SUBJECT: Solicitation for a Solicitation for U.S. Personal Service Contractor (USPSC) -
Iraq Senior Humanitarian Advisor (BHA) – USAID Iraq

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 offers.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 72026724R00002 
2. ISSUANCE DATE: May 16, 2024
3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS  June 14, 2024 5:00pm EST
4. POINT OF CONTACT:  [email protected] 
5. POSITION TITLE:  USAID/Iraq Senior Humanitarian Adviser
6. MARKET VALUE: $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.

7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:  Two-Year Period of Performance with possibility to renew in accordance with ADS 309: - Personal services contracts are subject to the two-year limitation in accordance with FAR Part 17. In accordance with AIDAR Appendix J, CCNPSCs are of a continuing nature and expected to be part of a series of sequential contracts, each not to exceed the two-year limitation in the FAR. Start date is pending security and medical clearance approval.

8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: The location of service is Erbil, Iraq with extended travel elsewhere in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe (MENAE) and worldwide as needed. Upon mutual agreement between BHA/Washington and the Offeror, during the contract period the SHA may be reassigned/relocated to a geographical location where the individual’s services are needed; post-specific allowances would be adjusted accordingly for any change in place of performance.

Overseas USPSCs may be authorized to telework or remote work only from a location within the country of performance, in accordance with Mission Iraq policy. Telework or remote work from outside the country of performance may only be authorized in certain circumstances in accordance with the terms and conditions of this contract.

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

STATEMENT OF DUTIES

1. General Statement of Purpose of the Contract

Since 2003, the United States, through The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been a steadfast partner of Iraq, helping enhance the social and economic stability of all citizens. USAID activities include supporting Iraq’s efforts to address climate change impacts through mitigation and adaptation programming and policy initiatives. Alongside other U.S. government agencies, USAID works with the Iraqi government, international institutions, and a network of local partners to rebuild infrastructure, provide equipment and training to civil society organizations, farmers, and entrepreneurs, and help government at all levels respond to the needs of all Iraqis, including minorities, women, youth, and other vulnerable groups.

USAID remains committed to the mutual goals supporting the US-Iraq partnership, which aims to build a secure and stable future for Iraq. Through our work, USAID promotes more inclusive, capable, and accountable governance and more prosperous and resilient communities.

The USG has been responding to the current humanitarian crisis in Iraq since January 2014, when a surge by ISIS caused mass displacement as civilians fled to areas of relative safety, including the IKR, to escape violence. Nearly 5 million former IDPs, the majority of people displaced since 2014, had returned to their areas of origin or resettled in other locations as of December 2023.

Approximately 2.5 million people required humanitarian assistance in Iraq in 2023, according to WFP. Climatic shocks, ongoing insecurity, and protracted displacement continue to adversely affect Iraq’s IDP, host community, and returnee populations at a time when the capacity of both the GoI and KRG to respond to humanitarian needs remains challenged by budgetary constraints.

On November 6, 2023, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Alina L. Romanowski issued a redeclaration of humanitarian need in Iraq for FY 2024 due to the ongoing complex emergency and humanitarian crisis.

USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) works to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the impact of disasters by helping people in need become more self-reliant. BHA is responsible for planning, coordinating, developing, achieving, monitoring, and evaluating international humanitarian assistance falling into two conceptual areas: 1) Humanitarian Response during emergencies and 2) Early Recovery, Risk Reduction, and Resilience activities to address longer-term recovery after emergencies. You can learn more about BHA on our website.

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, United States (U.S.) Embassies, humanitarian donor groups, and regional and country-level humanitarian architectures. Field experts also provide oversight of the BHA’s 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 (IOs), including the 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 (USG) interagency, as well as in interactions with beneficiary populations, host governments, implementing partners, UN agencies, and other donors. 

MENAE consists of three geographic divisions: Europe, Middle East and Levant, and North Africa and Arabian Peninsula. The MENAE Field structure comprises a Regional Office based in Budapest, Hungary. MENAE also maintains a staff presence in bilateral Missions and other platforms throughout the region, including the Iraq Country Team based in Erbil, Iraq.  

