Solicitation.pdf

PDF 124 KB Posted May 7, 2020

Attached to: Executive Office Specialist, GS-14
Solicitation number: 72011420R00005
Issued by: US Agency for International Development Caucuses Georgia

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29 Georgian-American Friendship Avenue Didi Dighomi, Tbilisi 0131, Georgia Tel: (995 32) 254 4000 Fax: (995 32) 254 4145 www.usaid.gov/Georgia

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72011420R00005

ISSUANCE DATE: May 07, 2020

CLOSING DATE/TIME: May 29, 2020 (17:00 Georgian time)

SUBJECT: Solicitation # 72011420R00005 for U.S. Personal Services Contractor (USPSC), GS-14 Executive Office Specialist

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 the Attachment 1.

Sincerely, /s/

Robert Claussen Regional Contracting Officer

ATTACHMENT 1 to the Solicitation #72011420R00005

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72011420R00005

2. ISSUANCE DATE: May 07, 2020

3. CLOSING DATE/TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: May 29, 2020 (17:00 Georgian time)

4. POINT OF CONTACT: All questions related to this solicitation should be sent via email to HR-Tbilisi@usaid.gov

5. POSITION TITLE: Executive Office Specialist

6. MARKET VALUE: USD 92,977 to USD 120,868 equivalent to GS-14. Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.

7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The initial duration of the U.S. Personal Services Contract will be one year, with a total of four, one-year extensions possible. USAID/Caucasus will consider exercising option years up to the time when a Foreign Service Officer is assigned to and able to assume the position.

Base Period:

o/a July, 2020 – o/a July, 2021

Option Period 1: o/a July, 2021 – o/a July, 2022 Option Period 2: o/a July, 2022 – o/a July, 2023 Option Period 3: o/a July, 2023 – o/a July, 2024 Option Period 4: o/a July, 2024 – o/a July, 2025

8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Tbilisi, Georgia.

Frequent travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan is required.

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: U.S. Citizens

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: The successful offeror must be able to obtain a U.S.

Government “Secret” level clearance. If the clearance is not obtained within a reasonable time or negative suitability issues are involved, any offer may be rescinded.

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES:

The Regional Executive Office provides management services to USAID Missions in three Caucasus countries (Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan).

Background

USAID/Caucasus, located in Tbilisi, Georgia, serves as USAID’s bilateral Mission to Georgia and provides contracting, financial management, executive office, and legal services to the USAID Missions in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The three countries are positioned between Russia and the Middle East and, by virtue of geography, stand at a critical intersection of U.S. geostrategic interests. These interests include countering regional resurgence of anti-democratic authoritarian regimes, combating terrorism, and ensuring access to vital energy supplies. In recent years, the Kremlin’s increasing assertiveness has negatively impacted each country in the region and countering aggression is a centerpiece of each Mission’s strategy.

Georgia is a key ally in promoting democratic governance, free markets, and countering extremist threats.

The U.S. Government has invested more than $4 billion in Georgia since its independence in 1991. Despite significant advances in recent years, major development challenges remain, including instability from unresolved conflicts with Russian-backed breakaway regions and weak economic growth. Azerbaijan’s programs are designed to counter Kremlin and Iranian influence by directly helping marginalized rural citizens through entrepreneurial, agricultural and community development programs. Implementation of Mission programs is challenged by a restrictive operating environment that is counter to democratic principles and values. Armenia presents another development challenge due to its unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan, the influence of a diverse diaspora, and its close association with Russia. USAID/Armenia works closely with the Government of Armenia in agriculture, health, civil society, and governance, with a focus on government-to-government activities and cooperation with local partners. Collectively, the three Caucasus Missions have a staff of 28 Foreign Service Officers, eight U.S. Personal Services Contractors, and 93 local staff.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The USPSC Executive Office Specialist will serve in the role of Deputy Executive Officer, reporting to Georgia’s Supervisory Executive Officer, and providing management support to USAID Missions in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. S/he counsels Mission leadership on a myriad of policy, operational, and management issues. The Deputy Executive Officer manages operational and administrative support services for USAID and functions as a Mission interlocutor with key Embassy counterparts on issues related to personnel management, security, and ICASS supported services. The Executive Office is responsible for human resources administration (including Personal Service Contracting), operational and programmatic administrative procurements, travel, information technology, property management, and records management. Together with the Financial Management Office, the Executive Office develops and executes the operating expense budget. The Regional Executive Office consists of 12 Foreign Service National staff in Georgia and two Foreign Service Executive Officers.

