Senior Acquisition &Assistance Specialist
JOB DETAIL
Dear Prospective Offerors:
The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking offers from qualified persons to provide personal services under contract as described in this solicitation.
Offers must be in accordance with this solicitation. Incomplete or unsigned offers will not be considered. Offerors should retain copies of all Offer materials for their records.
USAID will evaluate all offerors based on the stated evaluation criteria. USAID encourages all individuals, including those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, to respond to the solicitation.
This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a PSC contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the offer. Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in this solicitation.
Sincerely,
Debbie Jackson Contracting Executive Officer
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. SOLICITATION NO.: 72067524R00008
2. ISSUANCE DATE: October 25, 2024
3. CLOSING DATE/TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: November 14, 2024
4. POINT OF CONTACT: HR TEAM, email at [email protected]
5. POSITION TITLE: SENIOR ACQUISITION AND ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST
6. MARKET VALUE: $88,520 – $115,079 equivalent to GS-13
Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value and will include
Locality Pay for domestic USPSCs based on the location of the Official USAID Worksite,
or the approved alternative worksite if approved for remote work. USPSCs performing
overseas are not entitled to Locality Pay.
7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE : Guinea with possible travel as stated in the Statement
of Duties.
Overseas USPSCs and TCNPSCs not subject to the local compensation plan, may be
authorized to telework or remote work only from a location within the country of
performance, in accordance with Mission policy. Telework or remote work from outside
the country of performance may only be authorized in certain situations in accordance with
the terms and conditions of the contract.
8. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Exact period of performance will be determined
upon receipt of security/medical clearances. The base period will be two years. Based on
the Agency’s continued need for services, funds availability and satisfactory performance,
the Contracting Officer may exercise up to 3 additional option periods for a total of 5 years.
9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: US nationals and Third Country Nationals
“U.S. national (USN)” means an individual who is a U.S. citizen, or a non-U.S. citizen
lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States.
“Third Country National” (“TCN”) means an individual who is neither a citizen nor
a permanent legal resident alien of the United States nor of the country to which assigned
for duty, and (ii) who is eligible for return to their home country or country of
recruitment at U.S. Government expense.
10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: The selected offeror must be able to obtain a
security clearance at the “Facility Access” level, and appropriate medical clearance within
a reasonable period of time. If such clearances are not obtained within a reasonable time or
negative suitability issues are involved, any offer may be rescinded. If there is a change in
circumstances requiring access to National Security information classified at the secret/top
secret level, the offeror/incumbent may be asked to obtain and maintain the required level
clearance as provided by USAID.
11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES
A. Background Information.
The USAID Mission based in Guinea oversees operations in both Guinea and Sierra
Leone, with programs focusing on health, governance and women’s empowerment.
The Mission’s combined financial responsibility for these country programs is $40
million. There are 14 active awards in the two countries and 2 new procurements under
development.
The Senior Personal Services Contractor (PSC) Acquisition and Assistance (A&A)
Specialist is a member of the Office of Acquisition and Assistance located in Conakry,
Guinea. The team is composed of the USDH Contracting Officer, the USPSC
Contracting/Agreement Officer, the US/TCNPSC Senior A&A Specialist, three
CCNPSC A&A Specialists.
The optimal applicant for this Senior Acquisition & Assistance Specialist position will
possess extensive knowledge of US federal contracting and assistance (grants and
cooperative agreements) principles, policies, and procedures from pre-award through
post-award phases. In addition, this senior PSC will need a well seasoned familiarity with
development principles, federal procurement mechanisms and donor/Non Governmental
Organization (NGO) partnering. S/he exercises leadership in conducting technically
proficient procurement and assistance, fully complying with all relevant laws, regulations
and procedures and performs in a positive, team and customer oriented manner.
B. Basic Function
The Senior Acquisition and Assistance Specialist is located within USAID/Guinea and
reports to the Contracting/Agreement Officer. The Sr. A&A Specialist ensures that all
A&A activities conform to the defined Development Objectives (DOs) of the Guinea
and Sierra Leone Mission, serves as a core team member of the Mission’s technical
teams, provides guidance, assists on acquisition and assistance related matters, and
contributes to overall Mission team work.
The Contractor shall provide support on all aspects of A&A award administration
relating to and affecting USAID Mission-funded acquisition and assistance activities.
The Contractor will be responsible for pre and post award stages of activities
including planning, developing, negotiating, carrying out, managing, and advising on
all aspects of procurement relating to and affecting USAID’s A&A programs, policy,
project planning, activity design, solicitation, evaluation and award. In addition to
these functions, the Contractor will participate in Mission strategic planning and
policy formulation. S/he will lead the development and implementation of the Mission
procurement plan advising the Contracting Officer and Mission Management of
progress made.
The Contractor must be able to integrate issues, apply creative problem solving, and
introduce innovative procurement mechanisms to realize Mission objectives. The
Contractor will serve as an Acquisition and Assistance resource for the Office of
Acquisition and Assistance (OAA) as well as technical team members, providing
necessary to Sierra Leone.
C. Major Duties and Responsibilities
The Senior Acquisition and Assistance Specialist will be responsible for planning,
developing, soliciting, negotiating, managing, and advising on procurements in
relation to the Mission’s acquisition and assistance programs. The Senior A&A
Specialist will participate in “cradle to grave” actions – from project design through
negotiation, administration and close-out. The Sr. A&A Specialist must provide
technical assistance necessary to execute a full range of procurement actions in support
of USAID/Guinea and Sierra Leone. He/she must also be available for consultation on
acquisition and assistance issues. The incumbent will be required to mentor and
conduct on-the-job training to junior/less experienced OAA and technical staff on A&Apolicies and practices.
The incumbent, in consultation with the Contracting Officer, shall perform
the following specific functions including but not limited to:
a) Pre-Award Expertise and Services (50%)
Perform all actions required to conceptualize, plan, solicit, negotiate and award
acquisition and assistance actions of varying complexity. Conduct A&A planning
and subsequent pre-award activities fully supportive of USAID/Guinea and Sierra
Leone development objectives and related results and requirements.
Organize, direct, conduct and/or coordinate continued engagement with Agency
stakeholders including updating the Agency A&A Plan and Business Forecast,
responding to inquiries on a timely basis and organizing, when needed, pre-bid/pre-
proposal conferences for procurement actions and preparing Requests for
Information (RFI).
Review requests for A&A actions (to include consulting on scope of work, program
description, and other pre-award documents), and manage the A&A process whereby
the comprehensive requirements of the Federal and USAID Acquisition Regulations
(FAR and AIDAR), Award Information Bulletins (CIBs), Acquisition and Assistance
Policy Directives (AAPDs), Procurement Executive Bulletins (PEBs), Code of
Federal Regulations CFR), Office of Management & Budget Circulars (OMB
Circulars), Automated Directive System (ADS), Mission Orders, etc., are used to
competitively, (or when justified, via other means), proceed through the entire activity
design and proposal/application solicitation process.
Prepare instructions for Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) members and
Chairperson and manage the technical and cost/price evaluation process plus
subsequent negotiation processes in all actions (competitive or otherwise) to arrive
at best value and instrument decision. This includes ensuring fully documented files
in the Agency Secure Image and Storage Tracking System (ASIST) and on the
Mission’s electronic storage drive(s) with certifications, Agency and Mission-
specific authorizations, justifications for exception to competition when required,
