Amendment_No._04.pdf

RFP Issuance Date: March 7, 2014

Questions Due Date: March 18, 2014 Closing Time: 12:00pm EST

RFP Proposal Due Date: September 23, 2014 Closing Time: 12:00pm EST

Subject: Request for Proposals (RFP) No. SOL-OAA-14-000024 Global Health Support Initiative – III Program

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking proposals to provide non-direct hire human resources support services to the Bureau for Global Health (GH), related Washington, DC offices, and overseas field missions as described in the attached Request for Proposals (RFP).

USAID anticipates awarding a Cost-Plus Fixed Fee Term contract for five (5) years, and will be a total small business set-aside. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this solicitation is 541990. The current incumbent is CAMRIS International.

This solicitation is only open to small businesses with a current facility clearance. If an offeror submits a proposal, but does not have a current facility clearance, the proposal will be deemed non-responsive.

Please refer to Section L for information regarding proposal requirements. Offerors must take into account the expected delivery time required by the proposal transmission method they choose, and they are responsible to ensure that proposals are received at USAID by the due date and time as specified in Section L. Failure to comply with the submission date will deem any submission unacceptable and it will not be reviewed or evaluated. Faxed proposals are not acceptable, nor will they be reviewed or evaluated.

Section L of the RFP sets forth all instructions for the preparation and submission of required proposal contents, including critical dates/times for submission of questions, proposal submission closing date and time. Section M states the criteria by which proposals will be evaluated. Oral explanations or instructions given before award of the contract will not be binding.

This RFP in no way obligates USAID to award a contract nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. Award of a Contract under this RFP is subject to availability of funds and other internal USAID approvals.

This RFP can be viewed and downloaded from www.fedbizopps.gov. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. Further, be aware that amendments to solicitations are occasionally issued and will be posted on the same website from which you downloaded the solicitation. USAID advises to regularly check the above website for amendments.

Sincerely, Alisa Dunn Contracting Officer Office of Acquisition and Assistance http://www.fedbizopps.gov/

1. THIS CONTRACT IS A RATED ORDER RATING PAGE OF PAGES

UNDER DPAS (15 CFR 700)

2. CONTRACT NUMBER 3. SOLICITATION NUMBER 4. TYPE OF SOLICITATION 5. DATE ISSUED 6. REQUISITION/PURCHASE NUMBER

SEALED BID (IFB)

NEGOTIATED (RFP)

7. ISSUED BY CODE 8. ADDRESS OFFER TO (If other than Item 7)

NOTE: In sealed bid solicitations "offer" and "offeror" mean "bid" and "bidder".

9. Sealed offers in original and _____________________________ copies for furnishing the supplies or services in the Schedule will be received at the place specified in Item 8, or if handcarried, in the depository located in until local time _______________________ (Hour) (Date)

CAUTION - LATE Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals: See Section L, Provision No. 52.214-7 or 52.215-1. All Offers are subject to all terms and conditions contained in this solicitation.

A. NAME B. TELEPHONE (NO COLLECT CALLS) C. E-MAIL ADDRESS

AREA CODE NUMBER EXT.

(X) SEC. DESCRIPTION PAGE(S) (X) SEC. DESCRIPTION PAGE(S)

PART I - THE SCHEDULE PART II - CONTRACT CLAUSES

A SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM I CONTRACT CLAUSES

B SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS PART III - LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACH.

C DESCRIPTION/SPECS./WORK STATEMENT J LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

D PACKAGING AND MARKING PART IV - REPRESENTATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS

E INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

F DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

G CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA L INSTR., CONDS., AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

H SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS M EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

K REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER

STATEMENTS OF OFFERORS

NOTE: Item 12 does not apply if the solicitation includes the provisions at 52.214-16, Minimum Bid Acceptance Period.

12. In compliance with the above, the undersigned agrees, if this offer is accepted by the offeror will furnish any or all items upon which prices are offered at the price , set opposite each item, delivered at the designated point(s), within the time specified in the schedule.

13. DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT 10 CALENDAR DAYS (%) 20 CALENDAR DAYS (%) 30 CALENDAR DAYS (%) CALENDAR DAYS (%) (See Section I, Clause No. 52-232-8)

14. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT NO. DATE AMENDMENT NO. DATE

(The offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the SOLICITATION for offerors and related documents numbered and dated:

CODE FACILITY 16. NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SIGN OFFER 15A. NAME AND

ADDRESS

OF OFFEROR

(Type or print)

15B. TELEPHONE NUMBER 17. SIGNATURE 18. OFFER DATE

AREA CODE NUMBER EXT. 15C. CHECK IF REMITTANCE ADDRESS IS DIFFERENT FROM

ABOVE - ENTER SUCH ADDRESS IN SCHEDULE

19. ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS NUMBERED 20. AMOUNT 21. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION

22. AUTHORITY FOR USING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: 23. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN ITEM (4 copies unless otherwise specified)

10 U.S.C. 2304(a) ( ) 41 U.S.C. 253(c) ( )

24. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 7) 25. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY CODE CODE

26. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print) 27. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 28. AWARD DATE

IMPORTANT - Award will be made on this Form, or on Standard Form 26, or by other authorized official written notice.

