MODIFICATION
R -- USPSC- Response Alternatives for Technical Services (RATS) - Food Aid Specialist - DCHA/OFDA-05-2064
- Notice Date
- 10/25/2005
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 921190
— Other General Government Support
- Contracting Office
- Agency for International Development, Washington D.C., USAID/Washington, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Room 7.10-006, Washington, DC, 20523
- ZIP Code
- 20523
- Solicitation Number
- DCHA-OFDA-05-2064
- Response Due
- 11/7/2005
- Archive Date
- 11/22/2005
- Point of Contact
- Michael Jones, Global Corps/OFDA Sr. Recruiter, Phone 202-661-9366, Fax 240-465-0244, - Stephanie Paul, Global Corps/OFDA Recruiter , Phone 202-661-9369, Fax 240-465-0244,
- E-Mail Address
-
msjones@usaid.gov, sjpaul@usaid.gov
- Description
- SOLICITATION NUMBER: DCHA/OFDA-05-2064 ISSUANCE DATE: October 3, 2005 CLOSING DATE: November 7, 2005, 5:00PM EST LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: SUBJECT: Solicitation for Personal Services Contractor (PSC) – Response Alternatives for Technical Services (RATS) – Food Aid Specialist (Multiple Positions Available) The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking applications from qualified U.S. CITIZENS ONLY interested in providing PSC services as described in the attached solicitation. Applicants interested in applying for this position MUST submit the following materials: 1) Complete and hand-signed federal form OF-612 (Resumes or CVs in lieu of the OF-612 Form are not acceptable) 2) Supplemental document specifically addressing the Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs) shown in the solicitation. Applications that are incomplete or received without a handwritten signature and supplemental QRF document will not be considered for the position. Applicants are responsible for submitting materials that are in accordance with the attached information at the place and time specified. There will be no exceptions. Applicants should retain for their records copies of all enclosures which accompany their applications. Any questions on this solicitation may be directed to: Amy Feldman or Stephanie Paul Telephone Number: 202-661-9377 or 202-661-9369 E-Mail Address: foodaid@globalcorps.com Website: www.globalcorps.com Facsimile: 202-315-3803 or 240-465-0244 All applications should be submitted to: GlobalCorps 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20004 E-Mail Address: foodaid@globalcorps.com Facsimile: 202-315-3803 or 240-465-0244 Sincerely, M. E. Yearwood Contracting Officer 1. SOLICITATION NUMBER: DCHA/OFDA-05-2064 2. ISSUANCE DATE: October 3, 2005 3. CLOSING DATE/TIME: November 7, 2005, 5:00 PM EST 4. POSITION TITLE: Response Alternatives for Technical Services (RATS) – Food Aid Specialist (Multiple Positions Available) 5. MARKET VALUE: GS-13 ($74,782 - $97,213 per year) GS-14 ($88,369 - $114,882 per year) (see note below concerning market value 6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: One year with option to extend for up to five years (see note below) 7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Worldwide 8. SECURITY ACCESS: Secret 9. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Open to all U.S. Citizens POSITION DESCRIPTION BACKGROUND The Response Alternatives for Technical Services (RATS) is a program developed by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to satisfy its growing need for surge capacity. In response to numerous disasters worldwide, it became clear that OFDA could not find in a timely manner adequate staff to cover all positions in the field, in Washington and to backfill for permanent staff deploying to the field. OFDA’s Senior Management Team (SMT) approved a program which would bring on board select candidates who could work on a part-time basis, for no more than 250 days per calendar year, and be deployed within hours to facilitate OFDA’s response to disasters. RATS positions are contracted for an initial period of one year with the option to extend up to five years. INTRODUCTION OFDA is the office within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that is responsible for providing non-food humanitarian assistance in response to international crises and disasters. OFDA is part of the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA). OFDA is organized into three divisions, under the management of the Office of the Director. The Disaster Response and Mitigation (OFDA/DRM) Division is responsible for coordinating with other organizations for the provision of relief supplies and humanitarian assistance. OFDA/DRM also devises, coordinates, and implements program strategies for a variety of natural and human caused disaster situations. OFDA/DRM employs sector specialists to provide technical expertise in assessing the quality of disaster response. The Program Support (OFDA/PS) Division provides programmatic and administrative support including budget/financial services, procurement planning, contracts and grants administration, and communication support for OFDA’s Washington and field offices. The Operations (OFDA/OPS) Division develops and manages logistical, operational, and technical support for disaster responses and administrative support to all offices and operations. OFDA/OPS maintains readiness to respond to emergencies through several mechanisms, including managing Search and Rescue (SAR) Teams, Disaster Assistance Support Program (DASP), Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs), and Washington-based Response Management Teams (RMTs). The RATS program is managed by the Overseas Administration Team (OAT) in the OFDA/OPS Division. This team maintains a database for all contracted RATS, providing information to the rest of the office on their availability, skills and previous OFDA experience. The OAT assists the program offices within OFDA in choosing the best qualified RATS for any specific task, and provides administrative and personnel support to existing RATS. Each RATS incumbent will provide enhancement to the OFDA team according to his/her skills. They will be considered part of OFDA-Washington resources that can be deployed worldwide. At times they may also be a resource for the DCHA Bureau. Foreign language ability in one or more major world languages is preferred. OBJECTIVES The SMT has determined that OFDA needs to maintain a roster of 50 to 75 RATS to meet its surge capacity objectives. Each incumbent will be deployable to backfill Washington positions, to field offices for staff enhancement, on DARTs and RMTs as disaster response demands, and for assessments of critical situations as warranted. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES RATS respond to humanitarian emergencies -- natural, technological and conflict-related disasters -- as required, worldwide. The contractor may serve in the OFDA Washington offices as staff enhancement when critical shortages of staff occur and on RMTs, which provide program, administrative, technical and logistics support to OFDA DARTs from Washington. The contractor may also be required to travel on short notice as a critical component of a U.S. Government (USG) disaster assessment team or a DART or to backfill staff members in OFDA regional or program offices overseas. Food Aid Specialist RATS • Provides expert technical advice to OFDA DARTs, RMTs, regional missions, and/or OFDA’s Washington-based Technical Assistance Group (TAG) on food aid and food security issues for populations at risk in conflict, disaster affected, or otherwise food-insecure areas; • Conducts initial assessments of food aid situations at the regional, sub-regional, and/or national level following disasters and recommends appropriate relief and food aid activities for vulnerable populations; • Facilitates and coordinates actual USG emergency response activities with the USAID Mission, other donor agencies, and the U.S. Embassy; • Assesses humanitarian food needs, including underlying causes, severity, and likely duration of food insecurity, regional and national response capacity and reviews ongoing emergency food distribution activities; • Evaluates early warning and/or vulnerability assessment activities being carried out by the World Food Program (WFP) and/or other implementing partners; • Recommends modifications to ongoing food aid activities to determine resource requirements based on current and anticipated situations; • Coordinates program recommendations with DCHA’s Office of Food for Peace (DCHA/FFP), DARTs, RMTs, United Nations (UN) agencies, relevant non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other donor and relief entities; • Monitors and evaluates the implementation of emergency food aid activities, including commodity management (transport, storage, inventory), pre-positioning of emergency stocks, distribution, post distribution monitoring, supplementary feeding in support of nutrition programs, and food pipeline issues; • Liaises with other emergency responders (i.e., government agencies, international organizations or private and voluntary organizations), determining the capacity of the affected community to cope with the situation and ensures that adequate resources are available to the international response effort; • Briefs host governments, the U.S. Military, U.S. Embassy and USAID Mission, providing technical support in the areas of food security, food logistics, program development and monitoring, regional contingency and response planning, and refugee and IDP support projects; • Identifies disaster mitigation measures that could be linked to disaster response activities, reviewing mitigation principles and recommending courses of action to DCHA/FFP and OFDA-Washington staff; • Assists in the development of various types of country and regional strategies for field offices, DARTs and assessment teams, providing briefings and written reports; • Coordinates delivery of relief supplies provided by DCHA/FFP, ensuring that distribution is carried out in accordance with USAID principles and strategies; • Interprets USAID regulations and applies them to OFDA and DCHA/FFP activities; • Performs administrative management activities, including providing advice, guidance and direction on administrative matters and provides administrative support to DARTs, RMTs and field offices; • Participates in appropriate training either as a participant and/or trainer; • Operates DART communications equipment and operates a four-wheel drive, standard-shift vehicle in cross-country conditions; • Adheres strictly to Embassy and Mission security guidelines, coordinating all travel with the DART Leader, the DART Security Officer, the USAID Executive Officer (EXO) and/or the Washington-based Response Management Team (RMT). SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP: The incumbents will take direction from and report to the Overseas Administration Team (OAT) Leader