POSITION ELEMENTS

Degree of responsibility for decision-making assigned to the position:

The incumbent is expected to perform under general administrative discretion with wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment; work of outstanding difficulty and responsibility; has formal decision-making authority in broad program areas. To fully succeed in this position, any incumbent must have obtained extensive training and experience so that they are able to exercise independent judgement, demonstrate leadership and exceptional performance. Furthermore, the position will have a significant influence on the entire administrative management complex, morale, and organizational culture of the USAID missions of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

Level of complexity for work assignments:

The incumbent will exhibit mastery of specialized knowledge required for the position and a very broad field of expertise in human resources, personal services contracting, simplified acquisition contracting, USG travel procedures/policies, information technology, security, logistical and administrative support, and organizational management in an overseas, multi-cultural context. The incumbent will also represent USAID on interagency management teams and councils.

Knowledge level required:

The incumbent will exhibit mastery of specialized knowledge required for the position and a very broad field of expertise in Human Resources, Personal Services Contracting, Simplified Acquisition contracting, USG Travel procedures/policies, Information Technology, Security, Logistical and administrative support, and organizational management in an overseas, multi-cultural context. The incumbent must be able to integrate administrative policies with the Mission’s program objectives to support Georgia, and other missions in the region as well, complicating the knowledge level required. Although the incumbent must draw upon a variety of existing regulations and rules, often these various regulations from different sources only make possible solutions murkier. The incumbent, then, must draw upon experience and knowledge to ensure sound judgment in translating rules and regulations into a solution, answer, or decision.

Supervisory Controls:

The incumbent will report directly to the Foreign Service Officer/Supervisory Executive Officer. S/he is expected to work with a high degree of independence and must be able to establish priorities, adhere to and meet established deadlines, and perform responsibilities and duties with minimal guidance and little or no follow up. Work produced by the employee is considered authoritative. S/he must be proactive and self-directed.

Guidelines for the required work, including reporting requirements:

Because of the scope of activities covered by the EXO office, there is a wide variety of regulations that cover the various elements, including the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), Automated Directive System (ADS), Standardized Regulations and AID Acquisition Regulations (AIDAR). In addition, some aspects of the job are not directly covered or instructed within the formal regulations such as Global Acquisition and Assistance System (GLAAS) and E-2 Travel. Policies and procedures are also often implemented on an interim basis through notices and Acquisition and Assistance Policy Directives (AAPD) in the case of procurement. The EXO Specialist must have a very sound understanding of this wide variety of regulations and be able, based on experience, to interpret the intent of what at times can be very confusing and contradictory regulations/guidance.

Complexity of the work environment or its potential effect on the position’s responsibilities:

The EXO Specialist’s duties are considerably varied among the multiple complex areas of administrative management. Therefore, the EXO Specialist must thoroughly understand and be able to operate effectively among multiple complex, unrelated processes and methods that create a broad range of problems/situations requiring the EXO Specialist to demonstrate substantial technical expertise and management ability. Furthermore, although a broad array of performance guidelines exists, these guidelines are in a near-constant state of change or revision. Therefore, significant problems encountered will require thorough research and consideration to resolve. The Incumbent must be able to successfully navigate the complex and often evolving working environment and be responsive to high level political initiatives that may affect existing priorities. The Incumbent will be part of strategy teams supporting the Missions’ priorities.