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

(REV. 9-97)

10. FOR INFORMATION CALL:

11. TABLE OF CONTENTS

STANDARD FORM 33

SOLICITATION, OFFER AND AWARD

SOLICITATION

OFFER (Must be fully completed by offeror)

AWARD (To be completed by Government)

N/A 1 108

SOL-OAA-14-00024 X

03/07/2014

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION AND ASSISTANCE

M/OAA/GH SA-44

301 4th Street, SW.

WASHINGTON, DC 20547

See Section L See Section L 12:00 PM EST 09/23/2014

Jacquelin Bell 202 567-4406 jacbell@usaid.gov

X 3 X

4 - 6 X 7 - 28 X 29 - 30 X 31 X 32 - 37 X 38 - 42 X 43 -62

X 63-75

X 76

X 77-85

X 86-100 X 101-105

$.00

Alisa Dunn Contracting Officer

PART I - THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to provide services that fall within the Scope of Work (SOW) specified in Section C for Global Health Support Initiatives (GHSI) III.

B.2 CONTRACT TYPE AND SERVICES

This is a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) term contract. For the consideration set forth below the Contractor must provide the level of effort set forth in B.6 and perform the services further described in Section C.

B.3 ESTIMATED COST, FIXED FEE AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT

(a) The estimated cost for the performance of the work required hereunder, exclusive of fixed fee, if any, is [___]. The fixed fee, if any, is [___]. The estimated cost plus fixed fee, if any, is

(b) Within the estimated cost plus fixed fee (if any) specified in paragraph (a) above, the amount currently obligated and available for reimbursement of allowable costs incurred by the Contractor (and payment of fee, if any) for performance hereunder is [___]. The Contractor must not exceed the aforesaid obligated amount.

(c) Funds obligated hereunder are anticipated to be sufficient through [___].

B.4 BUDGET

COST ELEMENT AMOUNT

LABOR

OTHER DIRECT COSTS

INDIRECT COSTS

TOTAL COST

FIXED FEE

TOTAL COST PLUS FIXED FEE:

B.5 INDIRECT COSTS

Pending establishment of revised provisional or final indirect costs, allowable indirect costs must be reimbursed on the basis of the following negotiated provisional or predetermined rates and the appropriate bases.

(TO BE INSERTED AT AWARD)

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/ 1/ 1/

2/ 2/ 2/

3/ 3/ 3/

4/ 4/ 4/

5/ 5/ 5/

1/Base of Application Type of Rate:

Period:

2/Base of Application Type of Rate:

Period:

3/Base of Application Type of Rate:

Period:

4/Base of Application Type of Rate:

Period:

5/Base of Application Type of Rate:

Period:

Note 1: Contractors are allowed to recover applicable indirect costs (i.e., overhead, G&A, etc.) on other direct costs (ODCs), if it is part of the contractor's usual accounting procedures, consistent with FAR Part 31, and Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA).

CO’s must grant separate subcontract approvals for subcontractors not listed above in accordance with FAR part 52.244-2 and 44.202-2.

B.6 LEVEL OF EFFORT

(a) At the start of the contract, the contractor must devote approximately 76,510 person days per year.

(This number will fluctuate with additional positions added (up to approximately 84,760 person days per year) and when contractor personnel resign from the office.)

The contractor will provide the level of effort of direct employee labor for each year for the period specified under Period of Performance, in Section F. The total level of effort is organized by labor category as listed in Attachment J.6

(b) The number of person-hours for any labor category may be used in any other labor category, subject to the prior written approval or direction of the COR.

B.7 PAYMENT OF FIXED FEE

Subject to the withholding provision of the contract clause entitled “Fixed Fee” (FAR 52.216-8), the fee specified in Section B must be paid in installments at the time of each payment on account of allowable cost. The amount of each such installment being determined by applying to the amount payable as allowable cost a percentage reflecting the ratio of the total contract fee to total contract estimated costs.

In the event of discontinuance of the work in accordance with the clause of the contract entitled “Termination (Cost Reimbursement)” (FAR 52.249-6), the fee must be re-determined by mutual agreement equitably to reflect the reduction in the work actually performed. The amount by which such fee is less than or exceeds, payments previously made on account of the fee must be paid to, or repaid by the Contractor, as applicable.

[END SECTION B]

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OFWORK

C.1. Definitions and Acronyms

ADS Automated Directives System CCN Cooperating Country National – a person who is a non-U.S. citizen and who is a citizen of the country of assignment and is not a U.S. Resident Alien. CCNs may or may not reside in the country of citizenship.