or his/her designee, and that person designated as his/her supervisor in the Activation Memo. SUPERVISORY CONTROLS: The incumbent is expected to take initiative and act independently with little direction and will have wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment in responding to food aid needs. BASIC REQUIREMENTS AND SELECTIVE FACTORS: (Determines basic eligibility for the position. Candidates who do not meet all of the basic qualifications and selective factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.) • Bachelor’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field (including but not limited to international relations, agriculture, economics, food policy, public health, gender studies, or a related field) plus seven years relevant work experience with the USG, an international organization or a non-governmental organization, three of which must include on-the-ground field experience in needs assessment, analysis, emergency relief program operations or post-emergency rehabilitation; OR Master’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field (including, but not limited to international relations, agriculture, economics, food policy, public health, gender studies, or related field) plus five years work experience with the USG, an international organization or a non-governmental organization, three of which must include on-the-ground field experience in needs assessment, analysis, emergency relief program operations or post-emergency rehabilitation; • U.S. citizen; • Complete and hand-signed federal form OF-612 (Resumes or CVs in lieu of the OF-612 Form are not acceptable); • Supplemental document specifically addressing the Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs) shown in the solicitation; • Ability to obtain a SECRET level security clearance; • Ability to obtain a Department of State medical clearance. QUALITY RANKING FACTORS: (Used with interview performance and reference check results to determine the ranking of qualified candidates in comparison to other applicants. The factors are listed in order of importance from highest to least.) QRF #1 Direct work experience with a U.S. government humanitarian agency, UN or international humanitarian relief agency developing, monitoring and evaluating, and reviewing international emergency food aid activities (i.e., commodity management, pre-positioning of emergency stocks, distribution, post distribution monitoring, supplementary feeding in support of nutrition programs, and food pipeline issues) and programs; QRF #2 Direct work experience assessing international humanitarian food needs (i.e., underlying causes, severity, likely duration of food insecurity, and regional and national response capacity) and recommending appropriate relief and food aid activities; QRF #3 Demonstrated experience providing technical support in the areas of food aid and food security for populations at risk in conflict, disaster affected, or otherwise food-insecure areas and facilitating/coordinating international food aid activities in accordance with U.S. government regulations with host governments, U.S. government agencies, UN and other international organizations, and non-governmental organizations; QRF #4 Direct work experience with a U.S. government humanitarian agency, UN or international humanitarian relief agency developing/designing country or regional contingency and response plans to food aid and/or food security issues; QRF #5 Work experience with a U.S. government humanitarian agency, UN or international humanitarian relief agency in a team leader or senior-level management position. BASIS OF RATING: Applicants who meet the Basic Requirements and Selective Factors will be further evaluated based on the Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs), interview performance, and satisfactory academic and professional reference checks. Applicants are required to address each of the QRFs on a separate sheet describing specifically and accurately what experience, training, education and/or awards you have received that are relevant to each factor. Be sure to include your name, social security number and the announcement number at the top of each additional page. Failure to address the selective and/or quality ranking factors may result in your not receiving credit for all of your pertinent experience, education, training and/or awards. The Applicant Rating System is as Follows: The QRFs listed above have been assigned the following points: QRF #1 – 12 points QRF #2 – 10 points QRF #3 – 10 points QRF #4 – 10 points QRF #5 – 8 points Interview Performance – 30 points Satisfactory Academic and Professional Reference Checks – 20 points Total Possible Points: 100 (1) NOTE CONCERNING MARKET VALUE: The applicant(s) chosen for the position will be recommended for hire at the GS level (GS-13 or GS-14) commensurate with their overall experience, training, and qualifications as determined by the OFDA Selection Committee. (2) STATEMENT OF LIMITATIONS ON PERIOD AND PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: The purpose of this contract is to establish an employee/employer relationship with the contractor to perform services on a temporary, on-call, basis as a Response Alternatives for Technical Services. It is DCHA/OFDA's intent to contract for these services for a maximum of 250 working days per calendar year. The level of effort anticipated under this contract will be provided within