Scope and effect of the work performed:

As a Mission expert on all aspects of Executive Office operation, the incumbent’s recommendations will be given substantial weight in final Mission decisions with respect to administration and management of the Mission. The incumbent is expected to have a comprehensive knowledge of and apply the principles of customer service, as well as sound managerial, analytical, negotiation and interpersonal skills. The incumbent is expected to analyze and interpret pertinent policies for local application, to articulate these policies and their application to USAID administrative management operations, and to put into effective practice USAID regulation and directions.

Level and purpose of contacts:

The EXO Specialist will closely liaise with the three Mission Directors, Deputy Mission Director, Resident Legal Officer, and missions Office Directors and will provide expert advice of the missions’ senior management teams. Furthermore, the EXO Specialist will closely coordinate and liaise with Embassy counterparts, including the Management Counselor, Human Resources Officer, General Services Officer, and Regional Security Officer. These contacts are usually decision-makers and include SES level officers, and may also sometimes include members of the business community.

Supervision or oversight the position has over others:

The USPSC Executive Office Specialist will provide work guidance to the Executive Office team.

The position will not require supervision of U.S. direct-hire employees of USAID or other U.S.

Government agencies. The EXO Specialist may represent the agency, although rarely on policy, and when doing so, only by communications cleared by a Foreign Service Officer. On the other hand, the

EXO Specialist is considered technically authoritative in matters of administrative management and will have wide latitude to make decisions with little to no day-to-day supervision. In the absence of the S/EXO, the EXO Specialist will lead the EXO team, and as such, will be the Mission’s senior most official for administrative management related issues. Furthermore, the employee in the referenced position may be designated as a Contracting Officer and will be delegated authority to sign obligating or sub-obligating documents.

Support Items:

The USPSC will be provided with adequate support services, equipment, and supplies necessary to perform the work.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

In order to qualify for this position, the offeror must meet the following minimum qualifications:

• U.S. citizenship is required.

• Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Law, Public Policy, International Relations, Public Administration, Business, Finance, Accounting, Management, or a related field is required.

• Ten years or more of progressively responsible experience in performing and supervising management operations including a minimum of five year overseas, specifically related to administrative management for a large and complicated organizations, including property management, procurement, travel, contracting and personnel management is required.

Security and medical clearances: The ability to obtain the required security and medical clearances in a reasonable timeframe is considered a minimum qualification. See section V.

The offeror must not be listed as an excluded party in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).

Only offerors clearly meeting the above minimum qualifications will be considered for further evaluation.

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. FAR provisions of this solicitation are available at https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.

Selection Process and Basis of Evaluation: All the offerors who clearly meet the aforementioned minimum requirements as set in the section II above, may be further evaluated through the review of the offeror’s submitted required documents (see section IV below) and ranked based on the below evaluation and selection factors. The additional evaluation may include technical tests, interviews, and reference checks to determine the most qualified/highest ranked offeror. Reference checks will be conducted for the highest-ranked offeror. Reference checks may be conducted with individuals not provided by the offeror. Any offeror not receiving satisfactory reference checks will no longer be considered for the position. Negotiations will be conducted with the most qualified/highest-ranked offeror at the conclusion of evaluations.

Candidates will be evaluated and ranked based on the following selection criteria/ranking factors to a maximum score of 100 points:

Previous Work Experience (40%):

• Experience in performing and supervising management operations, experience overseas specifically related to administrative management for a large and complex organization and including property management, procurement, travel, information technology and contracting and personnel management. Demonstrated successful experience in the field of management and administration including human resources administration, management analysis and planning, general services, travel, procurement, budgeting, planning and contract management aspects of administrative management operations.

Knowledge (30%):

• A thorough knowledge of U.S. Government regulations for U.S. Embassies, and other agencies, or international organizations providing development assistance overseas. This knowledge will be needed to effectively manage an organization’s operational/administrative management systems and procedures to ensure they are able to support the organizations’ achievement of critical, high profile objectives. This includes a knowledge of procurement regulations, personal service contracting, and interagency management agreements.