CO Contracting Officer COR Contract Officer Representative DoD Department of Defense DSSR Department of State Standardized Regulations FSN Foreign Service National – a person who is a non-U.S. citizen and who is a citizen of the country of assignment and is not a U.S. Resident Alien and resides in their country of citizenship.

GH Bureau for Global Health GHSI Global Health Support Initiative OMB Office of Management and Budget TCN Third Country National – a person who is a non-U.S. citizen and who is not a citizen of the country of assignment and not U.S. Resident Alien.

USAID US Agency for International Development USC United States Citizen - a person who is either born in the United States or has been naturalized and holds a valid, non-revoked status as a citizen of the United States.

USG US Government USRA U.S. Resident Alien – a person who may not be employed under this contract, except for

US-based positions and only if they can obtain the required security clearance for the position. If a USRA (a green-card holder) chooses to be competitive for overseas positions, they will be asked to renounce their USRA status prior to accepting a contract under this mechanism.

C.1 .1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this small business set-aside contract is to establish an award that can continue the provision of non-direct hire global health support services to the USAID Bureau for Global Health (GH) and its offices in Washington and overseas. These offices include the USAID Bureau for Global Health (GH) and its offices in Washington; Regional Bureaus (Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe & Eurasia, and Latin America and Caribbean) and its offices in Washington; and, Regional Missions and Country Missions overseas. The contractor will recruit, hire and maintain a contracted technical, professional, operational, and support staff that supply support services to USAID’s health programs worldwide. At the start of the contract, the contractor must devote approximately 76,510 person days per year. (This number will fluctuate with additional positions added (up to approximately 84,760 person days per year) and when contractor personnel resign from the office.)

C.2 BACKGROUND

In order to administer a rising number of federally mandated global health programs, inter alia, GH created the Office of Professional Development and Management Support (GH/PDMS) to carry out professional staff development, personnel, administrative and management functions of GH.

For over 13 years, GH has been using non-direct-hire staffing mechanisms to supplement its direct-hire staff (i.e., federal civilian employees that are appointed under Civil Service and Foreign Service authorities).In 2009, GHSI-I was replaced with GHSI-II. The use of these mechanisms has helped fill critical skills gaps pursuant to guidance from the ALC-Designated Executive Advisory Group on Managed Hiring to use program-funded alternatives to meet staffing needs resulting from sequestration, advent of new priorities, highly specialized skill set requirements, and attrition of staff at various levels.

At present, there are 259 contract staff (over 50% of GH Bureau staffing) under GHSI-II providing technical, professional, operational, and administrative support.

This scope of work will lead to a new award that can continue to provide support services to health programs worldwide. The resultant contract will transition current positions under GHSI-II into GSHI- III for continuation over the next five years.

C.3. OBJECTIVE

USAID seeks institutional support services for Global Health staffing under the Global Health Support Initiative – III (GHSI-III) program. The support services provided under this contract will assist USAID in achieving its Global Health program priorities by providing contracted technical, professional, operational, and support staff in support of USAID’s GH programs.

C.3.1 General Framework

Recent reforms to U.S. Foreign Assistance have produced an updated framework that flows down strategies and objectives from the Executive Branch of the United States Government (USG) for agencies such as USAID to follow when creating programs. At the highest levels of the framework, the foreign assistance reforms set forth three important pillars, “diplomacy, development and defense” – and an overarching USG foreign assistance goal: “To help build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty, and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system.”

Additionally, the updated framework consists of six regional/country categories of focus. Within each of these six categories, all foreign assistance is organized so that the agencies’ programs can support the achievement of the following five priority objectives: peace and security, governing justly and democratically, investing in people, economic growth, and humanitarian assistance. These objectives each support the overarching USG foreign assistance goal.

C.3.2 USAID’s Support of USG Foreign Assistance Goals

Under this updated framework, the programs of the USAID Bureau for Global Health fall under the “Investing in People” objective, in the program area of “Health” in the “Development” pillar. The primary purpose and focus of the Health program area is “…to contribute to improvements in the health of people, especially women, children, and other vulnerable populations in countries of the developing world, through expansion of basic health services, including family planning; strengthening national health systems, and addressing global issues and special concerns such as HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.”

The work to be performed by the contractor’s staff provided under this contract is in support of the primary focus of the Health program areas and its USAID established, corresponding elements and program outcomes:

• Element 1: HIV/AIDS – Reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS through support for prevention, care and treatment programs.

• Element 2: Tuberculosis – Reduce the number of deaths caused by tuberculosis (TB) by increasing detection of cases of TB and by successfully treating detected cases, as well as addressing issues of multi-drug resistant TB, TB and HIV, and investing in new tools for TB.

• Element 3: Malaria – Support the implementation of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), related malaria control programs, and malaria research activities to reduce malaria-related mortality.

