Solicitation - 72067421R00014.rtf

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SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72067421R00014

ISSUANCE DATE: December 28, 2020

CLOSING DATE AND TIME: January 27, 2021 – 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 72067421R00014

GENERAL INFORMATION

SOLICITATION NO.: 72067421R00014

ISSUANCE DATE: December 28, 2020

CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: January 27, 2021

POINT OF CONTACT: Thabang Mothupi

POSITION TITLE: Senior Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) 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 PMTCT/Pediatric Technical Advisor (Senior Advisor) will provide technical leadership to drive programmatic improvement in pediatric care and treatment and PMTCT portfolios. The Senior Advisor will act as the technical and programmatic lead in Pediatric care with emphasis on newborn and child health issues including HIV/AIDS pediatrics and PMTCT services that includes programmatic linkages with USAID Health and PEPFAR Teams. They will provide technical support, planning, design, implementation, and evaluation expertise for the PMTCT portfolio. The Senior Advisor will be responsible for advising on technical and policy-related issues with Government Ministries, the USG interagency Health and PEPFAR team, other donors, and non-governmental organizations working in the area of maternal, newborn/child health and HIV/AIDS, with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS pediatric care and treatment programs, as well as PMTCT which includes maternal and child health and postnatal care to newborns.

C. Duties and Responsibilities:

Improved technical quality of USAID/South Africa’s pediatric care and treatment and PMTCT portfolios:

Advise PEPFAR in the areas of contact tracing and linkages, postnatal care for newborns including management of neonatal sepsis, family focused care and linkages to improve quality services to orphans and vulnerable children.

Provide technical expertise and leadership in the scale-up of pediatric treatment and care services and PMTCT.

Collaborate with local partners and the Government of South Africa (GoSA) to provide technical guidance to pediatric HIV/AIDS and PMTCT programs.

Ensure that clinical support referral systems are established and maintained between child health and HIV/AIDS programs to facilitate linkages to care, treatment and support including psychosocial, educational and material support for children and their family members

Advise on technical approaches to inform management of implementing partners:

Monitor program progress, identify implementation achievements and performance problems, and advise appropriate actions in consultation with the Care and Treatment Team Lead.

Participate in regular site visits to review program implementation. Based on the information collected during site visits, communicate findings and recommendations to the Care and Treatment Team and, as appropriate, implementing partners and government counterparts.

Oversee/conduct appropriate analyses of relevant data in order to strengthen activities in the areas of neonatal/child health, PMTCT and pediatric HIV care and treatment; in particular, data collection, tracking and reporting efforts.

Review performance reports to ensure that partner(s) are in compliance with bilateral government agreements, and with the performance expectations outlined in their work plan(s) and their agreement(s) with USAID.

Ensure that implementing partners are in compliance with all relevant USAID and PEPFAR regulations and procedures.

Improve collaboration with partners, Government agencies, and stakeholders of pediatric HIV care and treatment and PMTCT programming:

Develop collaborative relationships and facilitate frequent communication with a wide range of partners and stakeholders (the Ministry of Health, the National AIDS Commission, UN Agencies, other donors, USG interagency team, Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), NGOs and FBOs).

Work with the Government of South Africa to build capacity of government counterparts to ensure best practices on pediatric ART and PMTCT are implemented by PEPFAR implementing partners.

Disseminate USAID program achievements and lessons learned to sector representatives.

Serve on interagency and GoSA technical working groups to further country wide PEPFAR implementation plans.

Serve as the technical lead for guidance on pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment and PMTCT programs initiated by the Government of South Africa, the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, USAID Headquarters, and other donor agencies.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

Education: The job holder should have a master’s degree in public health, child health and HIV/AIDS prevention, care and/or treatment services.

Prior Work Experience: The job holder should have a minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible experience in pediatric health, pediatric HIV/AIDS-related activities including PMTCT, and monitoring and evaluation.

Post Entry Training: The jobholder has full authority and responsibility as delegated by ADS, other Mission, and USAID guidelines for C/AORs as such will need to complete C/AOR certification courses.

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, and is expected to establish and maintain contacts with a wide-range of government officials, implementing partners, and site-level providers engaged in neonatal/child health, HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services. S/he must have excellent interpersonal skills, tact and diplomacy, required to establish and maintain a wide range of senior-level and working-level contacts with HIV/AIDS programs in government, non-governmental, and private-sector circles. Ability to work effectively within team and interagency environments, and to mentor others.

Job Knowledge: The jobholder should have a thorough knowledge of neonatal/child health, pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment services including PMTCT in a resource poor-setting, program design, linkages to maternal and child health services, and program implementation and evaluation.

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.

In addition to the above, knowledge of the South African government's national health and HIV/AIDS-related policies, the South African health care system, and the health-related programs of other donors is preferred. Additional experience publishing in peer-reviewed journals and managing large studies to inform policy is preferred.

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

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.

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. A high degree of independent judgment and initiative is expected. The jobholder receives minimal day-to-day supervision, and general technical direction. The jobholder is expected to carry out all duties in an independent manner, calling on the supervisor for policy and decision-making matter.

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 individual will act as a senior technical specialist and as a senior subject matter expert on analysis and advocacy of policy issues, and as such s/he will be responsible in strengthening policy development, analysis, and advocacy that foster epidemic control (percentage of time; enhancing interagency and intergovernmental coordination with internal and external stakeholders and providing technical input on USAID Programming.

Scope and Effect: The purpose of the work is to lead USAID’s technical support to the South African National Department of Health, Provincial and District Health Departments, the Centers for Disease Control, United Nations, the private sector, and other donors to enact policies that foster epidemic control.

Nature, level and purpose of contacts: 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.

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 .

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