USPSC Syria Team Lead

Position description

SUBJECT: Solicitation for U.S. Personal Service Contractor (USPSC) 

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 Attachment 1 of 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 Attachment 1.  Sincerely, 

Shelby P. Hunt 

 Supervisory Executive Officer 

 Contracting Officer 

 

ATTACHMENT 1 

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 263-23-501 

2. ISSUANCE DATE: 05/16/2023 

3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: 05/30/2023 at 4:30 pm Cairo time 

4. POINT OF CONTACT: USAID Egypt Human Resources Office, e-mail at usaidhr@usaid.gov 

5. POSITION TITLE: Syria Team Lead 

6. MARKET VALUE: $ 99,908- $ 129,878, equivalent to GS-14 

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. Salaries over and above the top of the pay range will not be entertained or negotiated. 

7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Five (5) years, tentatively 145 day estimated start date from closing. 

8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Adana or Gaziantep, Turkey with possible travel or as stated in the  Statement of Duties. 

Overseas USPSCs 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. 

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: U.S. citizens only. 

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Secret Clearance. 

If there is a change in circumstances requiring access to National Security information classified at the  Top-Secret level, the offeror may be asked to obtain and maintain a Secret up to Top Secret/Sensitive  Compartmented Information level clearance as provided by USAID.

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES 

GENERAL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE OF THE CONTRACT 

The Office of Middle East, North Africa, and Europe (MENAE) assesses, designs, and provides  humanitarian assistance with our partners, including assistance related to responding to, recovering from,  and reducing the risk of man-made and natural disasters, while linking with other USAID investments that  build resilience. MENAE retains humanitarian experts based overseas, who coordinate with local  authorities, USAID Missions, US Embassies, humanitarian donor groups, and regional and country level  humanitarian architectures. Field experts also provide oversight of BHA humanitarian partners and  programs and monitor contextual developments to inform BHA country strategies. MENAE humanitarian  experts in Washington coordinate with USAID Regional and Pillar Bureaus, as well as manage funding and  programmatic activities implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs); international  organizations, including United Nations (UN) agencies; and other partners in the region for natural disasters  and complex emergencies. The MENAE Office represents humanitarian programs and interests within the  U.S. Government interagency, as well as in interactions with beneficiary populations, host governments,  implementing partners, UN agencies, and other donors. 

The Office of MENAE consists of three (3) geographic divisions: Europe, Middle East and Levant, and  North Africa and Arabian Peninsula. These divisions are responsible for the provision of emergency  humanitarian assistance through grants and cooperative agreements to non-governmental organizations  (NGOs), international organizations including United Nations (UN) agencies, and other partners to ensure  the implementation and delivery of this assistance. These divisions oversee BHA’s nonresponse efforts in  disaster risk reduction, resilience, and early recovery. These divisions are responsible for representing BHA  within the agency and interagency on country or region-specific issues in Washington. They are also  responsible for liaising on a regular basis with BHA offices in the field. 

The BHA/MENAE Field structure comprises two Regional Offices based in Amman, Jordan (Middle East)  and Budapest, Hungary (Europe and North Africa). MENAE also maintains a staff presence in bilateral  Missions and other platforms throughout the regions, including the Syria Humanitarian Office, which is part  of the Syria Recovery Platform. The Syria Humanitarian Office comprises two regional teams based in  Amman, Jordan and Adana/Gaziantep, Turkey.  

Team Leaders (TLs) play a central role in the USG’s disaster response, humanitarian assistance, and disaster  risk reduction programs. Their core function is to lead, manage, and supervise BHA Washington, D.C. based  and field based teams that require significant USG policy engagement and humanitarian program  management. A regional team can be made up of a group of countries or one single country. Regional TLs  supervise a team of five to twelve employees that may consist of Senior Humanitarian Program Officers,  Program Officers, Information Officers, and Program Assistants. Under the leadership of and in  coordination with the Syria Office Director, the TL will ensure that USAID/BHA’s strategic priorities and  Agency objectives for disaster response and assistance, strategic reporting and analysis are met.  

