USPSC Humanitarian Program Officer at USAID

Description

• The United States Government (USG), represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Africa (OA), is seeking offers from qualified U.S. citizens to provide personal service as a Humanitarian Program Officer (HPO) 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.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Working under the guidance and supervision of the Office Director or his/her/their designee, the HPO supports the BHA / Nigeria Office through the management of humanitarian, resilience, and DRR activities in Nigeria, assisting with program analysis, strategy development, and coordination with partners in the humanitarian community. 
• The HPO will work closely with a program team that may include field-based Senior Humanitarian Advisors, Senior Regional Humanitarian Program Officers, and Program Management Specialists. 
• This position requires effective daily coordination with several BHA staff members, as well as representatives from other USAID offices, Embassy staff, and the humanitarian community, and therefore requires a highly collaborative work style. 

The HPO will perform the following, as well as other tasks outlined by the supervisor:
Contextual Specialty:

• Develop a baseline understanding of the humanitarian context in Nigeria and monitor changes to the context, including political, social, and operational issues impacting humanitarian efforts. 
• Develop and maintain knowledge of USG foreign policy priorities humanitarian and development strategies and objectives, including priority sectors, geographic areas of focus, and key humanitarian stakeholders. 
• Provide regular reporting, through cables and other means, on issues related to the humanitarian situations in Nigeria. 
• Provide regular reports on site visits, meetings, relevant current events, and other issues that impact humanitarian relief efforts.

Portfolio Management:

• Based Nigeria Team and BHA West Africa Regional Office in Dakar to develop program strategies for emergency response, resilience, and DRR activities in Nigeria, overseeing day-to-day management of the portfolio and its budgets. 
• Support team members in assessing emergency response, resilience, and DRR needs in Travel, as permitted, to assess, evaluate and monitor humanitarian conditions in Nigeria, and make strategic recommendations for appropriate and relevant response activities. 
• Assist Washington monitoring humanitarian awards by providing field-based insights, knowledge, and perspectives. Provide guidance on regulations and policies. 
• Assist in humanitarian activities outside of immediate areas of responsibility, as needed. 

Representation: 

• Attend meetings on behalf of the BHA Country Team, USAID, or US Embassy and report back to the Country Team on relevant issues and updates. 
• Assist Country Team coordination with the donor community on policy issues affecting humanitarian operations, and developing integrated, non-duplicative programs, as needed. 
• Engage in and report on joint donor humanitarian evaluations and UN-led assessments, and participate actively in the international community response structures. 
• Prepare briefing papers, notes, and presentations on BHA programming for official USG visitors interested in humanitarian issues. 
• Represent BHA with various audiences, as requested.

Leadership:

• Serve as a peer mentor to team members on grants and portfolio management, to include business process, portfolio-specific budget and workload management, and post award monitoring and management. 
• In close coordination with program team members in Abuja, Dakar, and Washington, DC, work with NGOs, IOs, and UN agencies that are developing proposals for BHA (including Participate in office-wide discussions on initiatives that impact program implementation to provide field-based perspectives, as assigned. 
• Consistently model behaviors that demonstrate a commitment to fostering a non-hostile work environment free of discrimination, bias, unfairness, exclusion, offensive behaviors, and harassment of any kind.

General Duties:

• 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. 
• 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. 
• May be requested to be on-call or serve as needed on Washington-based Response Management Teams or in other international locations on Disaster Assistance Response Teams. 
• As needed, may serve on temporary detail within the Bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages, not to exceed six months. Duties performed while on detail will be the scope of work provided.

Additional Information
Regarding Ensuring Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols For Federal Contractors:

• 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.

Regarding Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Numbers and 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.
• 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 can expect to receive a confirmation email when offer materials have been received. Offerors should retain for their records copies of all enclosures which accompany their offers.

Minimum Educational Qualifications / Experience
(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 in any discipline. Must have a minimum of five (5) years of relevant work experience with a humanitarian or development focus and include responsibility in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, and managing or evaluating programs. 
• Experience must include one (1) year of cumulative experience in international or domestic humanitarian or development assistance, emergency management or relief, disaster risk reduction, post-emergency rehabilitation or recovery, or resilience.

Or

• Master's Degree in any discipline. Must have a minimum of four (4) years of relevant work experience with a humanitarian or development focus and include responsibility in determining budget levels, selecting programs for funding, and managing or evaluating programs. 
• Experience must include one (1) year of cumulative experience in international or domestic humanitarian or development assistance, emergency management or relief, disaster risk reduction, post-emergency rehabilitation or recovery, or resilience.

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. 
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Department of State medical clearance throughout the contract. 
• Must not appear as an excluded party in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.

Offeror Rating System:

• The offeror rating system factors are used to determine the competitive ranking of qualified offerors in comparison to other offerors. 
• Offerors must demonstrate the rating factors outlined below within their resume, as they are evaluated strictly by the information provided. 
• The evaluation of writing tests will also take into consideration the quality of written responses. 
• Aspects of written responses including, but not limited to typos, grammatical errors, spelling errors, and incomplete sentences will be factored into the evaluation process. 

The rating factors are as follows:
MATRIX (30 points):

• At least six months of experience working in a grantmaking organization
• At least six months of experience working for a humanitarian or development donor organization.
• One year of experience supporting or directly implementing humanitarian or resilience programming
• Experience designing strategies or programs
• Experience developing or reviewing proposals
• Experience monitoring or evaluating programs.
• Experience drafting or editing documents.
• Interview Performance (40 points)
• Timed Writing Test (20 points)
• Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks (10 points)
• Total Possible Points: 100

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 the selection package. 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 phases of the selection process.