Sources Sought Notice for Acquisition and Assistance Services November 25 2024.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

ISSUANCE DATE: November 25, 2024

RESPONSE DUE DATE: December 6, 2024 (Time: EST 8:00 a.m.)

SUBJECT: Open to All Organizations

Dear Prospective Respondents and Interested Parties, The United States Government (USG), represented by the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Management, Office of Acquisition and Assistance, is issuing this Sources Sought Notice (SSN) for market research.

USAID needs a comprehensive understanding of the marketplace and has noted its areas of interest (below). USAID welcomes responses from all types of organizations. Local, regional and organizations new to USAID are highly encouraged to respond. Small businesses are highly encouraged to respond.

How the Information May Be Used

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 10, this notice is seeking information to inform the design of planned new award(s) offering efficient acquisition and assistance (A&A) support services to USAID staff in Washington D.C. and at Missions.

Information is sought as market research for planning purposes and for determining an acquisition strategy for a possible solicitation, which may have possible small business opportunities, one of which could be the possibility for a small business set aside.

Limitations

Please note that this SSN is not a commitment by the United States Government (USG) to issue any solicitation(s) or make any award(s). USAID is not seeking proposals or applications and if received, they will neither be reviewed nor accepted. Organizations interested in providing an unsolicited proposal or an unsolicited application must utilize the resources and submission portal at: https://www.usaid.gov/partner-with-us/unsolicited-submissions.

SSN Instructions

Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with their response to this SSN.

All responses are voluntary. Do not submit any proprietary, personally identifiable information and/or otherwise sensitive information. Respondents may not receive a confirmation of receipt of their response. Responses that are incomplete, unclear, have unclear elements, and/or do not follow the SSN instructions, may not be reviewed or it may not be possible to complete a review. Responses must be submitted via email, by the due date and time stated above, to the https://www.usaid.gov/partner-with-us/unsolicited-submissions email address noted below. Responses must be emailed as unlocked attachment(s), using one or more of the following: Microsoft word/excel/powerpoint, per the instructions in this notice.

Submit response to: Sharon Davis Email Address: shdavis@usaid.gov

Areas of Interest

● What is the historical (in the last calendar year) and more recent (in the first six months of this calendar year) volume and type of work the organization has done which is relevant to what is contemplated under the “Conceptual Design Elements” in Reference 1? How does the organization’s capability compare to the “Conceptual Design Elements” in Reference 1?

Factors to note:

1. number of employees

2. number of USAID priority countries those employees are working in

3. number of assignments, including A&A-focused assignments

a. for simplification in this SSN, an assignment is defined as a work plan with a set budget (with multiple sources of funding), start and end time, set of deliverables, and need for employee(s) to be brought on/off assignment and typically to travel internationally

b. for simplification in this SSN, an A&A-focused assignment is defined as an assignment with a primary focus on providing federal procurement support services to Contracting Officers and Contract Specialists, and/or assistance support services to Agreement Officers and Agreement Specialists (acquisition and assistance (A&A), and/or support for a Public International Organization or Inter Agency Agreement).

4. dollar value of assignments

Format

Basic Information of the Organization (not included in a page limit)

Organization Name

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

Name of the person submitting this response, Position/Title, Authorized to respond on behalf of your organization (Yes/No)

General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract number, if applicable https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sGjtRw1U6vcnE2MEP9ovtLIaZYpdJ6j43qclUWdEz40/edit?tab=t.0

General Services Administration (GSA) One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract number/ pool/ business category, if applicable

General Services Administration (GSA) OASIS+ contract number/ pool/ business category, if applicable. Please describe if your organization is awaiting a notice to proceed for a potential award on the OASIS+ contract?

Organization website

Does your company qualify as a U.S. Small Business under NAICS 541611? (Yes/No)

Is your company eligible to receive awards under the 8(a) Program? (Yes/No)

Under NAICS code 541611, please specify if any of the following are applicable to your company as of November 1, 2024, per your company’s SAM registration:

a. Small Business

b. Small Disadvantaged Business

c. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

d. HUBZone Small Business

e. 8(a) Small Business

f. Women-Owned Small Business

g. Veteran-Owned Small Business

Is your company any of the following:

- Alaska Native Corporation

- Tribal-Owned Hawaiian Organizations

- Community Development Corporations

Areas of Interest (no more than three singled-sided document pages or excel equivalent, or no more than five slides)

What is the historical (in the last calendar year) and more recent (in the first six months of this calendar year) volume and type of work the organization has done which is relevant to what is contemplated under the “Conceptual Design Elements” in Reference 1? How does the organization’s capability compare to the “Conceptual Design Elements” in Reference 1?

Address the stated Technical Skills and Experience.