Develop effective malaria vaccines, new malaria treatment drug, and targeted operations research.

• Element 4: Avian Influenza – Limit the spread of avian influenza (AI) in animals and help to prevent a human influenza pandemic, and in the event of a pandemic, provide appropriate humanitarian response.

• Element 5: Other Public Health Threats – Address public health threats posed by infectious diseases not targeted elsewhere in the Framework, as well as significant non-communicable health threats of major public health importance.

• Element 6: Maternal and Child Health – Increase the availability and use of proven life-saving interventions that address the major killers of mothers and children and improve their health and nutrition status, including effective maternity care and management of obstetric complications;

prevention services including newborn care, routine immunization, polio eradication, safe water and hygiene, and micronutrients; improved maternal, infant and young child feeding; and treatment of life-threatening childhood illnesses.

• Element 7: Family Planning and Reproductive Health – Expand access to high-quality voluntary family planning (FP) services and information, and reproductive health (RH) care. This element contributes to reducing unintended pregnancy and promoting healthy reproductive behaviors of men and women, reducing abortion, and reducing maternal and child mortality and morbidity.

C.4 STATEMENT OF WORK

The Contractor will provide support services to USAID’s health programs worldwide. These services are categorized as technical, professional, operational, and support in nature. The Contractor performance will include:

• Transitioning and maintaining approximately 259 positions that are currently established and funded under the GHSI-II mechanism;

• Successful maintenance of active DoD Security Service (DSS) facility clearance. The facility clearance must be active at the time of proposal submission and maintained for the life of the contract with the contractor providing a ”Security Officer” for all security questions and matters;

• Providing services to USAID offices worldwide on an as-needed basis, both long and short-term.

These locations include GH and its offices in Washington; Regional Bureaus (Africa, Asia, Middle East, Europe & Eurasia, and Latin America and Caribbean) and their offices in Washington; and, Regional Missions and Country Missions overseas. The contractor must be willing to work in Critical Priority Countries as needed;

• Recruiting, hiring and maintaining contractor staff that will be placed in specific non-direct-hire USAID positions. These positions are categorized as technical, professional, operational, and support in nature;

• Maintaining a clear employer-employee relationship and guaranteeing contractor employees placed in USAID positions WILL NOT perform “inherently governmental functions”, nor supervise any employees other than the contractor’s own staff, nor make final decisions or sign documents that commit the U.S. Government. (See OMB Circular A- 76 for guidance on this subject);

• Ensuring contractor employees are aware that an organizational conflict of interest situation may arise due to their participation in the procurement process of a USAID project or program resulting in the employing firm not being able to bid on or participate in any other contracts or agreements with that USAID location. For example, instances when a contract employee is a participant in the design, acquisition or implementation process of a USAID project or program, that employee’s employer may not be eligible to compete for that project or program for a minimum of 3 years. (See ADS 302);

• Ensuring its contractor employees will co-locate with the Bureau for Global Health which, for the foreseeable future, is located at 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA;

• Contingent on growth within the Bureau and its space limitations at 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA, the contractor must be able to provide off-site office space located within ¼ mile (by city street) from the offices of Bureau for Global Health for any contract staff unable to be co-located within Bureau for Global Health office space;

• If deemed necessary by the Bureau, leasing and providing off-site office space for up to 20 contract staff located within ¼ mile (by city street) from the offices of Bureau for Global Health;

• Ensuring contractor employees are able to be co-located within Bureau for Global Health offices in Washington, DC metro area and overseas, including securing and maintaining required security clearances for individual contractor employees;

• Ensuring the contractor employees have performance standards for their position and that yearly evaluations against those standards are performed in a manner reflecting integration with the USAID office of assignment/team;

• Establishing and enabling an environment of open dialog and cooperation with USAID so the contractor’s employees are ensured an atmosphere within which to succeed. This will include an employee orientation that outlines the specific goals and work environment where the position is located; and,

• Requiring contractor employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement, prior to award.

In the day-to-day performance of their work, contractor’s employees will work closely with other members of the USAID teams. USAID believes that for this working relationship to succeed, an interdependent relationship must exist. Each member of the team – contractor, contractor’s employee, and USAID office of assignment – must understand and perform their respective roles, as well as understand the limitations to their roles, responsibilities and duties. These relationships are both highly effective and complex. This means working with a variety of personalities serving USAID under a variety of personnel resource mechanisms. The contractor’s employee will provide support and assistance depending upon place of assignment, fully integrated with the office/team, but will always report within the contractor’s management organization.

C.5 RESULTS – Performance Plan

The contractor will be required to develop a Performance Plan that outlines procedures for performing the work outlined in this statement of work. The contractor is urged to strengthen their plan with processes that show a continuity of services with the least amount of disruption, efficiency, quality assurance, cost containment, and financial control.

