Solicitation_Front Office Special Assistant_GS-12.pdf

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72012123R00001

ISSUANCE DATE: March 24, 2023 CLOSING DATE/TIME: April 24, 2023 (11:59 p.m. EST)

SUBJECT: Solicitation No.: 72012123R00001 for U.S. Personal Services Contractor (USPSC), Front Office Special Assistant, GS-12

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, Sections I through VIII of this solicitation.

Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all offer materials for their records.

USAID will evaluate all offerors based on the stated evaluation criteria. USAID encourages all individuals, including those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, to respond to the solicitation.

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 attached information.

Sincerely, Annmarie McGillicuddy Contracting Officer

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 72012123R00001

2. ISSUANCE DATE: March 24, 2023

3. CLOSING DATE/TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: April 24, 2023 (11:59 p.m. EST)

4. POSITION TITLE: Front Office Special Assistant

5. MARKET VALUE: $71,099-$92,429 per annum, equivalent to GS-12. Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.

6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: one (1) year, with four (4) option years. Options may be exercised based upon satisfactory contractor performance, mutual agreement between the Contractor and USG, continued Mission requirements and the continued availability of funds.

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Kyiv, Ukraine

8. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Secret

9. STATEMENT OF DUTIES

BASIC FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION:

The USAID Front Office Special Assistant (FOSA) serves as an assistant to the Mission Director (MD) and the Deputy Director (DMD) of the USAID Regional Mission for Ukraine and Belarus, working in close collaboration with the two Administrative Assistants within the USAID Director’s Office. The incumbent is the focal point for the flow of paper and assignments to and from the USAID Director’s Office and assists its staff in a variety of ways, such as managing key priorities and activities of the Director’s Office; receiving actions from the Embassy Front Office and assigning them to USAID Mission staff in consultation with the MD and DMD; tracking and tasking actions and ensuring that they are completed by the due date; and drafting and reviewing communications in English. The FOSA administers communications, information, and recommendations to aid the MD’s and DMD’s decision-making process on programs and operations, and facilitates communication between the Director’s Office and USAID/Ukraine staff, the Embassy Kyiv interagency, the public, the domestic and international private sector, the GOU, and other development partners and stakeholders.

The Front Office Special Assistant supports the Director’s Office on a variety of complex and sensitive program, operational, and logistical issues. The FOSA provides office operations support for USAID’s programming and management processes within the Director’s Office and performs a liaison function.

The incumbent assists with clearances and approvals of documents to and from the Mission Director or Deputy Mission Director and, in the process, builds strong partnerships with intra-mission and interagency contacts.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Liaison with the Embassy Front Office and Interagency The incumbent’s core duties will require coordination with the Embassy’s Front Office and the broader interagency given their strategic nexus within the USG’s operations in Ukraine. S/he will maintain excellent relations with both the leadership and working level staff in those sections for timely coordination of actions between them and the USAID Director’s Office. Specific items that go to and through the Mission Front Office include Diplomatic Notes, request letters for meetings with GOU officials, itineraries of USG VIP visitors, and others. The incumbent drafts or edits such documents and routes them through the Mission and/or interagency for action. Oftentimes, the incumbent liaises with the interagency on visits that require Control Officers. On such occasions, the incumbent may serve as Control Officer or work with Control Officers that the Front Office appoints to manage important visits to Ukraine. Visitors that require a Control Officer may include the Secretary of State, the USAID Administrator, Congressional Delegations, and other senior USAID leadership visitors.

During such visits, the incumbent collaborates with supporting offices to develop itineraries for the visitors, ensures that USAID/Ukraine’s priorities are addressed, and that the visitors have secure, quality interactions with implementing partners and beneficiaries, as well as Mission staff as needed.

