USPSC Security Team Leader

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720BHA21R00007

ISSUANCE DATE: January 6, 2021

CLOSING DATE AND TIME: February 5, 2021, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time

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

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government (USG), represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Humanitarian Business and Management Operations (HBMO), is seeking offers from qualified U.S. citizens to provide personal service as a Security (SEC) Team Leader under a United States Personal Services Contract (USPSC), as described in the solicitation.

Submittals must be in accordance with the attached information at the place and time specified. Offerors interested in applying for this position MUST submit the following materials:

1. Complete resume. In order to fully evaluate your offer, your resume must include:
   (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.
   (d) U.S. Citizenship
   (e) Optional: How did you hear about this opportunity? (beta.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. 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.

1. USPSC Offeror form AID 309-2. Offerors are required to complete sections A through I. This form must be physically signed. Electronic signatures will not be accepted. AID 309-2 is available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.

NOTE REGARDING DATA UNIVERSAL NUMBERING SYSTEM (DUNS) NUMBERSAND THE SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT

All USPSCs with a place of performance in the United States are required to have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database prior to receiving an award. You will be disqualified if you either fail to comply with this requirement or if your name appears on the excluded parties list. The selectee will be provided with guidance regarding this registration.

NOTE: As of March 28, 2018, all new SAM.gov entity registrations will now require a signed notarized letter identifying the authorized Entity administrator for the entity associated with the DUNS number. Additional information on the format of the notarized letter and where to submit can be found via the below Federal Service Desk link:

https://www.fsd.gov/fsd-gov/answer.do?sysparm_kbid=d2e67885db0d5f00b3257d321f96194b&sysparm_search=kb0013183

Offerors should retain for their records copies of all enclosures which accompany their offers. Your complete resume must be emailed to:

HBMO Recruitment Team
E-Mail Address: BHA.HBMORecruitment@usaid.gov
Website: www.BHAjobs.net

Any questions on this solicitation may be directed to the HMBO Recruitment Team via the information provided above.

Sincerely,

Sonja Stroud-Gooden
Contracting Officer

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Management

● Serve in a leadership position as Team Leader under USAID SEC’s Personnel Security Division (PSD) Chief.
● Perform key decision-making and policy developing responsibilities in very difficult assignments in a high-pressure, rapid-pace environment, such as planning for significantly new or far-reaching security program requirements, or resolving problems in existing security systems and programs requiring innovative solutions for BHA and SEC.
● Work with BHA and SEC to determine areas of priority, frequently with competing deadlines, and work to ensure security actions get processed expeditiously.
● Monitor, track and manage BHA PSC case assignments and other tasks, to ensure BHA utilization is the primary focus for these positions and in line with stated priorities.
● Manage a team of PSC Case Controllers, Project Coordinators, and Project Facilitators detailed to SEC by BHA.
● Ensure SEC team management and supervision structure is in place; ensure staff performance evaluations, staff development plans, and trainings are completed and in place for the entire SEC team.
● Set workload and direct assignments for SEC staff within a rapid-pace workload that experiences frequently changing and new priorities due to emergent humanitarian crises.
● Conduct quality assurance on final work products, ensuring accurate and error-free work products from the team.
● Conduct day-to-day managerial duties for the team, such as approving leave and training requests and approving timesheets.
● Create and maintain a collaborative and 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.
● Demonstrate consistent accountability for adherence to and knowledge of laws, executive orders, and USAID’s policies which prohibit EEO and non-EEO infringements as well as the agencies zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, including harassment, exploitation and abuse of any kind.
● Encourage staff participation in initiatives/programs that promote diversity and combat harassment in the workplace.
● Responsibly and intentionally create a culture of civility and respect whereby both managers and employees are expected to behave professionally at all times. Representation
● Serve as the expert to liaise between SEC and BHA to facilitate and prioritize special requests and initiatives that have diverse and competing priorities. Provide guidance to SEC leadership on humanitarian priorities and BHA processes and procedures.
● Conduct BHA brown bags and other informational sessions to educate BHA staff on how changes in security policy or other relevant subject matter pertain to humanitarian responses and staff.
● Attend SEC and BHA meetings and/or training as necessary to better understand staffing needs of BHA as new humanitarian emergencies arise and how this translates into security requirements.

