Solicitations open to: Ukrainian Nationals (Residency/Ukrainian Work Permit)

Solicitation No.: 720-121-23-R-10048

Position Title: Project Management Specialist (Humanitarian)

Issuance date: October 12, 2023

Closing date and time: October 26, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Kyiv Time

Work hours: 40 hours (Full time)

Position Grade: FSN-12

Market Value: Basic Annual Rate (in U.S. Dollars): $56,283 -$73,162 In accordance with AIDAR Appendix J and the Local Compensation Plan of USAID/Ukraine. Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.

Place of Performance: Kyiv, Ukraine

Period of Performance: Five-Year Period of Performance with possibility to renew in accordance with ADS 309: - Personal services contracts are subject to the five-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 five-year limitation in the FAR. Start date is pending security and medical clearance approval.

Security Level Required: Facility Access

STATEMENT OF DUTIES:

The Project Management Specialist (PMS) provides expertise, oversight, technical guidance, coordination, and representation of activities procured and implemented by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) in Ukraine. This position supports BHA's operations by managing and monitoring ongoing programs and liaising with potential and new implementing partners, managing technical review of proposals and concept notes, and assisting in monitoring and evaluation through documentation and conducting regular site visits.

The PMS will work within the USAID/Ukraine's Office of Humanitarian Assistance (OHA) and coordinate closely with the Mission to ensure the flow of timely and accurate information regarding all BHA activities in Ukraine, provide information and briefings to Embassy counterparts, and maintain relationships with humanitarian partners, other donors, UN representatives, and other relevant stakeholders. This position will blend program management and oversight with diplomatic acuity, communication skills, and relationship building. The PMS will work as a technical professional on humanitarian assistance within Ukraine's OHA team, advising the BHA Ukraine Office Director and team as well as partners and other stakeholders regarding all elements required for the successful and effective implementation of BHA-funded humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Coordination and Representation (30%)

The PMS serves as a key point of contact both to internal USG counterparts and external stakeholders (donors, international organizations, NGOs, etc.), coordinating closely with USAID/Ukraine - the Local Development, Economic Growth, Education and Program offices - to identify areas of complementarity and overlap to maximize the cohesion and effectiveness of all USAID/BHA programming in Ukraine. In the event BHA deploys a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and/or activates a Response Management Team (RMT) in Washington, the PMS may be called upon to serve in a response role. While serving on the DART, there may be some additional physical exertion including long periods of standing, walking over rough terrain, or carrying of moderately heavy items (less than 50 pounds) during site visits. Additionally, the work may involve special safety and/or security precautions, wearing of protective equipment, and exposure to severe weather conditions during site visits.

Monitoring and Program Oversight, Program Management (30%)

Serves as a key point of contact for implementing partners for BHA awards, responding to requests for information and guidance on award parameters and BHA regulations, problem solving challenges related to executing awards, and maintaining an ongoing dialogue regarding contextual and award-specific issues affecting humanitarian organizations in Ukraine. Provides monitoring and evaluation through review and analysis of reports, activity progress benchmarks, regular virtual and in-person meetings, site visits and participation in USAID/BHA's Ukraine third-party monitoring mechanism. The PMS provides recommendations on BHA's budget and strategy process, sectoral and funding priorities, offers feedback on current and future programming and further discusses potential funding opportunities with current and potential partners, receiving and reviewing concept notes and applications. The PMS acts as a liaison between implementing partners and BHA headquarters, including AORs/CORs, the BHA Ukraine team within the Europe Division, and the BHA Technical Program Quality (TPQ) team during both application review and implementation periods. Encourages partners to share program updates, including access impediments, operational challenges, safety and security incidents, any no-cost modifications or other award modifications, etc. The PMS maintains knowledge of award and activity management by reviewing and understanding current and updated BHA emergency award guidelines and attends relevant sessions pertinent to BHA award management. The PMS will be cognizant of current events and contextual information affecting program implementation; humanitarian architecture and standard practices; and BHA humanitarian processes and policies, including but not limited to humanitarian principles, the in-country sector or cluster structure, the international and local NGO community, local/national/international trends driving new or increased humanitarian needs, basic sectoral knowledge, and understanding of BHA's Emergency Application Guidelines. The PMS must 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 and project deliverables. such as work plans, annual reports, month status reports, travel requests, key personnel requests, and financial and budget reports.

Supervisor Roles (30%)

Exercise direct level supervision and mentorship to team members on grants and portfolio management, to Project Management Assistants and Project Management Specialists working focused on BHA's business process, portfolio-specific budget and workload management, and post-award monitoring and management. In close coordination with the Office Director and Deputy Office Director, the Program Management Specialists works with NGOs, IOs, and UN agencies that are developing proposals for BHA (including grant amendments and extensions) to ensure compliance with BHA's guidelines. The PMS has discretion to adjust work plans of team members covering a range of sectors such as food assistance, health, multi-purpose cash assistance, shelter & settlements, protection, nutrition, Humanitarian Coordination, Information Management and Assessments (HCIMA), and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). The PMS participates in office-wide discussions on initiatives that impact program implementation to provide field-based perspectives, as assigned and assumes a leadership role in office-wide policy initiatives to ensure field perspectives are well-represented. The PMS serves as a peer-mentor for program staff working to increase exposure and experience in field-based humanitarian, Disaster Risk Reduction, and resilience operations. The PMS must 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. Further, must engage in at least one workforce diversity initiative or activity focused on helping to improve the organizational culture while leading and fostering a collaborative, respectful, and professional work environment by demonstrating partnership and teamwork to accomplish team, office, and bureau objectives.

