Project Development Specialist (Gender & Youth) at USAID
SOLICITATION NUMBER: 72062123R10012
ISSUANCE DATE: June 12, 2023
CLOSING DATE/TIME: June 26, 2023
SUBJECT: Solicitation for a Cooperating Country National Personal Service Contractor (CCNPSC) – Project Development Specialist (Gender & Youth) – Program Office
Recommended:
The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking offers/applications from qualified persons to provide personal services under contract as described in this solicitation.
This position is located in USAID/Tanzania’s Program Office.
Offers/Applicants 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. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Accommodations can be made available to support any applicant with disabilities.
USAID is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
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 offers.
Any questions must be directed in writing to the Point of Contact specified in the Attached 1
Sincerely,
Brian Murphy
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Acting S/Executive Officer (Contracting Officer)
| USAID/Tanzania
686 Old Bagamoyo Road, Msasani P.O. BOX 9130 DAR ES SALAAM |
Tel: 255-22-2294490 Fax: 255-22-2294421
www.usaid.gov/Tanzania |
ATTACHMENT 1 72062123R10012
I.GENERAL INFORMATION
- SOLICITATION NO.: 72062123R10012
- ISSUANCE DATE: June 12, 2023
3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: June 23, 2023
- POINT OF CONTACT: Hussein Tuwa, e-mail at htuwa@usaid.gov
- POSITION TITLE: Project Development Specialist (Gender & Youth)
- MARKET VALUE: 93,571,469 to TShs. 145,035,778 equivalent to FSN – 11. In accordance with AIDAR Appendix J and the Local Compensation Plan of USAID/Tanzania. Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.
- PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The base period will be on/about October 08, 2023 to on/about October 07, 2024, and is estimated to start on October 08, 2023.
Based on Agency need, the Contracting Officer may exercise an additional option period(s) for four one-year periods for the date(s) estimated as follows:
| Base Period: | October 08, 2023 to October 07, 2024 |
| Option Period 1: | October 08, 2024 to October 07, 2025 |
| Option Period 2: | October 08, 2025 to October 07, 2026 |
| Option Period 3: | October 08, 2026 to October 07, 2027 |
| Option Period 4: | October 08, 2027 to October 07, 2028 |
- PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with possible travel as stated in the Statement of Duties.
- ELIGIBLE OFFERORS: Offerors/Applicants must be Tanzanian citizens.
- SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRED: Facility Access
- STATEMENT OF DUTIES
1. General Statement of Purpose of the Contract
As a Project Development Specialist in the Program Office, the position serves as the Mission’s key advisor on advancing gender and youth within the Mission’s Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS, ensuring compliance with the USAID’s 2023 Gender Equality and
Women’s Empowerment and Youth in Development Policies, and adherence to USAID’s
2
principles of inclusive development. The Specialist will ensure that youth, gender and inclusive development are amplified across USAID’s external engagement portfolio and mainstreamed throughout the Mission’s internal Program Cycle efforts.
The Specialist will be responsible for key Mission programming processes, from strategic planning to program implementation, evaluation, review, and reporting. Through conducting and reviewing gender and youth analyses, the Specialist will provide technical and relevant data to support Development Objective (DO) and technical office teams and implementing partners on all Mission gender and youth issues. The Specialist will collect disaggregated data and report on standard U.S. Government gender and youth indicators, including primary and/or secondary attributions to promote evidence- and data-based programming. The incumbent also serves as the Mission point person for project development, review and approval processes, ensuring integration of youth and gender issues and adherence to Agency rules and regulations.
- Statement of Duties to be Performed
Serve as the Mission’s Gender and Youth Advisor 60% of time
- Represents USAID on external (for example, GoT and donor coordination) and internal (for example, USAID on USG interagency gender and youth committees) stakeholder groups.
- Liaises with GOT contacts that work on gender and/or youth issues. Provides regular updates to mission leadership and activity managers.