the terms of this contract at times mutually agreed to by DCHA/OFDA and the contractor. Upon identification of a temporary need within the scope of work, DCHA/OFDA will contact the contractor and provide the following information: 1. Date contractor is needed to report to DCHA/OFDA or assignment in the field 2. Duration of Assignment 3. Place of Performance The contractor will notify DCHA/OFDA within 24 hours of availability. At the time the contractor accepts the assignment, he/she is expected to commit for the duration of the assignment. While the contractor will be required to commit to a certain time period, it is understood that the exigencies of a disaster may require the assignment to be extended (not to exceed 250 working days). The Contractor shall notify OFDA at the time of commitment if their existing schedule would preclude an extension. Notification of schedule conflicts shall not necessarily disqualify the contractor from the assignment but will simply assist DCHA/OFDA in recruiting a replacement. Subsequently, if the contractor agrees to an extension of the duration of a particular assignment, thereafter, the contract will be required to give DCHA/OFDA 10 days notice for release from the assignment. WHERE AND HOW TO APPLY: Qualified individuals are required to submit: 1. A U.S. Government Optional Form 612 (available at the USAID website, http://www.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/forms or internet http://fillform.gsa.gov or at Federal offices) or www.globalcorps.com (Resumes or CVs in lieu of the OF-612 Form are not acceptable). 2. Supplemental document specifically addressing the Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs) shown in the solicitation. To ensure consideration of applications for the intended position, please reference the solicitation number on your application, and as the subject line in any cover letter. Via mail: GlobalCorps, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20004 Via facsimile: 202-315-3803 or 240-465-0244 Via email: foodaid@globalcorps.com The most qualified candidates may be interviewed and required to provide a writing sample. OFDA will not pay for any expenses associated with the interviews. Professional references and academic credentials will be evaluated for applicants being considered for selection. NOTE: If a temporary secret security clearance and State Department Medical Clearance are not obtained within nine months, the offer may be rescinded. LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS FOR PSCs Forms outlined below can found at: http://www.usaid.gov/forms/ or at http://www.forms.gov/bgfPortal/citizen.portal 1. Optional Form 612. 2. Medical History and Examination Form (DS-1843). ** 3. Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions (for National Security) (SF-86), or ** 4. Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions (SF-85). ** 5. Finger Print Card (FD-258). ** 6. Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9 Form). ** * Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas). ** Forms 2 through 5 shall be completed ONLY upon the advice of the Contracting Officer that an applicant is the successful candidate for the job. CONTRACT INFORMATION BULLETINS (CIBs) and ACQUISITION & ASSISTANCE POLICY DIRECTIVES (AAPDs) PERTAINING TO PSCs CIBs and AAPDs contain changes to USAID policy and General Provisions in USAID regulations and contracts. Please refer to http://www.usaid.gov/business/business_opportunities/cib/subject.html#psc to determine which CIBs and AAPDs apply to this contract. BENEFITS/ALLOWANCES: As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a PSC is normally authorized the following benefits and allowances: BENEFITS: Employer's FICA Contribution Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance Pay Comparability Adjustment Annual Increase Eligibility for Worker's Compensation Annual & Sick Leave ALLOWANCES (if Applicable).* (A) Temporary Lodging Allowance (Section 120). (B) Living Quarters Allowance (Section 130). (C) Post Allowance (Section 220). (D) Supplemental Post Allowance (Section 230). (E) Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260). (F) Education Allowance (Section 270). (G) Education Travel (Section 280). (H) Post Differential (Chapter 500). (I) Payments during Evacuation/Authorized Departure (Section 600), and (J) Danger Pay (Section 650). * Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas). FEDERAL TAXES: USPSCs are not exempt from payment of Federal Income taxes. ALL QUALIFIED APPLICANTS WILL BE CONSIDERED REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, COLOR, SEX, CREED, NATIONAL ORIGIN, LAWFUL POLITICAL AFFILIATION, NON-DISQUALIFYING HANDICAP, MARITAL STATUS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AFFILIATION WITH AN EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION, OR OTHER NON-MERIT FACTOR. NOTE: THIS NOTICE WAS NOT POSTED TO WWW.FEDBIZOPPS.GOV ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (25-OCT-2005); HOWEVER, IT DID APPEAR IN THE FEDBIZOPPS FTP FEED ON THIS DATE. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
- Web Link
-
Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.fbo.gov/spg/AID/OP/WashingtonDC/DCHA-OFDA-05-2064/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Worldwide
- Record
- SN00920909-F 20051027/051025213142 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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