Updated -Performance Work Statement Translation and Related Linguistic Support ServicesFAOrev.docx

Performance Work Statement (PWS) Contract Title: Translation and Related Linguistic Support Services Agency: U.S. Section, International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) Office: Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) Period of Performance: Base Year - 12 months plus 1 Option Year.

Type of Contract: Firm‑Fixed‑Price (FFP)

1.0 Scope

The Contractor shall provide professional Spanish‑to‑English translation services and related support to the Foreign Affairs Office of the USIBWC. These services include translation, document formatting, logging, tracking, distribution, translation memory updates, participation in coordination meetings, and other tasks necessary to ensure accurate, timely, and complete translations of official documents and related tasks. All work shall be performed in accordance with FAO procedures, formatting standards, confidentiality requirements, and the quality expectations specified in this PWS.

2.0 Background

The USIBWC is responsible for applying United States–Mexico boundary and water treaties. The FAO receives Spanish‑language documents from the Mexican Section and requires accurate and timely English translations for operational, diplomatic, and engineering use.

3.0 Performance Requirements

The Contractor is expected to provide sufficient effort—historically estimated at approximately 30 hours per week—to accomplish the translation, formatting, tracking, coordination, and related tasks required by this PWS. This estimate is provided to reflect typical workload but does not establish a required or minimum number of hours. The Contractor shall ensure all performance standards and deliverables in Sections 3.1 through 8.0 are met regardless of the number of hours proposed.

3.1 Translation Services

The Contractor shall perform work related to Spanish to English translation and associated processing, logging, archiving, and distribution of translated documents. The work will include translating approximately 32,200 words per month from Spanish to English, including letters, news articles, technical reports, presentations, agreements, meeting minutes, international agreements, and other official documents. Translations must be accurate, complete, and consistent with USIBWC terminology and glossary resources. All incoming correspondence from the Mexican Section shall be translated within one business day of receipt unless otherwise directed. The Contractor shall also perform occasional English‑to‑Spanish translations, such as presentations, approximately once per year.

3.2 Formatting and Document Preparation

The Contractor shall format all translated documents in MS Word, PowerPoint, or other approved formats to match the original layout. This includes reproducing tables, graphics, diagrams, colors, and fonts. All translated products must be professionally formatted and ready for immediate distribution.

3.3 Document Tracking and Records Management

The Contractor shall maintain Excel translation logs/spreadsheets in OneDrive or SharePoint as required by FAO procedures. All correspondence must be tracked, including establishing any required hyperlinks between related incoming and outgoing letters. Contractor will distribute documents to USIBWC personnel via email.

3.4 Use and Maintenance of Translation Tools

The Contractor shall use FAO‑provided MemoQ translation memory and the GovCraft machine‑translation plug‑in to ensure consistency. Contractor shall update translation memory databases with all new translations. Any machine‑assisted translation must be human‑reviewed and edited to meet required quality standards. This is not a machine translation contract. Contractor will serve as agency subject matter expert on translation memory and machine translation, coordinating with USIBWC staff and the translation memory and machine translation service providers as needed to set up, update, or troubleshoot translation memory and machine translation systems.

3.5 Meetings and Coordination

The Contractor shall participate in staff webinar meetings, approximately weekly, to review assignments and shall attend periodic binational webinar meetings, approximately quarterly, to provide expert linguistic input on English and Spanish documents.

3.6 Confidentiality

The Contractor shall treat all translated documents as confidential and shall not disclose or share content outside the USIBWC without explicit authorization.

4.0 Government‑Furnished Information (GFI) and Resources

The USIBWC will provide access to Spanish–English glossaries, MemoQ and GovCraft tools, historical translated files, FAO translation logs, shared folders, and tracking systems, as well as training on USIBWC logging and spreadsheet systems.

5.0 Contractor‑Furnished Items

The Contractor shall furnish all office equipment necessary to perform the work remotely, including computer, phone, internet access, dictionaries, and related supplies. The contractor will be available during normal U.S. business hours.

6.0 Contractor Qualifications

Because of limited software licenses, limited access to agency records via SharePoint, specialized and recurring agency vocabulary, special training that the agency will provide the translator on its spreadsheet tracking systems, and requirement for contractor personnel to undergo a government background investigation, it is not feasible for an agency to farm out the work to multiple translators. The contractor must assure that the work will be performed by no more than 2 individual translators assigned to this contract.

The Contractor shall ensure assigned personnel have documented experience translating complex technical, legal, engineering, and scientific documents from Spanish to English. Translator(s) assigned to this contract must be able to demonstrate a high level of competency in Spanish to English translation by verifying such things as: previous work for the Department of State as a Spanish to English translator, submission of technical documents the contractor has translated from Spanish to English (including both the original Spanish as well as the English translation), client references in the water, engineering, or scientific field, other accreditations or certifications as a Spanish to English translator. They must serve as the agency subject‑matter experts in translation memory and machine‑translation software and must have completed or be able to complete the required Non‑Sensitive Public Trust background investigation, including fingerprinting and forms submission.

7.0 Performance Standards (FFP‑Oriented)

Performance standards include translation timeliness, requiring priority documents to be translated within one business day with at least 80 percent compliance; translation accuracy of at least 90 percent with no material errors; translation must use standard American grammar and usage with 100% accuracy, formatting consistency matching source documents at 90 percent; log maintenance within 2 days with 90 percent compliance; and participation in required meetings with full attendance.

8.0 Deliverables

Deliverables include completed translations (Spanish‑to‑English and, rarely, English‑to‑Spanish), updated translation memory databases and troubleshooting translation memory and machine translation issues experienced by staff, updated translation logs and correspondence links, professionally formatted translated documents ready for distribution, distribution of documents, and participation in meetings.

· Completed translations (Spanish→English and, rarely, English→Spanish)

· Updated translation memory database, troubleshooting staff issues with machine translation or translation memory

· Updated translation logs and correspondence links

· Formatted documents ready for distribution

· Distribution of document

· Participation in weekly and quarterly meetings

9.0 Security Requirements

All Contractor personnel must complete a Non‑Sensitive Public Trust investigation prior to receiving full access. An interim determination may be granted based on initial screening.

10.0 Place of Performance

Work shall be performed remotely at the Contractor’s site.