- Serves as the Mission’s key advisor on the role of women and youth to ensure these topics are effectively mainstreamed into the Mission’s programming processes throughout the program cycle.
- Advises DO and technical office teams on best practices, lessons learned, proven approaches, and development best practice in designing activities, strategies, and monitoring approaches to working with youth, women, and other marginalized populations, aligned with USAID’s principles of inclusive development.
- Ensures the Mission meets the Agency-wide requirements related to the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Mission Order
- Ensures the Mission meets the Agency-wide requirements for funding stand-alone or integrated activities in line with Gender Key Issues
- Identifies specific youth and gender training needs among Mission and Implementing Partner staff; designs context-specific curricula; and conducts gender and youth training for all Mission staff and partners (including Gender 101 Training per the Agency’s strategy).
- Leads formal, informal, and ad hoc reporting efforts on gender and youth issues, including drafting reports. Collects and tracks disaggregated data, gender and youth indicators, and advises the Mission on how to best set, meet, and adjust relevant targets.
- Establishes mechanisms and approaches to monitor gender and youth programming across the Mission. Uses gender and youth data to drive decision making and provide strategic direction and recommendations to senior leadership.
- Works across technical areas of expertise to capture strategy level impacts of USAID’s gender and youth work and approaches. Contributes to collaboration, learning, and adaptation (CLA) efforts through facilitating discussions across offices and teams to understand trends illustrated by gender and youth indicators; programmatic approaches; and lessons learned. Develops and presents analysis on the Mission’s progress toward meeting CDCS objectives.
- Supports A/CORs on the mainstreaming of gender and youth and provides partners with gender and youth technical assistance.
- Serves as the point of contact for gender and/or youth requests unsolicited proposals, meeting requests, and data calls.
- Leads the design and drafting of activity and strategy level gender and youth analysis in the Mission.
- Regularly reports to Mission leadership on gender and youth current events, issues, and provides country context during those discussions.
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Serve as a Mission’s Project Development Advisor 30% of time
- Serves as a Mission resource for implementing Automated Directives System (ADS) 201 and 205 to support project development, review, and approval policies and procedures, including integrating gender equality and female empowerment and inclusive development principles in USAID’s program cycle.
- Establishes annual plans for design and approval of new projects. Identifies and schedules actions required to develop, design, and authorize new and modify on-going activities and projects.
- Provides advice to DO and Technical Teams on the incorporation of gender and youth activities during the development of new activities.
- Coordinates and facilitates opportunities throughout the Program Cycle to ensure inclusion of cross-cutting issues, and ensures activity development completeness of supporting analyses, efficacy of design methodology and logistics, adequacy of technical design, and compliance with applicable Agency regulations and policies.
- Provides specialized data analysis and report preparation assistance, as required, for DO and Technical Teams, partners and the Program Office on project design and implementation as well as all Mission gender and youth issues.
Provide Other Support to DO Teams and the Program Office as Needed 10% of time
- Assists in the coordination/finalization of the Mission’s formal reporting.
- Assists with other Program Office activities as assigned by the Project Development Officer.
- Serves, on an ad hoc basis, on evaluation teams and partner/personnel selection committees.
- Supervisory Relationship: The incumbent reports directly to the Project Development Officer (PDO). S/he is expected to work independently with minimal supervision.
- Supervisory Controls: None
- PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.
II.MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in social sciences (economics, rural sociology, development studies or closely-related social science discipline) is a requirement.
- Prior Work Experience: : A minimum of five years working experience in development planning and or program management is required. At least three years of that experience should include work on gender or youth issues. Experience collecting and disseminating information to large organizations is critical, as is the ability to advise high-level officials, facilitate training and information sharing sessions, and conduct gender analysis at the strategy and activity levels.
- Language Proficiency: English and Kiswahili language fluency in oral, reading and written communication are required.
- Job Knowledge: Knowledge about the country’s socio-economic development including policy, development priorities, regulatory and institutional environment in which the mission operates is required. Knowledge of the country’s gender and youth issues as they relate to the country’s socioeconomic development is also a prerequisite. Understanding of project design and management and integration of cross-cutting issues is required.