This position is a member of the USAID/Iraq Mission. The position reports to the USAID/Iraq Mission Director on a day-to-day basis to ensure humanitarian developments and programming is understood within the interagency at post. Given the high interagency engagement, this position will also assume responsibility as the Mission’s State/PRM Coordinator and lead coordination efforts on in-country trip planning as well as coordination on programming.The position is also a member of the USAID/BHA Iraq Country Team, and works closely with the BHA Regional Office based in Budapest, Hungary and the Washington, D.C. based Iraq Team, and receives technical guidance and direction  from the Regional Director (RD) based in Budapest, Hungary. 

The incumbent will advise the U.S. Ambassador, USAID/Iraq Mission Director, and other senior USG officials on humanitarian advocacy with the government of Iraq. Additionally, this position will lead coordination of USAID humanitarian assistance programming within Iraq. They will inform the USAID/Iraq Mission of USAID/BHA humanitarian assistance and strategy, as well as other donor government humanitarian interventions; advise on policies that have implications for humanitarian conditions; solicit input from the State/PRM on integration of humanitarian and development programming; and provides humanitarian reporting, briefings, and information products for the USAID Mission Director. They will also represent USAID’s humanitarian strategy, analysis, and interventions to  USAID Mission leadership and other USG focal points. The incumbent will articulate and advocate for BHA perspectives on humanitarian best practices, including UN-led assistance strategies and priorities for Iraq, and BHA’s approach to appropriate programming of USG humanitarian assistance in Iraq’s dynamic, conflict-affected, politically complex context. In the interest of the Agency, the incumbent of this position may be required to serve on BHA response teams outside Iraq in the event of a disaster that necessitates USG engagement. 

BHA requires the services of the Senior Humanitarian Advisor (SHA) based in Erbil, Iraq to meet its objectives of effectively programming, monitoring, coordinating, and evaluating USAID-funded humanitarian activities in Iraq. 

BHA’s DIVERSITY PHILOSOPHY

Your Uniqueness is Welcome Here!

It takes talented people with unique experiences to provide the best humanitarian aid possible. We are committed to having a workforce that reflects the global communities we serve. We strive to create an inclusive workplace, where everyone brings their authentic selves to work. We invite you to join us in providing humanitarian assistance to save lives and alleviate the suffering around the world. 

Statement of Duties to be Performed 

Reporting to the USAID Iraq Mission Director based in Iraq, with technical guidance and direction from the USAID/BHA Regional Director in Budapest, Hungary the Senior Humanitarian Advisor (SHA) will support the management and representation of the humanitarian portfolio for Iraq. The SHA will be responsible for program analysis and strategy development and work closely with the USAID Iraq, the U.S. Embassy, U.S. military representatives, and other USG interagency partners, other donors, Government of Iraq officials, IOs, NGOs, and the UN, in responding to humanitarian needs and sudden-onset disasters. Because of the substantial coordination requirements of this position, an individual with a highly collaborative work style is necessary. The SHA must be prepared to function effectively in a challenging and restrictive work environment and be willing to strictly adhere to U.S. Embassy security guidelines.

At the GS-14 equivalent level, the SHA will perform the following duties:

A. Contextual Specialty:

• Develop and maintain knowledge of the key humanitarian, early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience issues in Iraq.
• Maintain an in-depth understanding of political, humanitarian, organizational, and stakeholder interests specific to Iraq.
• Monitor incipient disasters, international disaster response plans and efforts, and major humanitarian issues and challenges in the area of responsibility through a wide range of USG and international sources.
• Identify humanitarian issues, priorities, lessons learned, and opportunities within and relevant to Iraq and apply those to program strategy development and implementation.
• Prepare regular strategic and analytical reports on current or anticipated emergencies, as well as on comprehensive preparedness documentation on Iraq.

B. Portfolio Management:

• Lead efforts to identify and assess on-going and emerging humanitarian assistance requirements, target beneficiary groups, and locations, oversee the general direction of existing relief and transition-oriented programs, and broadly recommend the types of interventions and budget levels required in Iraq.
• Closely collaborate with USAID Mission, BHA/MENAE Regional Office, and Washington, D.C. based colleagues on program coordination to share information, avoid duplication, and explore opportunities for synergies and transition efforts.
• Maintain regular communication and close coordination with USAID/Iraq, State/PRM, BHA/Washington on these efforts.
• Monitor ongoing humanitarian assistance efforts in Iraq. Liaise with partners and other donors, coordinate on issues of mutual interest, and provide coordinated field feedback to the partners.
• Coordinate collection of information and provide updates and recommendations through written reports on issues related to the humanitarian situation, including the following: ○ Capacity and ability of UN, IOs, NGOs, and local institutions to carry out programs; 
• Provide guidance to organizations that are developing applications for BHA, based on BHA’s Guidelines for Unsolicited Applications.
• Review concept papers and applications and provide timely recommendations/comments to BHA/Washington.
• Ensure reporting on a timely basis to the USAID Iraq Mission and BHA/Washington.