The Performance Plan must be centered on strong contractor-written company policies and procedures that will serve as the base for the proposal. USAID has provided guidance in this section for the contractor to consider and address when writing this Performance Plan. This guidance is provided for the contractor to understand USAID needs and processes and must be used to construct efficient, timely and cost-effective processes for this USAID contract.

When developing the contractor’s Performance Plan, the contractor must explain the interface between their internal processes and USAID requirements, when it is appropriate, and explain how it lends impact to the performance of the contract.

In addition, the Performance Plan must also include contractor procedures for recruiting, including:

Positions and Grade-Level Ranges

The contractor will provide procedures to address:

• How the contractor identifies appropriate candidates with the required expertise, availability, language proficiencies and experience;

• How the contractor will make position announcements available to the widest number of potential candidates which must include both current contractor staff and outside recruitments;

• How the contractor will identify appropriate candidates for positions that may contain requirements that include: (1) highly specialized technical needs, and/or (2) availability for difficult-to-fill positions because the position is either located in an area where there are scarce labor markets or at USAID posts where it is difficult to recruit;

• How the contractor will process critical positions where it must be filled on very short notice, e.g., two to four weeks and rapid response will be essential to ensure contract effectiveness;

• How the contractor will provide support services for positions in Washington, DC and overseas.

How the contractor will establish and classify position descriptions and the grade-level range based on direct-hire equivalent ladder positions encompassing GS-6/7/9 and GS-9/11/12/13/14/15; and,

• How the contractor will establish the performance standards for each position.

Terminated Positions and Grade-level Ranges

As termination of existing positions is largely an administrative matter, the contractor’s Performance Plan must explain the contractor’s processes for termination of the approved position description and its grade-level range in relation to the contractor’s administrative processes. The Performance Plan will address some of the following:

• If the position is occupied, how will the contractor process the termination;

• How will the contractor processes determine remaining money obligated against the position; and,

• In the case of restricted funds provided for the position, how the contractor will bring the issue of remaining funds to the attention of the COR. For example: a position is funded by a specific mission, but the mission has decided not to replace the contractor staff after a vacancy occurs and there are $57,000 of restricted unexpended Mission funds in the account for the position.

General Requirements for all Candidates

The Performance Plan must outline the general benefits offered to all employees in each of these categories.

Additional procedures included in the Performance Plan include:

• Vacancy Announcements: The contractor must describe how ALL vacancy announcements will be widely circulated to reach the widest range of qualified candidates.

• Management Procedures for Application: Outline the processes for accepting and receiving applications; validating applications prior to entering them in the candidate application pool; and, other internal processes used to ensure that all responses are treated fairly

• Management Procedures for Qualifying Candidates. After an application has been validated to be entered into the pool of candidates, outline the processes for qualifying each application prior to evaluation. Outlines must also cover preparation of evaluations of applications and preparing qualifying application lists. When a large number of applications are received, preparation of short lists for forwarding to USAID are acceptable.

Removal and Replacement of Contractor Employees

Procedures for the removal and replacement of contractor employees must be outlined in the Performance Plan to the fullest extent possible. For example:

1. If USAID cannot utilize the contractor employee because of changing USG needs and/or

2. USAID is not satisfied with the contractor’s employee performance, then the COR will provide a written request to the contractor for the removal of the contractor employee and a determination of whether to continue, revise or terminate the position description and/ grade-level range. Upon receipt of such a written request, the contractor will remove the contractor employee from the USAID assignment.

If a replacement is required, the COR will advise the contractor in writing.

C.5.1 USAID Position Guidance

This contract begins with approximately 259 pre-approved position descriptions with assigned grade-level ranges (see Attachment J.6). During the life of the contract, new position descriptions are also expected to be established within the identified grade-level ranges. With respect to treatment (i.e., terms and benefits), to maximize equity among the staffing mix found within USAID, position salaries and benefits will be based on US government rules and regulations for Personal Services Contracts (PSCs) for the following hiring types: United States Citizens (USC), Third Country Nationals (TCN), Cooperating Country Nationals (CCN) and Foreign Service Nationals (FSN). This is not to mean or imply that these positions may perform the functions or services that a PSC may perform, or that these contractor employees will perform personal services.

C5.2 Position Descriptions/Grade-Level Ranges

Positions and their grade-level ranges are defined as new, continuing, revised, or terminated. The following guidelines apply when considering processes for these positions:

New Positions and Grade-Level Ranges

A new position is one that is created when USAID issues a new job title and supporting documentation to the contractor who, in turn, creates a finalized position description and issues a grade-level range classification. The following are the interactions with the USAID COR for establishing new positions and grade-level ranges:

• USAID provides new statements of work for the position to the contractor. These statements of work will include the position title, estimated salary (federal grade-level equivalency), period of performance, place of performance, highlights of the statement of work describing duties and responsibilities, desired start date, education/experience required for the position (including minimum criteria and preferred, selection (eligibility) factors and evaluation factors (knowledge, skills and abilities);

• The contractor will prepare a finalized Position Description and classify the grade-level range to be used for recruiting purposes;

• The contractor will also furnish the draft performance standards for the position;

• The documents are sent via email to the COR who reviews and provides final approval of the position description and the grade-level range; and,

• Once the contractor receives the COR approval, the contractor will initiate the candidate search.