- Skills and Abilities: Superior communication, leadership and interpersonal skills necessary to establish and maintain good contact with government ministries, other donors, and mission staff are required. Excellent oral and writing skills in English are required. The incumbent must also be proactive. Previous demonstrated experience working in and/or leading multidisciplinary teams is required. Incumbent must have program management experience since s/he will manage some of the mission’s cross-cutting contracts. Experience with both the Microsoft Office Suite and Google Tools is required as is experience in monitoring and evaluation. Experience in the use of computer software applications for communication- email/internet use, and word processing, is essential.
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III.EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS
The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215–1. The CO reserves the right at any point in the evaluation process to establish a competitive range of offerors with whom negotiations will be conducted pursuant to FAR 15.306(c). In accordance with FAR 52.215–1, if the CO determines that the number of offers that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the CO may limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated offers. The FAR provisions referenced above are available at https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.
To meet the basic eligibility requirements for this position the offeror must:
- Be a Tanzanian citizen;
- Submit a complete application (Offer) as outlined in the section IV;
- Be eligible to attain a security certificate for Facility Access;
- Be cleared medically to work in Tanzania;
After the closing date for receipt of applications, those that meet the minimum qualification requirements (Education and Experience) will be invited to take an English proficiency test. Applicants who achieve Level IV (operational) proficiency will be referred to a Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC). Applications from candidates who do not meet the minimum requirements will not be considered.
The TEC will review and score the applications to create a list of applicants to advance to the written and in-person phase of the interview process. Short-listed candidates will be evaluated based on information presented in the application, writing exercise, and interview and obtained through reference checks. An applicant’s references must be able to provide substantive information about past performance and abilities.
BASIS OF RATING
Applicants are rated as outlined below. Reference checks will be conducted and are rated as pass or fail.
English Proficiency Test PASS/FAIL
Application Review 15 points
The application will be scored based on information provided outlining the quality of experience supporting the statement of duties as outlined in this solicitation (See Section II. a. education, b. work experience, d. Job knowledge, e. Skills and Abilities).
Writing Test 20 points
Applicants will be provided a written test to evaluate their knowledge, skills and experience. The test will be scored based on the content.
Interview Performance 65 points
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Interview questions will be intended to explore the candidate’s:
- Knowledge about the country’s socio-economic development including policy, development priorities, regulatory and institutional environment in which the mission operates is required.
- Knowledge of the country’s gender and youth issues as they relate to the country’s socioeconomic development is also a prerequisite.
- Superior communication, leadership and interpersonal skills necessary to establish and maintain good contact with government ministries, other donors, and mission staff are required.
- Previous demonstrated experience working in and/or leading multidisciplinary teams is required. Incumbent must have program management experience since s/he will manage some of the mission’s cross-cutting contracts.
Total Possible Points: 100 points
The technical evaluation committee may conduct reference checks, including references from individuals who have not been specifically identified by the offeror, and may do so before or after a candidate is interviewed.
Reference Check Pass/Fail
A “Fail” Reference Check would result from confirmation of illegal or unethical activities, or a preponderance of negative feedback from numerous references, e.g., not a single critical comment.
IV.SUBMITTING AN OFFER
- Eligible Offerors are required to complete and submit (1) a current resume or curriculum vitae; (2) a cover letter, not to exceed two pages, addressing how the applicant meets the knowledge, skills and abilities required to be successful in the position. Offerors will also submit any other documents (certificates, awards, copies of degrees earned, etc.) that address the qualification requirements of the position, and a list of three (3) to five (5) references with complete contact information, including e-mail address and telephone numbers.
- Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted only online via mailbox usaidtzlesapps@usaid.gov.
- To ensure consideration of offers/applications for the intended position, Offerors/Applicants must prominently indicate the solicitation number and position title Project Management Specialist (Global Health Security) in the subject line. Failure to do so will result in an incomplete offer/application.