Your response is not limited to using this table.

In calendar year 2023 (1/1/2023 - 12/31/2023)

For first six months of 2024 (1/1/2024 - 6/30/2024)

For all relevant assignments

For only A&A-focused assignments (subset of all relevant assignments)

For all relevant assignments

For only A&A-focused assignments (subset of all relevant assignments) number of USAID priority countries with assignments number of assignments in USAID priority countries and, separately, in the United States range of number of employees on assignment range of dollar value of assignments

Please know in advance that USAID thanks you graciously for your time.

Sincerely, /s/ Sharon Davis Contracting & Agreement Officer

Reference 1: Conceptual Design Elements

The following conceptual design elements are provided for the purpose of obtaining market research, and so are stated in the form of a requirement. Note that USAID has not established requirements for any award(s) related to this SSN.

Estimated annual dollar range: $8 million - $15 million each year for five years total.

NAICS code: 541611.

Overall Requirements:

● Providing A&A support services, across the acquisition lifecycle, and assistance equivalent.

● Support for technical design teams planning new activities (see Automated Directives System (ADS) Chapter 201 Program Cycle Operational Policy definition of "activity").

● Support for Contracting Officer and Agreement Officer teams across the breadth of their work and similarly for Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR).

● Locations in Washington D.C. and in-country at USAID Missions in USAID priority countries.

● Funding contemplated for this work aligns with the Bureau for Global Health initiatives.

Technical Skills and Experience:

● Pre-award and post-award procurement support services for noncommercial contracts which are procuring technical assistance and are valued >$100 million total.

● Simultaneous cost analysis of > three cost proposals for a competitive noncommercial procurement with an estimated value > $100 million total.

● Post-award procurement support to a Contracting Officer and to a Contracting Officer's Representative for a wide range of implementation support.

● Pre-award and Post-award procurement support services for a competitively awarded assistance awards, with an estimated total amount of > $75 million.

● Post-award support to an Agreement Officer and to an Agreement Officer's Representative for a wide range of mechanism types and structures (grants, cooperative agreements; fixed amount awards, annual program statement and issued rounds, etc.)

● Providing international travel support and logistics to multiple staff in multiple locations, including across multiple USAID priority countries, across multiple assignments, funding sources, while in compliance with USG rules and regulations.

Requirements: Support for designing, awarding, and managing Personal Services Contracts, Inter-Agency Agreements, awards to Public International Organizations, and awards to local and regional partners.

Technical Skills and Experience:

https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-200/201 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sGjtRw1U6vcnE2MEP9ovtLIaZYpdJ6j43qclUWdEz40/edit?tab=t.0

● Procurement process support, from design to award to implementation and closeout, for a personal services contractor (PSC) competitive award process, domestically and internationally.

● Technical expertise to support the award process for a Public International Organizational (PIO) agreement, to include creating resources and training.

● Technical expertise to support the award process for an Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA).

● Technical expertise to identify areas of improvement in the procurement process that reduce barriers to making awards to local organizations in USAID priority countries. This requires analysis of statutory and federal regulations.

Requirements (a smaller, but equally important component): Support for designing/delivering training, creating knowledge management platforms, creating resource guides/services to enhance the sustainability of Agency staff to do the A&A required actions.

Technical Skills and Experience:

● Technical expertise to establish a knowledge management platform, including searchable repository of examples and curated content for adult learners on A&A topics.

● Training content creation, moderator and trainer expertise for executing training, knowledge management expertise to create and make accessible training resources, across a variety of mediums and topics related to A&A, in support of the adult learner.

Staffing requirements

Technical skills and experience:

Knowledge management specialist:

● with > three years of Federal Government acquisition experience, working on knowledge management, training or resources; either for a federal agency or for a prime contractor

● experience with knowledge management work

● full-time employee of the organization (not a consultant).

Senior A&A Specialist:

● ten or more years of experience with both acquisition and assistance work, to include Federal Government acquisition experience, directly working on contract budgets, either for a federal agency or for a prime contractor.

● full-time employee of the organization (not a consultant)

Senior A&A Specialist consultant:

● consultant at the organization

● Ten or more years of experience with both acquisition and assistance work, to include Federal Government acquisition experience, directly working on contract budgets, either for a federal agency or for a prime contractor.

Senior A&A Leading role:

● full-time employee of the organization (not a consultant)

● Ten or more years of experience (does not need to be continuous years of experience) as the primary person responsible (for example, project director) for a multi-million dollar activity, under which s/he has managed more than 20 staff, who are working in more than 5 countries simultaneously.

Staff Logistics: Experience providing international travel support and logistics to multiple staff in multiple locations, including across multiple USAID priority countries, across multiple assignments, funding sources, while complying with USG rules and regulations.