BHA/MENAE requires the services of a Syria Team Leader based in Adana or Gaziantep, Turkey to meet its  objectives of programming, monitoring, coordinating, and evaluating USG humanitarian programs in Syria. The Team Leader will manage staff, programs, and operations of the Syria Team based in Turkey. 

STATEMENT OF DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED 

The Syria Team Lead must be prepared to function effectively in a challenging and restrictive work  environment and be willing to adhere strictly to U.S. Embassy security guidelines. The Syria Team Leader  will be responsible for program analysis, strategy development, and coordination with relief agencies, other  donors, and USG interagency partners, as well as reporting to BHA senior leadership. 

Working under the guidance and supervision of the Syria Office Director, the TL will manage complex and  high profile responses, build and retain staff capacity, and provide critical leadership requirements within  the office. The TL will lead, manage, or support BHA’s portfolios that require significant USG policy  engagement and humanitarian program management. The TL will maintain close coordination and  collaboration with USAID and Embassy staff across the affected region and in the relevant regional offices.  The TL will perform the following functions: 

Leadership: 

• Organize and lead high-level USG visits or briefings in Jordan or Turkey. 
• Adhere to MENAE and BHA personnel management expectations by managing teams effectively,  providing feedback, and ensuring staff well-being. 
• Provide training and mentoring to Humanitarian Assistance Officers and Program Assistants on the  portfolio management, representation, and contextual specialty functional areas outlined. 
• Participate, as assigned, in a wide range of office-wide policy, process, and strategic initiatives to  ensure the Syria Office’s priorities and operating realities are reflected in outcomes.
• Actively solicit and consolidate feedback from the Syria Office and Syria Team in headquarters on  these initiatives and work with relevant field and headquarters leadership to strategic interests and to  find creative ways to find solutions that are beneficial to the office. Ensure relevant leadership in the  field and headquarters is regularly updated on the progress of these initiatives. 

Program and Policy Guidance and Coordination: 

• Foster open communications with embassy staff to ensure continued support of humanitarian  programs. 
• Maintain close communication with BHA Syria Office leadership and senior embassy officials.  • Promote coordination among UN/PVOs/NGOs/IOs and the donor community. • Ensure the development and implementation of strategic decisions. 
• Lead frequent reviews and discussions on policy, logistic, administrative, coordination, safety, and  security issues with team members. 
• Ensure that timely and appropriate information is reported out policy, logistic, administrative,  coordination their team via a range of information products, and other communication mediums.  • Provide overall strategic guidance to the BHA humanitarian programs for the Syria team. Coordinate  and consult with relevant field interagency counterparts. 
• Review policy and assess assistance strategies, as well as provide program management  recommendations. 
• Coordinate the team's response to the disaster, drawing on expert knowledge and understanding of  USG policy-making processes and roles and authorities of relevant USG interagency stakeholders.  The coordination would ensure that interagency partners understand BHA's strategy and its lead role  in the USG response. 
• Maintain close communication with his/her Team Leader headquarters counterpart and Office  Director. Schedule regular briefings to keep him/her informed of the current situation, work  progress, problems, planned actions, and effectiveness of response strategy. 
• Consult with the Washington, D.C. based Syria Team to formulate long-term strategy and  benchmarks. 
• Discuss any appropriate media activities with a G3PC press officer. 

