Language Assistance Services for the U. S. Embassy in Jerusalem

The Department of State Office of Acquisition Management seeks language assistance services for the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, with proposals due July 20 at 15:00 Central European Summer Time. An amendment effective July 15 extended the deadline and integrated 46 questions and answers; acknowledgment of receipt is required by submission.

This is a hybrid IDIQ contract combining Firm-Fixed-Price, Labor-Hour, and Cost-Reimbursement pricing with a 12-month base period and two one-year option years, with performance beginning September 2026. Place of performance spans Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho, the PA Central Training Institute, Jordan International Police Training Center, King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center, and other West Bank, Israeli, and Jordanian locations as required. The contract ceiling is approximately $5.0 million.

The solicitation requires simultaneous and consecutive interpretation and translation services in English, Arabic, and Hebrew (with French and Italian available through on-call surge linguists). Contractor must establish an in-country office in Jericho staffed with one In-Country Project Manager, three office support staff, six full-time interpreters, and five full-time translators; U.S.-based support includes a Program Manager and Financial Officer at 50 percent FTE each. All personnel except U.S.-based managers must work 100 percent on the contract. Estimated annual scope includes 7,200 interpretation hours and 5,760 translation hours. All staff except U.S.-based managers require RAM counter-terrorism vetting; the Moderate Risk Public Trust certification requirement has been removed. Defense Base Act insurance is required only for U.S. citizens, U.S. residents, or employees hired in the United States, with reimbursement at actual cost under CR CLINs. Travel costs are cost-reimbursable at actual expense with a $22,000 ceiling per contract year ($66,000 cumulative life-of-contract). Guaranteed minimum purchase is $5,000.

Quotations must be submitted in two separate volumes by the deadline: Volume I includes completed FFP, LH, and CR pricing for all three periods via the pricing schedule, Representations & Certifications, proof of active SAM registration, and explanations for DBA and VAT CLINs where applicable; Volume II contains technical quotation demonstrating organizational capability, resumes for 14 key personnel (or representative position descriptions and staffing plan if not all interpreter and translator candidates are finalized), technical approach, and past performance on three comparable projects within the past five years. Evaluation is two-phase: Phase 1 conducts pass-fail compliance review; Phase 2 performs comparative evaluation prioritizing technical capability and past performance (approximately equal to each other and significantly more important than price) alongside price reasonableness. Award is not restricted to lowest-price-technically-acceptable; a higher-priced offeror may be selected if technically superior. NAICS code is 541930, Translation and Interpretation Services; PSC is R608.