C. Representation:

• Represent BHA at senior level meetings within the USG and with humanitarian stakeholders and convey humanitarian concerns and priorities through oral and written briefings.
• Coordinate policy development meetings such as:
  • Meetings with individuals and groups of implementing partners discussing programmatic priorities, objectives, progress, results, and challenges;
  • Discussions, meetings, and papers informing USG foreign policy in areas with humanitarian concerns or impacts;
  • Donor and implementing partner coordination forums.
• Serve as the principal point of contact in-country for USAID/Iraq for humanitarian issues, and serve as a liaison on program issues among USAID mission staff, the U.S. Embassy and other USG agencies, military representatives, BHA/Washington, and the overall humanitarian community.
• Represent USAID humanitarian perspectives to NGOs, IOs, and UN agencies relating to humanitarian assistance strategies and priorities, including USAID’s approach to sustainable, resilience-oriented humanitarian programs. Work closely with the Regional Advisor and BHA’s technical advisors to discuss sectoral priorities.
• Represent USG humanitarian interests at national and international meetings and conferences, and facilitate, as requested, travel and briefings for official USG visitors interested in humanitarian issues.
• Engage as the humanitarian specialist in U.S. Embassy policy conversations, remaining available to provide timely reporting and clearances in response to high-level USG queries originating from the region or from Washington, DC.

D. Leadership:

• Supervise staff on the USAID/BHA Iraq Country Team based in Erbil, Iraq and Budapest, Hungary, including the Senior Humanitarian Program Officer (SHPO) and Humanitarian Program Officer (HPO).
• Provide recommendations on current and future directions of BHA’s Iraq portfolio to include programmatic, budgetary, and human resource requirements.
• Provide leadership on humanitarian issues within the USAID Iraq Mission, in coordination with USAID Mission senior leadership, to incorporate humanitarian concerns into Mission activities and identify opportunities to leverage USAID interventions.
• Serve as direct supervisor to team members on grants management and portfolio management, including BHA’s business process, portfolio-specific budget and workload management, and post-award monitoring and management.
• Manages an ethnically and culturally diverse team of program, technical, and/or administrative staff.
• 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.

E. General Duties:

• This position is expected to be able to qualify, train for, and routinely serve on disaster/humanitarian responses in Washington DC or in the disaster area for 4 to 6 weeks (or more) intervals. These can either be Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) and/or Response Management Teams (RMTs). DARTs are deployed to the field in response to disasters and operate in the field, providing staff an opportunity to deploy overseas for an extended period of time (e.g., 6-8 weeks). RMTs are based in Washington, DC and provide services to support DARTs, such as coordination and external engagement, communications, planning, logistics, travel coordination, or other similar duties (depending on the RMT role).
• As needed, may serve on temporary short-term assignments (“detail”) on other teams within the bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages. Duties performed while on detail will be aligned with existing duties and responsibilities and will be directly related to the position’s scope of work.
• As needed, staff is expected to support BHA’s hiring efforts and serve on PSC hiring committees. Training will be provided.

• The PSC may be expected to obtain an Agreement Officer's Representative (AOR) or Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) certification. The AOR/COR oversees agreements and/or contracts. This includes but is not limited to reviewing invoices, approvals, program/project deliverables (i.e. work plans, annual reports, month status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, financial/budget reports, contractor performance evaluations, and compliance. More information about the AOR/COR responsibilities and  related requirements can be found in the COR designation letter and the AOR designation letter. In the event that this role requires an AOR/COR certification, mandatory training will be provided.

3. Supervisory Relationship  

The Senior Humanitarian Adviser reports to the USAID Mission Director with technical guidance and direction from the USAID/BHA Regional Director in Budapest. 

4. Supervisory Controls  

The supervisor provides administrative direction in terms of broadly defined missions or functions. 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.

* Please refer to the solicitation attachment for full details