Management and Supervision: 

The Team Leader will create and maintain an effective team environment while setting the tone and  example for open communication and regular coordination; a work environment conducive to mutual  respect; clear expectations for performance; and clear delegations of roles, responsibilities, and authority.  Specific duties to the team's management and supervision are as follows: 

• Formulate a team operational plan based on immediate evaluations from all functions and a briefing  from the Syria Office Director. Ensure that roles, responsibilities, authorities, communication  procedures, and chain of command are clearly understood.  
• Provide direction to the program staff to develop situation reporting, operational planning, resource  tracking, documentation, and commodity consignment systems. 
• Review and approve fact sheets, situation reports, and cables. 
• With the planning, conduct regular planning, briefing, and debriefing sessions.  • Ensure regular attendance and contributions from all team members into the team's operational  planning process. 
• Review and approve staff work and rotation schedules. Determine additional requirements  (personnel, equipment, facilities, logistical support). 
• As needed, conduct an assessment of all functions to determine effectiveness and validity of  priorities, soundness of objectives, appropriate staffing levels, and team members' ability to carry out  assignments. 
• Monitor operations for overlap or gaps in performing needed functions. Institute recommended  changes as necessary. 
• Provide performance feedback and formal evaluations to direct reports and ensure all team members  receive a performance evaluation.

Representation:  

• Serve as the liaison and engage in substantial coordination with representatives from other USAID  offices, the host government, the USG interagency, UN, NGOs, IOs, Private Voluntary  Organizations (PVOs), other assisting countries, and any other humanitarian stakeholders. 
• Regularly liaise with high-ranking officials outside of USAID in both structured and unstructured  settings in order to negotiate serious and complex issues of considerable consequences related to  humanitarian principles, access, and program objectives in Syria. 
• In consultation with office leadership, represent BHA at senior levels within the USG and with other  humanitarian stakeholders to address humanitarian concerns and priorities from the BHA perspective  through oral and written briefings, through coordination and policy development meetings to include  the following: 
• Meetings with individual and groups of implementing partners and other humanitarian actors,  including Humanitarian Country Teams, Donor Working Groups, NGO fora, etc. to discuss  programmatic priorities, objectives, progress, results, and challenges;
• Discussions, meetings, and papers informing USG foreign policy in areas with humanitarian  concerns or impacts;
• Participation in USG Interagency forums on humanitarian issues; and
• Supporting/leading coordination mechanisms with BHA and USAID.

General Duties: 

• Travel frequently within the region (domestic and international), on short notice and for extended  periods of time, as required, in order to fulfill duties. 
• As needed, may serve on temporary detail within the bureau to meet operational needs during staff  shortages. Duties performed while on detail will be aligned with the Team’s existing duties and  responsibilities and will be directly related to the scope of work provided. 
• May be requested to be on-call/sign up for and serve as needed on Washington-based Response  Management Teams (RMTs), which provide services and support to Disaster Assistance Response  Teams (DARTs) deployed in response to disasters. The duties on RMTs will vary. 
• May serve on DARTs which may require immediate (within 24 hours) deployment overseas for an  extended period of time. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, there  may be some additional physical exertion including long periods of standing, walking over rough  terrain, or carrying of moderately heavy items (less than 50 pounds). Work is primarily performed in  an office setting. During deployment on DARTs (if required), and during site visits, the work may  additionally involve special safety and/or security precautions, wearing of protective equipment, and  exposure to severe weather conditions. 
• Become certified and serve as an Agreement Officer’s Representative/Contracting Officer’s  Representative (AOR/COR), as assigned. The AOR/COR provides financial and programmatic  oversight of all aspects of managing the agreement or contract; this includes but is not limited to  reviewing invoices, requests for approvals, program/project deliverables (i.e. work plans, annual reports, month status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, and financial/budget reports.  They are responsible for drafting and submitting the annual contractor performance evaluation in  Contract/Assistance Performance Assessment Review System (CPARS/APARS). They prepare and  review contract/assistance modifications documentation and assist the Contracting/Agreement  Officer to ensure performance is compliant with the terms and conditions of the contract/agreement,  the FAR, and USAID policy. AOR/CORs are responsible for all related requirements in the COR  designation letter and the AOR designation letter.

SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP: The USPSC will take direction from and will report to the Syria Office  Director or his/her designee. 

