Support Relief Group (SRG) Humanitarian Assistance Advisor to the Military (HAA/M) (GS 13/14)

Position description

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 720BHA24R00006                  

ISSUANCE DATE:  January 22, 2024                 

CLOSING DATE AND TIME:   January 17, 2025, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time                              

SUBJECT: Solicitation for U.S. Personal Service Contractor 

(USPSC) – Support Relief Group (SRG) Humanitarian Assistance Advisor to the Military (HAA/M) –  Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA)

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government (USG), 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 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,

Juan E. Proano

Senior Contracting and Agreement Officer

Office of Acquisition & Assistance

(M/OAA/BHA-CPS/PSC)

I. GENERAL INFORMATION 

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 720BHA24R00006

2. ISSUANCE DATE: January 22, 2024

3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: January 17, 2025, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

This solicitation is open and continuous until January 17, 2025. The following are the closing dates for each review period:

Round 1 – March 11, 2024, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

Round 2 – September 11, 2024, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

Round 3 – January 17, 2025, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

Offerors not selected during a previous review period must reapply in order to be considered for positions available in subsequent review periods. A review period may be canceled at the Contracting Officer’s discretion.

4. POINT OF CONTACT: FARO Recruitment Team, [email protected]

5. POSITION TITLE: Support Relief Group (SRG) Humanitarian Assistance Advisor to the Military (HAA/M) (Multiple Positions)

6. MARKET VALUE: $88,520 – $115,079 equivalent to GS-13 or $104,604 – $135,987 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. 

This position can be filled at either the GS-13 ($88,520 – $115,079) or GS-14 ($104,604 – $135,987) equivalent level, with place of performance locality. Offerors who meet the minimum qualifications for a GS-13 will be considered for the GS-13 level positions. Offerors who meet the minimum qualifications for a GS-14 will be considered for the GS-14 level only.

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

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: USAID/Worldwide –  Relocation expenses will not be reimbursed for U.S.-based positions.  

There may be an initial training program in Washington, D.C. for up to one year, which will include formal classroom training and on-the-job training; and may include security training. 

After completion of Washington training, the HAA/M may be assigned to Washington, other locations in the United States, or an overseas office, and will be required to serve through rotational assignments. At any time, at the discretion of the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance’s (BHA’s) Headquarters, the USPSC may be reassigned/relocated to a geographical location where the individual’s services are needed.

Offerors for the HAA/M position must be willing to be posted at any location. The potential posts are listed as follows, but the location of service could be ultimately determined by the location of future unknown operational requirements. BHA currently has established relationships with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Combatant Commands (COCOM) in Miami, Florida; Honolulu, Hawaii; Tampa, Florida; and Stuttgart, Germany, where there is an BHA operational need to work with the military independent of future country specific disasters. The BHA strategic plan also calls for assignment of HAA/Ms in Washington, D.C.; Bangkok, Thailand; San Jose, Costa Rica; Okinawa, Japan; and Manama, Bahrain. 

Initial post assignments will be based on each offeror’s understanding of BHA and the humanitarian assistance environment, each offeror’s background (i.e., language, regional experience, etc.), and available post vacancies at the time of award.

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

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 part of the SRG. BHA intends to contract for these services for a maximum of 250 days per calendar year. Activation days vary but will not exceed 250 days during each contract year. 

The level of effort anticipated under this contract will be provided within the terms of this contract at times mutually agreed to by BHA and the contractor. Upon identification of a temporary need within the scope of work, BHA will contact the contractor and provide the following information: 

1.    Date contractor is needed to report to BHA or assignment in the field

2.    Duration of Assignment

3.    Place of Performance

The contractor will notify BHA 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 days). The contractor shall notify BHA 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 BHA in recruiting a replacement. Subsequently, if the contractor agrees to an extension of the duration of a particular assignment, thereafter, the contractor will be required to give BHA 10 days notice for release from the assignment.

9. ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: U.S. Citizens Only

10. SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Secret

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 Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level clearance as provided by USAID.

11. STATEMENT OF DUTIES 

GENERAL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE OF THE CONTRACT 

The Support Relief Group (SRG) is a program developed by BHA to satisfy its growing need for surge capacity. The SRG program brings on board select candidates who work full-time for discrete periods of time, but on an intermittent basis for no more than 2007 hours (approximately 250 days) per calendar year.  They can be deployed within hours to facilitate BHA’s response to disasters, or to backfill staff in Washington, D.C. and other locations. SRG staff can be used for activations as short as one day or for up to several months at a time. 

The SRG program is managed by the Surge Staffing Team (SST) in BHA’s Response Resources Division (R2D). This team maintains a database for all contracted SRG personnel, providing information to the rest of BHA on their availability, skills, and previous experiences. SST assists the teams within BHA in choosing the best qualified SRG for any specific task and provides administrative and personnel support to all SRG. Each SRG incumbent will provide enhancement to the BHA team according to their skills. The activation of the SRG Humanitarian Assistance Advisory to the Military (HAA/M) will be coordinated between SST and the Civil-Military Disaster Operations Division (CMD) in the Office of Field and Response Operations (FARO).