Continuing Positions and Grade-level Ranges

A continuing position is one that has a position description and grade-level range that has been approved by the USAID COR. The contractor may recruit for these positions under the existing position description and grade-level range as long as there is no change to the title, qualifications, level of education, grade-level and/or work and the COR has given approval to move forward with a candidate recruitment.

Revised Position Descriptions and Grade-Level Ranges

A revised position is one that is changed when USAID issues supporting documentation that affects the title, qualifications, level of education and/or adds or subtracts work to an existing position description.

If the position description is changed, the position must be re-classified to see if the grade-level range is also affected. A grade-level range change cannot be made unless statements of work are updated and/or justification is created to explain why the position was not correctly graded when it was established.

The following are the interactions with the USAID COR for establishing revised positions and grade-level ranges.

• USAID provides revised statements of work for the position to the contractor. These statements of work may include the position title, estimated salary (federal grade-level equivalency), period of performance, place of performance, highlights of the statement of work describing duties and responsibilities, desired start date, education/experience required for the position (including minimum criteria, preferred selection (eligibility) factors and evaluation factors (knowledge, skills and abilities);

• The contractor will prepare a finalized Position Description and recheck and adjust the classification of the grade-level range, if appropriate;

• The contractor will also furnish the draft performance standards for the position;

• The contractor will send the documents via email to the COR who reviews and provides final approval of the position description and the grade-level range; and,

• Once the contractor receives the COR approval, the contractor will initiate the candidate search.

Terminated Positions and Grade-level Ranges

A terminated position is one that USAID and the contractor have agreed is no longer necessary to fill because of changes due to funding availability, changing USAID programming decisions, or other mutually agreeable factors.

The following are the interactions with the COR:

• The termination of a position will be identified by the contractor in consultation with the COR and the USAID Washington DC office or Mission, where the position is located. The COR will then prepare an administrative action memorandum to the Contracting Officer that outlines the termination and provides concurrence from the appropriate USAID office. This will be treated as an administrative approval under the contract and not as a modification;

• If after consultation it is determined that the position will not be terminated, then no other action is necessary;

• If USAID determines that the position must be updated, then a revised position description and/or grade-level range will be sought in accordance with outlined procedures.

C.5.3 Requirements and Qualifications

All positions under this contract will be placed in support of USAID’s health programs worldwide.

There is particular emphasis on providing these services to high-priority areas as outlined under the seven health program elements listed in Section C.3.2 above, but the contract could include supporting other health program areas as well.

The specific services/tasks for each employee will be separately described in individual statements of work for each position, which will serve to partially justify expected salary levels. Typical statements of work will include: program/activity design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation tasks; policy formulation; budget formulation; mentoring; and assistance with intra- and inter-agency coordination.

In many instances, the contractor employees will be highly specialized, with their statements of work highly focused on the application of their unique knowledge, skills and experience.

General Requirements for all Candidates

The following specific instructions will apply:

• Positions will be filled by contractor and/or their sub-contractor.

• Positions will be filled by individuals that have documented career experience or qualifications in the entry-level to high-level ranges of their discipline as indicated by the position description;

• All contractor staff must meet the required security clearances prior to placement in a position; For

US citizens, it is expected that most position salaries will be comparable to the Office of Personnel Management Salary Schedule from the GS-6 to GS-15 grade level range;

• In the case of Third-Country Nationals (TCNs), Cooperating Country Nationals (CCNs) and Foreign Service National (FSNs), it is expected that most position grade-levels and salaries will be comparable to regional and/or in-country national compensation plans for like positions; and,

• Benefits to contractor’s employees must meet and/or exceed the applicable agency Personal Services Contract (PSC) rules and regulations. This includes US citizens, TCNs, CCNs and FSNs.

Basic Qualifications of Contractor Employees

The contractor’s employees will be a mix of entry to junior-level support staff with an interest in public health and mid to senior-level professionals in the public health sectors as specified in the specific job descriptions provided by the requesting USAID office. Contractor employees will have educational and/or work experience in fields related to public health, specifically with reference to the elements listed in Section C.3.2. Individual statements of work from USAID for placements will outline levels of experience needed, e.g., working in specific or related discipline(s), including experience as it applies to international work, preferably in or with reference to developing countries. Contractor staff may be appointed for a varying period of employment but generally will be in the one- to five-year range. Some appointments may be for the entire period of performance for the contract.