Technical

● Oversee a caseload of security actions for over 700 current BHA staff with over 800 actions per year as BHA continues to grow rapidly.
● Oversee the assignment of BHA’s security requests for BHA PSCs for action, to include but not limited to revalidations, reciprocity requests, initial background investigation requests, upgrade background investigation requests, clearance verification requests, re-investigations, and miscellaneous adjudicative tasks.
● Monitor BHA PSC performance and the effectiveness of security tasks to ensure security actions are processed by BHA PSCs in a timely manner and in accordance with Director of National Intelligence timelines, and in accordance with Federal Investigative Standards.
● Monitor any shared BHA spreadsheets and/or tracking documentation to verify it is current and routinely updated with statuses by BHA PSCs.
● Deliver training, and/or facilitate training with SEC Branch Chiefs and mentor BHA PSCs detailed to SEC.
● Make recommendations to SEC and BHA senior management regarding troubleshooting of identified issues and trends to ensure the expedient processing of security related requests so that BHA is fully staffed and able to respond and deploy their employees in the event of a disaster or humanitarian crisis.
● Collaborate with SEC bureaus and divisions as needed to maintain knowledge of SEC’s policies and procedures and avoid unnecessary request rejections or processing delays for BHA.
● Facilitate communications and planning across the full range of SEC PSD teams supporting BHA and other hiring authorities (Office of Human Capital and Talent Management, Office of Administrative Management Services, Executive Officers, and other authorized officials) to ensure effective and efficient integration of consistent agency policy, process guidance, user requirements, and technology enhancements.
● Serve as BHA’s primary technical authority for identification and issue resolution of security related matters with SEC, such as badging, access, clearance transfers and other issues as they arise.
● Support other SEC PSD Branch Chiefs as directed by PSD Chief.
● Plan and conduct special investigations for complex and extremely sensitive critical national security issues requiring resolution. Provide analysis and guidance for the issues through a humanitarian lens for BHA leadership.
● Coordinate all due process proceedings to include scheduling of oral responses with Court Reporter Services.
● Maintain current personnel security related training, certifications, and/or credentials to include, but not limited to: Suitability and National Security adjudication, Due Process, Personnel Security, Investigations.
● Perform additional duties for PSD Chief as directed, to include but not limited to: Due process case review, assistance and proceeding scheduling, PSD training, budgeting, and quality assurance review.
● Perform additional tasks or special projects as requested and approved by BHA and/or SEC PSD Supervisor.
● Sign-up for and serve as needed, on Washington-based Response Management Teams (RMTs), which provides services and support to Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) deployed in response to disasters. The duties on RMTs will vary.
● 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.

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 with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field including, but not limited to, international development, business management, security, or human resources plus nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working in personnel security, background investigations, clearance determinations, analyzing security policies, including three (3) years of working in emergency relief, humanitarian assistance, resilience or early recovery (field or domestic).

OR

Master’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field including, but not limited to, international development, business management, security, or human resources plus seven (7) seven years of progressively responsible experience working in personnel security, background investigations, clearance determinations, analyzing security policies, including three (3) years of working in emergency relief, humanitarian assistance, resilience or early recovery (field or domestic).

SELECTION FACTORS
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Offerors who do not meet all of the selection factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)
● Offeror is a U.S. Citizen.
● Complete resume submitted. See cover page for resume requirements. Experience that cannot be quantified will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements.
● USPSC Offeror form AID 309-2. Offerors are required to complete sections A through I. This form must be physically signed. Electronic signatures will not be accepted.
● Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret up to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level clearance as provided by USAID.
● Must not appear as an excluded party in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).
● Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.

BASIS OF RATING: Offerors who meet the Education/Experience requirements and Selection Factors will be further evaluated in accordance with the Offeror Rating System. Those offerors determined to be competitively ranked may also be evaluated on interview performance and satisfactory professional reference checks.

Offerors are required to address each factor of the Offeror Rating System in their resume, describing specifically and accurately what experience, training, education and/or awards they have received as it pertains to each factor. Be sure to include your name and the announcement number at the top of each additional page. Failure to address the selection factors and/or Offeror Rating System factors may result in not receiving credit for all pertinent experience, education, training and/or awards.

The most qualified offerors may be interviewed and required to provide a writing sample. BHA will not pay for any expenses associated with the interviews. Professional references and academic credentials will be evaluated for offerors being considered for selection. Note: Please be advised that references may be obtained independently from other sources in addition to the ones provided by an offeror. BHA reserves the right to select additional offerors if vacancies become available during future phase of the selection process.

SUBMITTING AN OFFER
Offers must be received by the closing date and time at the address specified in the cover letter.

Qualified individuals are required to submit:

1. Complete resume. In order to fully evaluate your offer, your resume must include:
   (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.
   (d) U.S. Citizenship
   (e) Optional: How did you hear about this opportunity? (beta.SAM.gov, BHA Jobs, Career Fair, etc.).
2. USPSC Offeror form AID 309-2. Offerors are required to complete sections A through I. This form must be physically signed. Electronic signatures will not be accepted. AID 309-2 is available at http://www.usaid.gov/forms.

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.

Via email: BHA.HBMORecruitment@usaid.gov