The SRG HAA/M will support the work of BHA around the world by providing critical liaison functions between USAID and DoD to represent the humanitarian perspective and provide expertise in situations where coordination between the parties is required. 

STATEMENT OF DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED

At the GS-13 equivalent level  

Support the communication of humanitarian principles and BHA procedures to DoD: 

• Serve as a Civil-Military Affairs Officer (CMAO) or Civil-Military Affairs Coordinator (CMAC) on a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) or Response Management Team (RMT); draft humanitarian assistance task requests for military support in accordance with DART or RMT response planning; and represent military issues to the DART or RMT. If serving as CMAC, coordinate actions of CMAOs.

• Provide temporary-duty coverage and serve as HAA/M at a DoD Combatant Command, component, or forward location; represent BHA as required to DoD stakeholders; and communicate military issues to BHA via CMD.

• Act as a lead or second instructor for the Joint Humanitarian Operations Course (JHOC).

• Regularly provide input and subject-matter expertise in designing disaster response exercises.

• Build relationships with DoD leadership and guide DoD decision-making regarding humanitarian activities.

• Determine whether DoD participation in BHA humanitarian activities is necessary and/or provides a unique capability.

Engage with other USAID staff, interagency stakeholders, and partners to coordinate humanitarian activity in the region that may impact DoD operations or require DoD assistance:

• Provide outreach to BHA Washington and field teams to ensure they understand DoD activities and how they may impact BHA’s work in the impacted region.

• Represent FARO/CMD and coordinate humanitarian civil-military coordination among interagency and international colleagues, including with civil-military advisors at various United Nations (UN) agencies and the wider humanitarian community. Coordinate on best practices on use of military assets in a humanitarian context.

Clearly communicate, written and oral:

• Interact with and make decisions on civil-military coordination that may impact high-level staff at USAID and USAID’s relationship with external organizations.

• Lead meetings and review work by team members.

• Provide BHA briefings and training such as the JHOC  to uniformed military personnel at various DoD educational institutions (e.g., War Colleges, National Defense University, Navy Postgraduate School, etc.) and other units. 

• Create and present reports, debriefs, and evaluations to CMD Leadership and other appropriate BHA staff regarding planning, exercises, and deployments being carried out in conjunction with the DoD.

Attend required trainings:

• Complete training required to serve as JHOC Lead Instructor.

• Complete internal BHA/CMD training required to serve on DARTs and Washington-based RMTs. CMD roles may include serving in such assignments as the CMAO, CMAC, Deputy Leader for Operations (DLO), and Deputy Manager for Operations (DMO), as examples.

• Participate in office-wide efforts on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including but not limited to those related to Bureau programs, partners, staffing, professional development, and other key areas.

Responsibility and decision-making: 

• Provide guidance and mentorship to less-experienced staff.

• The SRG HAA/M position does not have supervisory responsibilities; however, the PSC may serve in an acting leadership role within the Bureau in order to meet short-term staffing needs, not to exceed 120 days in a 12-month contract year.

Additional Duties and Responsibilities:

• May be requested to be on-call/sign up for and serve on Washington-based RMTs, which provide services and support to DARTs deployed in response to disasters. The duties on RMTs will vary. The duties on DARTs 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 moderately heavy items. 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, the wearing of protective equipment, and exposure to severe weather conditions.

• May serve on temporary details 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 statement of duties provided.

• 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 (e.g., work plans, annual reports, monthly status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, and financial/budget reports. They are responsible for drafting and submitting the annual contractor performance evaluation in the Contract Performance Assessment Review System (CPARS). 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 AOR designation letter.

At the GS-14 equivalent level

The GS-14 level includes everything in the GS-13 level (above), with the addition of:

Support the communication of humanitarian principles and BHA procedures to DoD: 

• Serve as an expert authority for humanitarian assistance matters in relation to civil-military coordination.

• Represent BHA in DoD exercises, planning efforts, and formal training/education entities.

• Conduct planning, scheduling, and prioritization of CMD engagements with DoD.

• Lead conversations and coordination with the DoD and significantly shape DoD decision-making regarding humanitarian activities and developing the humanitarian assistance aspect of strategic operations and crisis action planning products.

• Act as subject-matter expert for BHA/military coordination and ensure DoD activities align with BHA procedures and humanitarian best practices.

• Develop training materials and presentations concerning how the U.S. Government (USG) executes foreign humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Engage with other USAID staff, interagency, and partners to coordinate humanitarian activity in the impacted region that may impact DoD operations or require DoD assistance:

• Lead outreach to BHA regional teams to ensure they understand DoD activities and how they may impact BHA’s work in the impacted region.