Supervisory Controls: Supervisor provides administrative directions in terms of broadly defined missions or functions.  The USPSC independently plans, designs, and carries out programs, projects, studies, or other work. Results are  considered authoritative and are normally accepted without significant change.  

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

All candidates must meet the Minimum Qualifications. Applications will be screened accordingly, and  only those that meet the below, required criteria, will be moved forward in the recruitment process. 

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION 

(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Offerors who do not meet all of the education and experience  factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.) 

Bachelor’s degree plus a minimum of nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working in  emergency relief, DRR or disaster preparedness programming and management, five (5) years of which were  obtained overseas by short-term deployments or assignments in emergency situations. Substantial overseas  field experience is highly preferred. 

OR 

Master’s degree plus a minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working in  emergency relief, DRR or disaster preparedness programming and management, three (3) years of which were  obtained overseas by short-term deployments or assignments in emergency situations. Substantial overseas  field experience is highly preferred. 

Application instructions

1. SUBMITTING AN OFFER

 

1.  Eligible Offerors are required to complete and submit the offer form AID 309-2, “Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals,” available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.
2. Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted to the Point of Contact in Section I.
3. Offeror submissions must clearly reference the Solicitation number on all offeror submitted documents.
4. Complete resume. In order to fully evaluate your offer, your resume must include:

 

 (a) Offerors must notate on their resume what GS level equivalent is being applied for. Applicants may list more than one GS level on their resume.

(a) Paid and non-paid experience, job title, location(s), dates held (month/year), and hours worked per week for each position. Dates (month/year) and locations for all field experience must also be detailed. Any experience that does not include dates (month/year), locations, and hours per week will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements.

(b) Specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work. 

(c) Education and any other qualifications including job-related training courses, job-related skills, or job-related honors, awards or accomplishments. Failure to identify an academic discipline will result in disqualification.

(d) U.S. Citizenship

(e) Optional:  How did you hear about this opportunity? (SAM.gov, BHA Jobs, Career Fair, etc.). 

 

Your resume must contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the experience requirements as stated in this solicitation for each grade levels for which you are applying. This information must be clearly identified in your resume.  Failure to provide information sufficient to determine your qualifications for the position will result in loss of full consideration.  

 

Additional documents submitted will not be accepted.

 

By submitting your offer materials, you certify that all of the information on and attached to the offer is true, correct, complete, and made in good faith. You agree to allow all information on and attached to the offer to be investigated. False or fraudulent information on or attached to your offer may result in you being eliminated from consideration for this position, or being terminated after award, and may be punishable by fine or imprisonment.

 

To ensure consideration of offers for the intended position, please reference the solicitation number on your offer, and as the subject line in any email.

 

1. Ensure Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors - Please be advised that upon award, the contractor will be required to show proof that the contractor is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 on or before the first date of onboarding, or submit an approved reasonable accommodation to the CO.  If the contractor does not meet this requirement the contract may be terminated.*  USPSCs/TCNPSCs performing overseas must follow the Mission policies and/or directives from the U.S. Department of State regarding COVID-19 requirements.

*See Notice Regarding Any Court Order Affecting the Implementation of E.O. 14042 in Section VIII below.

 

1. NOTE:  If the full security application package is not submitted within 30 days after the Office of Security determines eligibility, the offer may be rescinded. If a Secret security clearance is not obtained within nine months after offer acceptance, the offer may be rescinded. If Top Secret is required, and clearance is not obtained within nine months after award, USAID may terminate the contract at the convenience of the government. If Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access is not obtained within nine months after Top Secret clearance is granted, USAID may terminate the contract at the convenience of the government. 

 

1. NOTE: If the full medical clearance package is not submitted within two months after offer acceptance, the offer may be rescinded. If a Department of State medical clearance is not obtained; the offer may be rescinded. 

NOTE REGARDING GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS FOR THIS 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.