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far

• Excellent communication, writing, analytical and social/interpersonal skills, demonstrating diplomacy and an ability to communicate and diplomatically represent a U.S. Government organization’s mission, core values and ethos to a wide array of key partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries both within and outside the U.S. Government, with host government officials, U.S. Government-implementing partners, and others.

Skills and Abilities (30%):

• Managerial experience, including the ability to lead, train, supervise and work independently with minimal supervision or guidance. The incumbent should have a demonstrated ability to lead a team, exercising sound judgment with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to handle requests and complaints with patience and diplomacy.

• Demonstrated ability to manage organizational support functions including teams in difficult overseas environments, ensuring that offices or U.S. diplomatic locations are well-supported with human resources, security, procurement, records management, housing, travel management, information technology, property management, and all other necessary functions.

• Other skills include relevant federal government training and certifications to demonstrate eligibility to obtain a basic level Executive Officer contracting warrant. The ability to operate U.S. government computer systems is a necessary skill. The ability to communicate fluently in the English language is required.

• The offeror should have the demonstrated ability to be a customer service-oriented team player, with a keen ability to operate independently and with self-sufficiency if necessary, in complex situations.

USAID reserves the right to interview only the highest ranked applicant(s) in person or by phone.

IV. APPLYING

Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted via email to the Point of Contract in Section I: HR-Tbilisi@usaid.gov

Offeror submissions must clearly reference the number of this Solicitation to ensure the offer is for the position in this Solicitation.

Eligible offerors are required to complete and submit the following documents:

1. Completed and signed form AID 309-2, “Offeror Information for Personal Services

Contracts,” available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.

2. A cover letter and current resume or curriculum vitae (CV) containing sufficient relevant information that respond to the minimum requirements of the position (education and experience).

3. Additionally applicants are required to submit a document addressing each of the selection criteria describing specifically what relevant experience, knowledge and skills the applicant has received relevant to each selection criteria described above, providing periods of performance where possible. Responses are limited to 300 words per selection criteria.

4. A minimum of three and a maximum of five professional references from the last five years.

Offerors must provide email addresses and current telephone numbers for all references provided.

5. Statement of Availability: a written statement certifying the date and length of time for which the candidate is available for the position.

V. LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS FOR PSC HIRES

Once the Contracting Officer (CO) informs the successful Offeror about being selected for a contract award, the CO will provide the successful Offeror instructions about how to complete and submit the following forms:

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

2. Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306)

3. Medical History and Examination Form (DS-6561)

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

5. Finger Print Card (FD-258)

VI. BENEFITS AND ALLOWANCES:

http://www.usaid.gov/forms

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

1. BENEFITS:

a) Employer’s FICA Contribution

b) Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance

c) Pay Comparability Adjustment

d) Annual Increase (pending a satisfactory performance evaluation)

e) Eligibility for Worker's Compensation

f) Annual & Sick Leave

2. ALLOWANCES (If Applicable):

Section numbers refer to rules from the Department of State Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas)

a) Temporary Quarter Subsistence Allowance (Section 120)

b) Living Quarters Allowance (Section 130)

c) Cost-of-Living Allowance (Chapter 210)

d) Post Allowance (Section 220)

e) Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260)

f) Education Allowance (Section 270)

g) Education Travel (Section 280)

h) Post Differential (Chapter 500)

i) Payments during Evacuation/Authorized Departure (Section 600), and

j) Danger Pay Allowance (Section 650)

VII. TAXES:

USPSCs are required to pay Federal Income Taxes, FICA, Medicare and applicable U.S. 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. 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

2. Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at https://www.usaid.gov/forms

LINE ITEMS

ITEM

(A)

SUPPLIES/SERVICES

(DESCRIPTION)

(B)

QUAN

TIT Y

(C)

UNIT

(D)

UNIT

PRIC

E (E)

AMOUNT (F)

0001 Base Period - Compensation, Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs)

- Award Type: Cost

- Product Service Code: [e.g. R497]