• Apply broad, comprehensive knowledge of functional policies, procedures, and techniques to develop viable options for satisfying BHA’s changing requirements for DoD support and participation in humanitarian assistance efforts.

• Support deliberate planning within USAID/BHA and serve as an expert in contingency, operational, and forward planning across all humanitarian sectors, with a civil-military focus.

• Provide BHA and USAID leadership advisory services pertaining to complex sensitive and controversial civil-military issues.

Clearly communicate, written and oral:

• Interact with and make decisions on humanitarian civil-military coordination that impact high-level staff at USAID and USAID’s relationship with external organizations. This includes engagement with  high-level military officers.

• Interface with internal agency officials and external governmental entities such as federal agencies, international organizations, and international government’s civil-military representatives.

• Work to resolve complex issues requiring sensitive negotiations and consensus-building within an interagency environment. 

• Develop effective professional and interpersonal relationships with peers and colleagues in the humanitarian community and DoD, including the ability to earn confidence and trust. 

Responsibility and decision-making: 

• Create and implement innovative approaches to interagency information sharing policies and plans.

• Lead and implement CMD projects, including multilateral workshops, multi-day trainings, and strategy development.

• Develop procedures and processes for core team and Division; provide significant input into Office and BHA procedures.

• Serves as the primary liaison on civil-military humanitarian issues with persons and groups both inside and outside of the organization to include the Department of State, the National Security Council, Congress, UN agencies, and other stakeholders.

SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP:

This position is located within FARO/CMD. You will report to the CMD Division Chief, Team Lead, Deputy Team or Unit Lead, or their designee.

SUPERVISORY CONTROLS:

For GS-13 equivalent:

The supervisor sets overall objectives. The USPSC and supervisor together develop deadlines, projects, and work to be done. The USPSC independently plans, designs, and carries out project, studies, and programs. Completed work is reviewed only from an overall standpoint in terms of feasibility, compatibility with other work, or effectiveness in meeting requirements or expected results. Technical problems are generally resolved without reference to supervisors.

For GS-14 equivalent:

The supervisor provides administrative direction in terms of broadly defined missions or functions. The USPSC independently plans, designs, and carries out projects, studies, and programs. Results of the work are considered technically authoritative. There is no higher-level official technically responsible for administering the program/project.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS 

The work requested does not involve undue physical demands. 

Qualifications

II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION 

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.)

At the GS-13 equivalent level

Minimum education and experience requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree plus a minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working in disaster response, emergency relief/management, humanitarian civil-military operations, or humanitarian assistance. Experience must include six (6) years of specialized experience total in three (3) or more of the following:

• Experience working with humanitarian principles and practices, applicable to civil-military directives 

• Experience with exercise development, operational planning with respect to humanitarian civil-military programs/operations

• Experience in humanitarian/disaster assistance, emergency relief, civil-military affairs, or working in or alongside military or peacekeeping forces

• Experience leading training events

OR

• Master’s degree with significant study in international relations, disaster management, political science, or other related fields plus five (5) years of progressively responsible experience working in disaster response, emergency relief/management, humanitarian civil-military operations, or humanitarian assistance. Experience must include four (4) years  of specialized experience total in three (3) or more of the following:

  • Experience working with humanitarian principles and practices, applicable to civil-military directives 

  • Experience with exercise development, operational planning with respect to humanitarian civil-military programs/operations

  • Experience in humanitarian/disaster assistance, emergency relief, civil-military affairs, or working in or alongside military or peacekeeping forces

  • Experience leading training events

At the GS-14 equivalent level

Minimum education and experience requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree plus a minimum of nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working in disaster response, emergency relief/management, humanitarian civil-military operations, or humanitarian assistance. Experience must include eight (8) years of specialized experience total in three (3) or more of the following:

• Experience working with humanitarian principles and practices, applicable to civil-military directives 

• Experience with exercise development, operational planning with respect to humanitarian civil-military programs/operations

• Experience in humanitarian/disaster assistance, emergency relief, civil-military affairs, or working in or alongside military or peacekeeping forces

• Experience leading training events

OR

Master’s degree with significant study in international relations, disaster management, political science, or other related fields plus seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working in disaster response, emergency relief/management, humanitarian civil-military operations, or humanitarian assistance. Experience must include six (6) years of specialized experience total in three (3) or more of the following:

• Experience working with humanitarian principles and practices, applicable to civil-military directives 

• Experience with exercise development, operational planning with respect to humanitarian civil-military programs/operations

• Experience in humanitarian/disaster assistance, emergency relief, civil-military affairs, or working in or alongside military or peacekeeping forces

• Experience leading training events

Application instructions

SUBMITTING AN OFFER

 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.

1. 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.
2. Offeror submissions must clearly reference the Solicitation number on all offeror submitted documents.
3. 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. 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 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.

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.

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.