Coordination with the DOC The incumbent coordinates with the Development Outreach and Communications (DOC) unit to proactively suggest events and participants which may involve the U.S. Embassy, GOP officials, civil society leaders (NGOs, think-tanks, university professors); journalists (Ukrainian and international TV, print and journals); and representatives of the business community (CEOs, Chamber of Commerce, etc.). When such events are high-level and require the Ambassador’s or Deputy Chief of Mission’s awareness or clearance, the incumbent works with the Embassy Secretariat to inform the Embassy Front Office to obtain such clearance. Such occasions usually require RSO clearance and as such necessitate close coordination with the RSO.

Document Quality Control The incumbent serves as a quality control focal point for written materials such as speeches, briefing checklists (BCLs), event briefers, decision memos, information memos, design documents, Cables, statements for public events and meetings that pass to and through the Director’s Office. S/he assists in the preparation of special reporting, planning, operational, and policy documents for the Office of the Director, and coordinates inputs from a variety of drafters. S/he ensures that documents and reports comply with Agency guidance. S/he provides general quality control of the final products and facilitates the development and standardization of document formats, including provision of writing guides, to assist drafters. S/he liaises with USG personnel within and outside the Mission to facilitate cross-team consensus for speedy and appropriate clearance of documents. The incumbent will require in-depth knowledge of relevant Mission Order procedures and Embassy formats and processes required for internal USG correspondence, particularly with the Ambassador’s office. S/he will track and facilitate designated Mission priority actions requiring the clearance of one or more offices, or requiring cross-team consensus, to ensure a timely completion and submission of tasks.

Writer/Editor The incumbent drafts, reviews, analyzes, and/or revises documents produced by various offices to ensure that (a) the style and manner of presentation of the information suit the media in which they are to appear; (b) the subject matter is sufficiently clear, and (c) it fulfills its information objective.

The incumbent ensures that final documents are well organized, follow appropriate formats, contain the required information, and are clearly written. S/he also interprets and communicates Agency guidelines to other writers in the Mission in order to improve the quality of submissions to the Front Office. S/he should be familiar with the broad range of key sources of information for Agency and Embassy policies and procedures as well as the Mission’s development programs. The incumbent works closely with all Mission staff and serves as an important resource person on matters related to Mission communication requirements.

Support to Front Office Hosted Events In cooperation with the EXO team, the incumbent coordinates planning of special events on behalf of the Director’s Office, including hail and farewell events, team-building activities that involve Mission staff, and luncheons or working breakfasts/dinners, Mission-wide town hall meetings and other Front Office hosted official events. S/he also works with the DOC office to prepare invitation lists for Ambassador-hosted events. The incumbent must use judgment and creativity in interpreting and adapting guidelines and, in many instances, must establish criteria and propose new ideas for resolving problems. S/he must have the ability and the flexibility to complete assigned tasks and respond to new requirements on extremely short notice.

Support to other Executive Secretariat Functions On a limited, ad-hoc basis, and/or in the absence of the Supervisor, the incumbent will support other functions of the Director’s Office. On an ad-hoc basis, the incumbent may also be required to provide, organize, and/or facilitate periodic informal training sessions to Mission staff regarding the aforementioned areas of responsibilities in order to share best-practices, inform staff of regulations/policies, further the professional development of the staff, and/or to improve internal efficiency of the Mission.

SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP:

The Specialist receives guidance from the Mission Director or his/her designee and prioritizes and manipulates scheduling independently. The Specialist is professionally responsive, tactful, courteous, adaptable, resourceful and uses good judgment in determining priorities and in making or recommending decisions.

10. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: U.S. Citizens only

11. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.

12. POINT OF CONTACT: All questions and offers must be submitted by email to KyivVacancies@usaid.gov

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

Education: The position requires a bachelor's degree or higher in business/management, social sciences, or a related field.

Prior Work Experience: Three to Five years of progressively responsible experience performing a full range of high-level administrative and program support assistance. Including, serving as a liaison, and quality control point of contact for written materials. Experience in establishing and maintaining contacts with high-level entities and individuals at the ministerial and deputy ministerial level. Experience in guiding, supporting, and coordinating the work with other staff.