Salaries and Benefits

Depending upon the position and the qualified contractor employee, salaries provided under contracts will be modelled after what USAID’s U.S. Personal Services Contractor’s (USPSCs) are entitled, subject to the Contractor Salary Threshold (CST) limitation; equivalent to what USAID’s Third Country

National’s Person Services Contractor’s (TCNPSC) are entitled; equivalent to what USAID’s Cooperating Country National’s Person Services Contractor’s (CCNPSC) are entitled; and/or equivalent to what USAID’s Foreign Service National (FSNPSC) staff are entitled. In a limited number of circumstances, those salaries that exceed the CST will require written justification through the COR and approval by the Contracting Officer.

Benefits provided under the contract will be consistent among all employee contracts and equivalent to, or exceed, those to which USAID’s USPSCs, TCNPSCs, CCNPSCs and FSNPSCs are entitled, e.g., the institutional contractor’s employees may be eligible to participate in the contractor’s group health and retirement plans, and enjoy any other benefits made available under the contractor’s corporate benefits package. Only where specifically authorized by the Contracting Officer will contractor benefits exceeding federal regulations and caps be paid.

The appropriate salary and benefits must be passed through to the employees of any sub-contractors that the contractor may use in the provision of services under this contract.

C.5.4 Recruiting

The contractor will present the COR with application packages of candidates recommended by the contractor for USAID’s consideration as soon as is reasonably possible after being notified of USAID’s need. USAID considers four to six weeks an average response time, but the timeline may be shortened due to USAID needs and available responses. Each application package will consist of, at a minimum, the candidate’s resume or curriculum vitae; contractor Employee Biographical Datasheet (AID 1420-17) signed within the last 6 months; application letter and/or email; and, a list of three references with the telephone and email points of contact. Application packages are expected to be full and complete and must be submitted electronically. Hand-written documents that have been scanned must be clear and legible to be considered.

The COR will review qualifications of candidates nominated before the contractor forwards the application packages to the appropriate USAID Bureau, Office and/or Mission for final selection. If the COR requests the contractor to forward application packages directly to the USAID office, then the COR will provide point of contact and contract information including address, phone and email address to the contractor.

The contractor may be requested by the COR to provide assistance to the requesting USAID Bureau, Office and/or Mission in the form of arranging for introductory meetings of the candidates and providing a venue for consultations and facilitating U.S. domestic and/or international conference calls with candidates.

After the requesting USAID office has provided the required inspection and acceptance of the final selection in conjunction with the COR, the COR will confer with the contractor of the selected, qualified candidate and direct the contractor to begin the recruitment and negotiation process.

In cases where there is an abundance of applications, the contractor may form a short list of eligible candidates in a fashion reflecting established hiring practices within USAID. The contractor will take into account not only skills and experience but also veterans status, references, availability and approved security clearances. The COR will review qualifications of candidates nominated before the short list is forwarded to the appropriate USAID Bureau, Office and/or Mission for inspection and acceptance.

C.5.5 Hiring, Placing, Removing Contractor Employees

Hiring and Placement: Once a candidate has been selected for a position by USAID, the contractor will make all necessary arrangements for the hiring and placement of the contractor employee, including, but necessarily limited to:

1. Obtaining USAID salary approval from the Contracting Officer prior to making an official offer of employment;

2. Obtaining and maintaining the necessary personnel security clearances through the DoD Security Service;

3. Ensuring the candidate and his/her dependents obtain appropriate medical tests and examinations in accordance with current USAID/ U.S. Department of State guidance prior to arranging for departures overseas when appropriate (i.e., overseas assignments and short term TDYs, which may require medical clearances);

4. Ensuring the candidate for overseas positions and his/her dependents obtain appropriate direction and logistic support from the contractor to transfer to the assigned country. USAID Missions may be consulted for information, but all logistics are the responsibility of the contractor and contractor’s employee; and

5. Providing all new institutional contractor employees with an orientation to the contractor’s organization, philosophy and personnel procedures for the duration approved by the COR, and typically no more than three (3) days. This orientation must also include a segment on USAID organization and philosophy and where appropriate information about overseas Missions.

Once the final selection has been made and the contractor is notified by USAID, a salary approval package for the candidate must be submitted through the COR to the Contracting Officer before making an official offer of employment. The package must include the position description, location of position, the comparable federal or local salary table used in negotiations, the estimated budget for the placement (including a breakout of salary, fringe benefits, international and local travel, etc.), completed and signed Biographical Data Sheet (AID 1420-17) and evidence of concurrence for approval of the candidate and salary by the requesting office. The anticipated time to be allowed for the Contracting Officer’s review and approval is 2-3 weeks and must be taken into account in discussions with candidates.

C.5.6 Contractor Performance

Supervision of Contractor Employees Government personnel may not perform any supervisory functions of the contractor employees. The contractor personnel assigned to render services will at all times be under the direction and control of the contractor. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this contract, the contractor will at all times be responsible for the supervision of its employees in the performance of this contract.

