivery data elements is preferred. Additional experience publishing in peer-reviewed journals and managing large studies to inform policy is preferred.

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.

The following factors are listed in descending order of importance and will be the basis for the evaluation of applications meeting the required minimum qualifications. All applications will be evaluated based on the documentation submitted with the application. USAID reserves the right to contact your previous employers for relevant information concerning your performance and may consider such information in its evaluation. The highest-ranking applicants may be selected for an interview, but an interview is not always necessary.

The following factors will be the basis for the evaluation of applications meeting the required minimum qualifications. All applications will be evaluated based on the documentation submitted with the application. USAID reserves the right to contact your previous employers for relevant information concerning your performance and may consider such information in its evaluation. The highest-ranking applicants may be selected for an interview, but an interview is not always necessary.

Work experience: 30 Points Technical knowledge: 40 Points Abilities and Skills: 30 Points

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 USNs, only then will USAID evaluate TCN offers.

POSITION ELEMENTS

Supervisory Controls: The jobholder will report to the Care and Treatment Team Lead or her/his designee at the USAID/Southern Africa Mission. S/He is expected to work independently in carrying out responsibilities. S/He is expected to develop annual work objectives in consultation with supervisor.

Guidelines: Guidelines consist of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); AID Acquisitions Regulations (AIDAR; AID Automated Directives System (ADS Series); U.S. Department of State Standardized Regulations; Federal Travel Regulations; Circulars and Controller General Decisions, USAID Mission Orders, Project Papers, Mission Strategy, and other documents available, USAID & OGAC policies and procedures, Technical Documents and Policy Papers. The Advisor uses initiative and resourcefulness in deviating from, refining, or extending traditional methods and practices, or in developing and recommending new or substantially changed methods, criteria, or policies.

Complexity: The Senior Care and Support Advisor (Senior Advisor) will provide a leadership role in the technical areas of HIV care and support within USAID and the PEPFAR interagency team, and provide technical expertise grounded in strong development program implementation and program management experience.

Scope and Effect: The Senior Advisor will serve as the subject matter expert within USAID/Southern Africa for the HIV clinical continuum including community and facility-based HIV testing, linkage, and treatment services. The jobholder will provide technical assistance, training, and consultation to the Health Office (HO), interagency PEPFAR team, the Government of South Africa, and implementing partners on the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs.

Nature, Level and Purpose of : The jobholder has routine and frequent contact with senior officials of the Government of South Africa at the provincial and national levels, other members of the Mission Health Office, personnel at the U.S. Embassy, USAID/Southern Africa, USAID/Washington and other USG agencies such as the CDC, partnering organizations, institutional contractors and consultants. The purpose of contacts is to influence, motivate, or persuade persons or groups who are typically skeptical, resistant, or uncooperative, and who must be approached skillfully to obtain the desired effect (e.g., negotiating milestones or timetables; influencing or persuading USAID stakeholders to agree to use new or improved techniques); representing USAID, as a member of a committee, on controversial topics; justifying the feasibility and desirability of plans or proposals that significantly affect current practices; etc.

Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary, although some physical effort may be required, e.g., walking, standing, carrying light items such as manuals or briefcases, or driving or traveling by motor vehicle or aircraft on a routine basis.

Work Environment: The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, training rooms, and libraries. The jobholder is stationed at the USAID office in Pretoria, s/he is expected to conduct site visits as necessary, which may involve international conferences or trainings.

SUBMITTING AN OFFER

Eligible offerors are required to complete and submit the offer form AID 309-2, “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals,” available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.

An up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) or resume: Your CV/resume must contain sufficient relevant information to evaluate the application in accordance with the stated evaluation criteria. Broad general statements that are vague or lacking specificity will not be considered as effectively addressing selection criteria. Applicants are encouraged to write a brief appendix to demonstrate how prior experience and/or training addresses the minimum qualifications and evaluation criteria set forth in the solicitation.

References: Three (3) references, who are not family members or relatives, with working telephone and e-mail contacts. The references must be able to provide substantive information about your past performance and abilities. USAID reserves the right to contact your previous employers for relevant information concerning your performance and may consider such information in its evaluation of the application.

Security Clearance: Prior to signing a contract, the selected individual will be required to obtain an “employment authorization” if a US Citizen or US Green Card Holder. This temporary security clearance will be requested while a personal background investigation is conducted. Instructions for obtaining the security clearance will be forwarded to the selected individual once negotiations have been concluded.

Methods of application submissions:

For applicants to be considered for this position the following guidelines will be adhered to and forms completed, signed and submitted to jobapplications@usaid.gov, to allow the evaluation committee to thoroughly and objectively review your application vis-a-vis the requirements of the position.

If sent via email:

Thabang Mothupi Human Resource Contracts Assistant Telephone: +27 12 452 2198 E-mail address: jobapplications@usaid.gov

LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS PRIOR TO AWARD

The CO will provide instructions about how to complete and submit the forms after an offeror is selected for the contract award. Forms outlined below can be found at http://www.usaid.gov/forms:

AID 309-2

Contractor Physical Examination (AID Form 1420-62). ** Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions (SF-85). ** Finger Print Card (FD-258). **

** Forms 2 through 4 shall be completed only upon the advice of the Contracting Officer that an applicant is the successful candidate for the job.

BENEFITS AND ALLOWANCES

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

BENEFITS:

Employer's FICA Contribution

Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance Pay Comparability Adjustment Annual Increase (pending a satisfactory performance evaluation) Eligibility for Worker's Compensation Annual and Sick Leave

ALLOWANCES:

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 Temporary Quarter Subsistence Allowance (Section 120) Cost-of-Living Allowance (Chapter 210) Post Allowance (Section 220) Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260) Education Allowance (Section 270) Education Travel (Section 280) Post Differential (Chapter 500) Payments during Evacuation/Authorized Departure (Section 600), If a TCN is selected for this position the benefits will be adjusted as per Mission policy.

TAXES

USPSCs are required to pay Federal income taxes, FICA, Medicare and applicable State Income taxes. A TCN will be eligible to pay taxes as specified by their respective country.

USAID REGULATIONS, POLICIES AND CONTRACT CLAUSES PERTAINING TO PSCs

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

USAID Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR), Appendix D, “Direct USAID Contracts with a U.S. Citizen or a U.S. Resident Alien for Personal Services Abroad,” including contract clause “General Provisions,” available at https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/aidar_0.pdf.

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

LINE ITEMS

ITEM NO (A)

SUPPLIES/SERVICES (DESCRIPTION) (B)

QUANTIT Y

(C)

UNIT (D)

UNIT PRICE (E)

AMOUNT (F)

Base Period - Compensation, Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) Award Type: Cost

LOT

$ _TBD

$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_ Option Period 1 – Compensation, Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) Award Type: Cost

LOT

$ _TBD

$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_ Option Period 2 – Compensation, Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) Award Type: Cost Product Service Code: R497 Accounting Info:

LOT

$ _TBD

$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_

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

Ethical Conduct. By the acceptance of a USAID personal services contract as an individual, the contractor will be acknowledging receipt of the “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” available from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, in accordance with General Provision 2 and 5 CFR 2635. See https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/OGE%20Regulations .

***END OF SOLICITATION***