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

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.

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

Selection Process and Basis of Evaluation: Offerors who clearly meet the aforementioned minimum education and work experience qualification requirements may be further evaluated through review of the offeror’s submitted required documents (see section IV below) and ranked based on the below evaluation and selection factors. A competitive range may be established of the highest-ranked offerors, who may be further evaluated through technical tests, interviews, and reference checks to determine the most qualified/highest-ranked offerors. Reference checks may be conducted with the highest-ranked offerors. 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 may be conducted with the most qualified/ highest-ranked offerors at the conclusion of evaluations.

Education (10 Points): The position requires a bachelor's degree or higher in business/ management, social sciences, or a related field.

Prior Work Experience (20 Points): Three to Five years of progressively responsible experience performing a full range of high-level administrative and program support assistance. Including, serving as a liaison, and quality control point of contact for written materials. Experience in establishing and maintaining contacts with high-level entities and individuals at the ministerial and deputy ministerial level. Experience in guiding, supporting, and coordinating the work with other staff.

Knowledge (35 Points): The position requires excellent written and oral communication skills especially the ability to develop concise, well-written documents as well as command of sources to develop authoritative information on the programs, policies, functions. Knowledge of administrative and managerial techniques, high proficiency in Microsoft Office suite of programs, Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team setting, excellent time management, organizational, and advanced planning skills as well as ability to function highly effectively in cross-cultural work environments is highly desirable.

Skills and Abilities (35 points):

The incumbent must have demonstrated excellent judgment and creativity in interpreting and adapting guidelines, establishing criteria and proposing new ideas for resolving problems. S/he must have the ability and the flexibility to complete assigned tasks and respond to new requirements on extremely short notice. S/he demonstrates tact and good judgment in interactions with high-level organizations staff at the ministerial level. Able to work independently with minimal supervision, be able to exercise sound judgment, and be able to provide guidance to others. Have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work professionally in a high stress, multi-cultural team setting with diverse stakeholders.

Total Points: 100 pts

IV. APPLYING

1. Eligible Offerors are required to complete and submit all the following documents and information in English in order to be considered for the position. Submit your complete application package to kyivvacancies@usaid.gov:

a. Completed and signed form Form AID 309-2,“Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts,” available also at Forms | U.S. Agency for International Development. Only include base salary information in box 4 of sections B and C.

Do not include bonuses, differentials, cost of living allowances, or other types of compensation. During negotiations, salary history may be verified through pay slips, earnings and leave statements, or other appropriate documentation.

b. A cover letter of no more than 2 pages that demonstrates how the Offeror’s qualifications meet the evaluation and selection factors in section III of this solicitation.

c. A resume or curriculum vitae (CV) of not more than 3 pages which, at a minimum, describes education, experience and career achievements relevant to the evaluation and selection factors in section III of this solicitation.

mailto:kyivvacancies@usaid.gov https://www.usaid.gov/forms/aid-309-2 https://www.usaid.gov/forms

d. Names of three professional references, including at least one current/former supervisor, that have knowledge of the offeror’s ability to perform the duties set forth in the solicitation. This information may be included in the cover letter or resume/CV.

Late, incomplete, and/or un-signed offers will not be considered.

2. Offers containing all required documents must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted electronically to the email Point of Contact in Section I, item 12.

3. To ensure consideration of offers for the intended position, Offerors should prominently reference the Solicitation number in the offer submission.

V. PRE-AWARD DOCUMENTATION / 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, needed to obtain medical and security clearances.

1. Medical History and Examination Form/ Medical Clearance Update (DS-1843; DS-1622 /DS- 3057)

2. Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions for National Security (SF-86), or

3. Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions (SF-85)

4. Fingerprint Card (SF-87)

Timely completion and submission of the required documents are needed to obtain the necessary Security and Medical Clearances. Failure of the selected offeror to accurately complete and submit required documents in a timely manner may be grounds for the CO to rescind any conditional pre-contract offer letter and begin negotiations with the next most qualified/highest ranked offeror.