Reporting (10%)

The PMS identifies, analyzes and reports on policies and trends that impact humanitarian needs or policies (including external studies and reports). Reports on progress in partners' work in a concise and consolidated way that can be used in summaries and talking points. The PMS ensures consistency of messages in information, fact sheets, press releases, responses to requests for information, briefing papers, and other public-information materials related to USAID/BHA's humanitarian programs in Ukraine and maintains datasets of relevant POCs, funding or other information to facilitate responses to info requests or for talking points.

The contractor is eligible for temporary duty (TDY) travel to the U.S., or to other Missionsabroad, to participate in the "Foreign Service National" Fellowship Program, in accordance with USAID policy.

Supervisory Relationship: The PMS receives supervision from the Ukraine Office Director, and/or his/her designee, who provides assignments in terms of a discussion of the work to be performed and the Office Director's priorities. Most work occurs as a result of normal office operations, but special activities may be assigned at any time. The PMS independently plans and carries out assignments and is responsible for the accuracy of their personal work; work is normally reviewed in terms of results achieved, and in meeting Office objectives.

Supervisory Controls: Yes. Direct level supervisor to the Project Management Assistants (FSN-09) and Development Program Specialists (FSN-10) within the Office.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demand.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE:

Education: Minimum of University (Bachelor's) degree in a technical sector (WASH, food security, health, emergency assistance), political science, international development or affairs, law, social sciences, humanities, public or business administration, logistics/operations, or related field is required.

Work Experience: Minimum of Seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian affairs, development, or social services is required.

Language Proficiency: Level IV (Fluent) speaking/reading/writing English and Level IV (Fluent) speaking/reading/writing of Ukrainian is required.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS:

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. The Contracting Officer 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 Contracting Officer 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 Contracting Officer 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.

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.

Selection Process and Basis of Evaluation: Offerors who meet the minimum education and work experience qualification requirements will be further evaluated through review of the offeror's submitted required documents (see points below) and ranked based on the evaluation and selection factors. A competitive range may be established of the highest-ranked offerors, who may be further evaluated through technical/language tests, interviews, and reference checks to determine the most qualified/highest-ranked offeror. Reference checks may be conducted with individuals not provided by the offeror, and without prior notification to the offeror. Any offeror not receiving satisfactory reference checks will no longer be considered for the position. Negotiations may be conducted with the most qualified/ highest-ranked offeror at the conclusion of evaluations.

40 points - Knowledge: Advanced knowledge of humanitarian assistance, emergency relief. disaster risk reduction, or disaster preparedness programming and management. Familiarity with donor programming and UN/NGO operations is required. Sophisticated knowledge of regional/national culture, country, external/regional environment, and political situation is required.

60 points - Skills and Abilities: Ability to interact diplomatically and effectively with high-level U.S., donor, and host country officials required. Ability to work independently, take initiative and exercise good judgment. Strong interpersonal skills, including ability to work productively with a variety of senior-level contacts. Ability to analyze and report on information on relevant humanitarian and refugee-related topics. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, in English and Ukrainian. Willingness and ability to carry out site visits throughout Ukraine (and if necessary, the region), including to refugee camps and border areas, and to international organization and NGO projects, warehouses, and offices. Short listed applicants will be evaluated through a written test in addition to the in-person or virtual interview.

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS: 100 points

HOW TO APPLY:

Eligible Offerors are requested to submit a complete application package which must include all the required documents in English electronically to &..s@usaid.gov with Subject line: Project Management Specialist (Humanitarian) (720-121-23-R-10048).

ANY/ALL application submissions received after the closing date will not be considered.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:

1. Cover Letter: A memo or email that outlines how your qualifications and experience meet the selection criteria.
2. Application for Employment (DS-174): The form can be downloaded from this link https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds174.pdf.

Offerors must thoroughly complete the DS-174 form in English and are advised to include all of their current and previous work experience related to this position. Offerors may use continuation pages to further explain their relevant work experience, if needed.AND;

1. Current Resume/Curriculum Vitae (CV): The CV/resume must contain sufficient relevant information to evaluate the applications in accordance with the stated technical evaluation criteria, listed above.

IMPORTANT:

IN ORDER TO HAVE YOUR APPLICATION CONSIDERED, YOU MUST SUBMIT ALL THREE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS. IF YOU OMIT ANY OF THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS, COVER PAGE, CV or DS-174 FORM, YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Note:

• This vacancy is open to Ukrainian Nationals (Residency/Ukrainian Work Permit Required).
• Applications with insufficient, incomplete and inconsistent information to make a determination will not be considered.
• No in-person appointments or telephone calls will be entertained.
• Offerers who are applying for this position must fully meet the education requirement (graduated and degree and/or diploma already received) as specified. At the time of applications, candidates must also meet in full the experience requirement.
• Short-listed candidates will be requested to provide educational documents such as degrees, diplomas, certificates and other pertinent documents (passport, proof of residency or work permit) as needed. Failure to provide the required documentation will result in the rejection of their application from further consideration.
• The Agency retains the full right to cancel or amend the solicitation and associated actions at any time.

BENEFITS/ALLOWANCES:

As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a CCN PSC is normally authorized the following benefits and allowances in accordance to the Mission Policy:

BENEFITS

• Health and Life Insurance coverage: Provided under the Compensation Plan.
• Defined Contribution Plan: Upon separation, a lump sum benefit equal to 12% of the basic salary earned for the duration worked under the appointment.

ALLOWANCES (as applicable)

• Meal Allowances: The annual amount is $853 for employees working on a full-time basis.
• Family Allowances: The mission provides a child allowance. Grants amounts are subject to change as determined by the Ukrainian State Budget Law.
• Unique Conditions of Work Allowances/ Benefits: 10% of Basic Rate Additional information may be provided to the selected offeror at the time of the salary offer.

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