V.LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS PRIOR TO AWARD
- The CO will provide instructions about how to complete and submit the following forms after an offeror is selected for the contract award:
- Conditional Selection Letter
- Biographical Data Form for Security Eligibility
- Medical Clearance
- Negotiation Memo with Responsibility Determination (including SAM and OFAC)
- Ensuring Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors – Please be advised that, upon award, the contractor will be required to follow the Mission policies and/or directives from the U.S. Department of State regarding COVID-19 requirements
VI.BENEFITS AND ALLOWANCES
As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a PSC is normally authorized the following benefits and allowances (in accordance with the approved Local Compensation Plan):
- BENEFITS:
- Retirement Benefit (Defined Contributions Fund)
- Medical Coverage
- Life Insurance
- Annual and Sick Leave
- ALLOWANCES (as applicable):
- Miscellaneous Benefit Allowance
- Vacation and End-of-Year Bonuses
VII. TAXES
Local Income Taxes: Contractors/Employees are responsible for calculating and paying local income taxes.
VIII.USAID REGULATIONS, POLICIES AND CONTRACT CLAUSES PERTAINING TOPSCs
USAID regulations and policies governing CCN and TCN PSC awards are available at these sources:
1. USAID Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR), Appendix J, “Direct USAID Contracts With a
Cooperating Country National and with a Third Country National for Personal Services Abroad,” including contract clause “General Provisions,” available at https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/aidar_0.pdf
- Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at https://www.usaid.gov/forms. Pricing by line item is to be determined upon contract award as described below:
LINE ITEMS
| ITEM
NO (A) |
SUPPLIES/SERVICES
(DESCRIPTION) (B) |
QTY
(C) |
UNIT
(D) |
UNIT
PRICE (E) |
AMOUNT
(F) |
| 0001 | Base Period – Compensation, Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs
(ODCs) – Award Type: Cost – Product Service Code: [e.g. R497] – Accounting Info: [insert one or more citation(s) from Phoenix/GLAAS] |
1 | LOT | $
_TBD_ _ |
$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_ |
| 2001 | Option Period 1 – Compensation,
Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) – Award Type: Cost – Product Service Code: [e.g. R497] – Accounting Info: [insert from Phoenix/GLAAS] |
1 | LOT | $
_TBD_ _ |
$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_ |
| 2002 | Option Period 2 – Compensation,
Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) – Award Type: Cost – Product Service Code: [e.g. R497] – Accounting Info: [insert from Phoenix/GLAAS] |
1 | LOT | $
_TBD_ _ |
$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_ |
| 2003 | Option Period 3 – Compensation,
Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) – Award Type: Cost – Product Service Code: [e.g. R497] – Accounting Info: [insert from Phoenix/GLAAS] |
1 | LOT | $_TBD
___ |
$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_ |
| 2004 | Option Period 4 – Compensation,
Fringe Benefits and Other Direct Costs (ODCs) – Award Type: Cost – Product Service Code: [e.g. R497] – Accounting Info: [insert from Phoenix/GLAAS] |
1 | LOT | $_TBD
___ |
$_TBD at Award after negotiations with Contractor_ |
- Acquisition & Assistance Policy Directives/Contract Information Bulletins (AAPDs/CIBs) for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals available at http://www.usaid.gov/work–usaid/aapdscibs
- Ethical Conduct. By the acceptance of a USAID personal services contract as an individual, the contractor will be acknowledging receipt of the “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” available from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, in accordance with General Provision 2 and 5 CFR 2635. See https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/OGE%20Regulations
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5. PSC Ombudsman
The PSC Ombudsman serves as a resource for any Personal Services Contractor who has entered into a contract with the United States Agency for International Development and is available to provide clarity on their specific contract with the agency. Please visit our page for additional information:
https://www.usaid.gov/work–usaid/personal–service–contracts–ombudsman.
The PSC Ombudsman may be contacted via: PSCOmbudsman@usaid.gov.