Selected offerors who are unable to obtain required Security and Medical Clearances in a reasonable timeframe are considered un-qualified for this position.

Within 2 weeks after written notice from the CO that all required clearances have been received, or unless another date is specified by the CO in writing, the selected offeror shall proceed to Kyiv, Ukraine to perform the services specified in section I, item 9.

VI. BENEFITS/ALLOWANCES

As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, an Off-shore hire USPSC is normally authorized the following benefits and allowances:

1. 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

2. ALLOWANCES (If Applicable) *:

● Temporary Quarters Subsistence Allowance (Section 120)

● Living Quarters Allowance (Section 130)

● Cost of Living Allowance (Chapter 210) (d)

● Post Allowance (Section 220)

● Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260)

● Education Allowance (Section 270)

● Educational Travel (Section 280)

● Post Differential (Section 500)

● Payments During Evacuation/Authorized Departure (Section 600)

● Danger Pay Allowance (Section 650)

● Special COLA

● Hardship Differential (Section 500)

*Dept. of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) (Government Civilians Foreign Areas

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

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

In accordance with AIDAR, Appendix D, 1 (Class Deviation M/OAA-DEV-AIDAR-21-02c):

(b) Definitions:

(5) Resident Hire U.S. Personal Services Contractor (PSC) means a U.S. citizen or resident alien who, at the time of contract award.

(i) resides in the cooperating country for reasons other than the U.S. government or non-U.S.

government employment, under any contract or employment arrangement that provides repatriation to the U.S.; or

(ii) is a spouse or dependent of a U.S. citizen or resident alien with U.S. government or non-U.S.

government employment, under any contract or employment arrangement that provides repatriation to the U.S, 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. 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 AIDAR, Appendix D

2. Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at Forms | U.S. Agency for International Development

Line Item Table

ITEM

NO

(A)

SUPPLIES/SERVICES

(DESCRIPTION) (B)

QUANTI

TY (C)

UNIT

(D)

UNIT

PRICE (E)

AMOU

NT (F)

0001 Compensation and Fringe Benefits/Other

Direct Costs (ODCs) Award Type: Cost Product Service Code: R497 Accounting Info:

1 year LOT https://www.acquisition.gov/aidar/appendix-d-chapter-7-direct-usaid-contracts-u.s.-citizen-or-u.s.-resident-alien-personal-services-abroad https://www.usaid.gov/forms/aid-309-1

1001 Option Period (OP) 1 – Compensation and ODCs Award Type: Cost Product Service Code: R497 Accounting Info:

1 year LOT

2001 OP 2 – Compensation and ODCs Award Type: Cost Product Service Code: R497 Accounting Info:

1 year LOT

3001 OP 3 – Compensation and ODCs Award Type: Cost Product Service Code: R497 Accounting Info:

1 year LOT

4001 OP 4 – Compensation and ODCs Award Type: Cost Product Service Code: R497 Accounting Info:

1 year LOT

3. Acquisition & Assistance Policy Directives/Contract Information Bulletins (AAPDs/CIBs) for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals available are at Acquisition & Assistance Policy Directives/Contracts Information Bulletins

4. 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 Standards of Ethical Conduct Standards of Ethical Conduct

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: Ombusdsman The PSC Ombudsman may be contacted via: pscombudsman@usaid.gov.

END OF SOLICITATION

https://www.usaid.gov/partner-with-us/aapds-cibs https://www.usaid.gov/partner-with-us/aapds-cibs https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/Legal%20Research%20Search%20Collection?OpenForm https://www.usaid.gov/partner-with-us/acquisition-assistance-ombudsman/psc-ombudsman mailto:pscombudsman@usaid.gov