New Haven Fire Department Promotional Exam Consultant: Fire Lieutenant

The City of New Haven seeks a qualified professional consultant to develop, validate, administer, and score promotional exam processes for Fire Officer ranks within the New Haven Fire Department, with an estimated 110 eligible applicants for Fire Lieutenant positions and 5 eligible applicants for Deputy Fire Chief positions. The consultant must design selection processes that incorporate best practices in pre-employment testing, comply with all legal requirements and Federal EEOC guidelines, and demonstrate cost-effectiveness. Key deliverables include job analysis completion within four weeks of contract execution, written exam administration within nine weeks, oral exam administration within twelve weeks, and submission of final validation and scoring reports within specified timeframes thereafter. The consultant must provide detailed cost proposals itemized by project phase (job analysis, exam administration, scoring, and reporting) and on a per-candidate basis, including all expenses for subject matter experts, travel, lodging, and materials. Evaluation criteria assign 40 percent weight to technical competence and methodology, 20 percent to legal defensibility and diversity considerations, 15 percent to experience and qualifications, 15 percent to project management and timeline feasibility, and 10 percent to cost-effectiveness using a reward-low-cost formula methodology. The Request for Proposals was issued April 24, 2026, with a question submission deadline of May 11, 2026 at 5:00 PM and a response submission deadline of May 19, 2026 at 11:00 AM. The contract term is anticipated to run from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, with two optional one-year extension periods subject to the Purchasing Agent's discretion, and responses must be submitted electronically through the City's OpenGov eProcurement Portal.

The solicitation imposes no explicit set-aside designations or restrictions on organization type; however, all proposals must comply with Executive Order 11246, Executive Order 11375, Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act, and the City's Equal Employment Opportunity Ordinance, with contractors expected to demonstrate affirmative action commitments in employment, recruitment, and subcontracting. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the available documentation. The consultant must maintain Professional Liability insurance of $1,000,000 minimum and General Liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence with $2,000,000 combined aggregate, and must register their Unique Entity Identifier at SAM.gov if the award exceeds $100,000. If the contract is funded through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) sources, additional compliance requirements apply, including quarterly reporting to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, adherence to the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200), record retention through December 31, 2031, and a cap on indirect costs at 10 percent of the total award. Payment will be issued in milestone increments: 30 percent upon job analysis completion, 40 percent after exam administration, 20 percent after technical report submission, and 10 percent after scoring report submission. The City reserves the right to terminate the agreement for any reason upon twenty-one days' written notice and may require financial statements to verify the consultant's financial stability and ability to complete the project successfully. The specific budget or award value is not disclosed in the available procurement documents.