The contractor will exercise an overall supervisory role, including but not limited to: oversight of the institutional contractor staff’s work performance, monitoring of working conditions, assistance with support to the health and well-being of the staff and their families (for field mission assignments/postings), all transportation arrangements to and from the United States for the employee and their family and their household effects (HHE) and unaccompanied baggage (UAB), and support for professional development of the staff. This task will be done by careful monitoring of needs and activities, aided by telephone communications, email, faxes from the employee’s and his/her USAID manager, field reports, and if necessary or as applicable, USAID-approved field visits.

Performance Standards As each position is made available, the contractor will provide the COR with the general Performance Standards for the position in the application package. The COR will review and update the standards in conjunction with the receiving USAID office prior to placement of a contractor employee. Once the Performance Standards for the position are approved by the COR, then the contractor will provide these standards to the contractor employee. Performance Standards are expected to be administered fairly for all positions under this contract.

Evaluation of Contractor’s Employees Using the Performance Standards provided and/or the contractor’s established criteria, the contractor and the contractor employee will draft a set of work objectives and performance measures within 30 days of arriving at a new placement.

Evaluation of contractor employees, based on the work objectives and performance measures, will be initiated and followed-up by the contractor, with feedback provided from the USAID site manager of the position. Performance rating for the contractor employee will be synthesized with established performance standards previously used within the GH Bureau and associated USAID offices.

C.5.7 Administering and Providing Logistical Support to Contractor Employees

Support to contractor employees in the US and to the contractor’s employees and his/her dependent(s) overseas must run parallel to applicable U.S. government laws and regulations as they relate to support, benefits, and allowances for overseas or domestic personnel. Such laws and regulations related to support and allowance are limited to the U.S. Foreign Affairs Manual, U.S. Foreign Affairs Handbooks, Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR), and the U.S. Federal Travel Regulations, as amended. This support may include, but is not limited to:

• Obtaining necessary security clearances prior to placement of all contractor employees;

• Providing transportation arrangements to and from the United States for contractor employees and their families with household effects and unaccompanied baggage (Overseas);

• Coordinating with relevant contacts (including USAID and the Department of State when necessary) requesting placement in terms of physical space, obtaining access badges, configuration of IT equipment and access to USAID network, where relevant (All);

• Procuring necessary computer equipment and supplies for new placements, and replace existing equipment as it becomes outdated or non-working, as appropriate (All);

• Coordinating with COR and USAID CIO staff on the procurement and shipping of all necessary computer equipment and accesses that may be available to USAID networks (Domestic);

• Notifying COR and, where relevant, the appropriate USAID office on projected start date of placement (All) and arrival date in country for overseas placements. This notification must also include flight information and dependents traveling with contractor employee (Overseas);

• Complying with Department of State Country Clearance requirements three to four weeks prior to overseas assignment (Overseas);

• Coordinating in-country logistics with the appropriate overseas USAID office (Overseas);

• Obtaining necessary travel and allowance approvals from USAID, including relocation in the U.S.

when the assignment has ended. The COR can provide guidance to the contractor on a case-by-case basis (Overseas);

• Arranging for travel to and from post for overseas placements (Overseas);

• Obtaining travel plans from contractor employees well in advance of actual travel, e.g. quarterly, with monthly updates, for submission to the COR (All);

• Ensuring that contractor employees obtain a medical clearance in accordance with AIDAR 752.7033

(All);

• Ensuring that contractor employees have valid passports and all necessary visas to carry out planned travel. In the case of TCNs, CCNs, and FSNs, the contract must make every reasonable attempt to ensure that candidates are eligible to be issued a US Visa if successful in the hiring process. This includes ascertaining whether the candidate holds passports from restricted countries. contractor employees are not eligible for Official or Diplomatic passports;

• Ensuring that contractor employees in foreign countries have proper work permits that enable them to perform their duties (Overseas);

• Arranging for all other official travel necessary in the performance of the duties of the position description. Travel is subject to prior COR approval and in some cases the USAID office approval (All);

• For overseas placements, arranging for the packing, shipping and storage of the contractor employee’s household effects either in the United States for short-term assignments or to and from post for longer-term assignments (Overseas);

• Informing and assisting the contractor employee with additions and revisions to the contractor’s personnel procedures, benefits and authorized allowances as it applies to his/her position, as well as any updates to provisions provided to U.S. PSCs (All);

• Providing financial accounting support to contractor employees for timesheets, travel expense vouchers and advances (All);

• Providing a web-based system that would facilitate contractor employee reporting requirements, especially for those overseas. USAID will not finance the development of a new system nor purchase of the base system;

• Providing contractor employees with Statements of Earning and Leave (SELs), reporting and identifying all income and deductions in a timely manner (via email or other web-based vehicle, for overseas placements, in addition to hardcopy) (All);

• Providing…