Land Governance Advisor

1. SOLICITATION NUMBER: SOL-669-15-000006 2. ISSUANCE DATE: December 6, 2014 3. CLOSING DATE AND TIME: December 27, 2014 4. POSITION TITLE: Land Governance Advisor 5. MARKET VALUE OF POSITION: The position is the equivalent of a GS- 14, ranging from $85,544 to $111,203 per annum. Final compensation will be based on individual's salary and work history, experience and educational background. 6. EVALUATION FACTORS: Evaluation will be based on a 100-point Scale: Education (15 Points) Relevant Development Experience (35 Points) Management Experience (35 Points) Communications (15 Points) 7. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Two years. 8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Monrovia, Liberia 9. SECURITY ACCESS: Employment Authorization 10. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: United States (US) citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (non-U.S. citizen lawfully admitted for permanent residency) & Third Country Nationals (TCN). 11. STATEMENT OF WORK/POSITION DESCRIPTION: I. SCOPE OF WORK A. Introduction: The Democracy, Human Rights and Governance sector in Liberia faces a complex set of challenges. Liberia has experienced greater stability and security since 2005 and enjoys considerable freedom of expression and association and a significantly improved human rights environment. However, significant challenges in improving government accountability and rule of law, as well as political accountability and competition remain. The consequences of the lack of accountability manifest themselves in continued corruption and impunity at every level of government, including within the court system, which combined with a general lack of capacity, has resulted in low public confidence in government. Lack of political accountability and competition have resulted in continued executive dominance and the inability of the legislature and judiciary to act as checks on the executive. The citizenry remain uninformed while civil society remains weak, making it difficult for society to address these constraints. To address these challenges, USAID/Liberia's Democracy, Rights and Governance (DRG) Office supports more effective, accountable and inclusive governance, by strengthening accountable management of public resources, increasing access to justice, strengthening capacity to implement election processes, and building civil society and media's capacity to exercise their advocacy and oversight roles. Land governance is a cross-cutting focus of USAID Liberia, managed by the DRG Office, in close coordination with the Economic Growth (EG) Office, particularly the EG Natural Resource Management Team. The Democracy, Rights and Governance Office presently has an average annual budget of $30 million and a staff of ten, consisting of six Americans and four Liberians. The office is implementing programs in good governance, rule of law and access to justice, elections and political processes, and civil society and media. B. Position Objective and Principal Tasks: The objective of this contract is to obtain the services of a Land Governance Advisor to provide technical support to the USAID/Liberia Democracy, Rights and Governance (DRG) Team for the implementation of the Mission's Land Governance Project. The position will serve as one of two principal technical advisors for land governance in the USAID/Liberia DRG Team, and will coordinate closely with technical staff from other offices and units, including the mission Economic Growth Office and Natural Resource Management Team. The Land Governance Advisor will provide technical direction and guidance to USAID-financed activities within the DRG portfolio related to land governance. S/he will have broad responsibilities for planning and managing USAID-financed programs including collaborating on strategic planning, activity design (including developing scopes of work and program descriptions for technical services), oversight of work plan development and activity implementation, periodic review of financial performance, and monitoring and evaluation of programs and activities. The incumbent will be responsible for working closely with the Land Commission and other Government of Liberia counterparts on land governance activities, serving as a technical advisor to local counterparts as well as USAID management. The Land Governance Advisor will be the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for the Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA). S/he shall support the Mission in coordinating with other bilateral and multilateral donors working in the land sector in Liberia, including by managing USAID's participation in a multi-donor trust fund. Additionally, the Advisor shall liaise with technical and administrative backstops in USAID/Washington as necessary. C. Duties and Responsibilities: Under the supervision of the Democracy, Rights and Governance Team Leader, the Land Governance Advisor shall fulfill the following duties: 1. Program Management and Development Objective Achievement Responsibility - As the senior land governance subject matter expert for the Democracy, Rights and Governance Team, the Advisor will provide leadership and have discretion to exercise judgment in the planning, development, and management of land governance programs including: development of policy recommendations; determination of work priorities; making decisions on activity implementation matters; identifying and resolving program issues; assuring that all activities are carried out in a technically-sound and cost-effective manner; and assuring activities are carried out in accordance with all applicable USAID requirements. - Land governance issues in Liberia are technically complex and politically sensitive, requiring analysis and decision making of unusual difficulty. The Advisor will design, report on, and oversee the implementation of a portfolio of activities responsive to country needs. - The Advisor will be relied upon to provide technical and policy advice to USAID, the Department of State, other USG agencies, donor agencies, implementing partners, recipients, contractors, customers, and other stakeholders. The Advisor will also consult with senior management of the US Mission on land governance issues. - Provide subject matter expertise on land governance issues and other issues relevant to the Democracy, Rights and Governance portfolio. The Advisor should also have an understanding of the other key elements of democracy, rights and governance. As the subject matter specialist, the Advisor will prepare written policy papers, and provide oral briefings as needed. - Coordinate closely with the Economic Growth (EG) Office, ensuring a strategic, coordinated approach to land governance as a cross-cutting issue across DRG and EG portfolios. - Maintain a diplomatic and productive dialogue with host country officials at the technical level up to and including the ministerial level. Develop a strong working relationship with host country government counterparts, implementing partners and key stakeholders including private sector and civil society actors to gain knowledge of Liberia, identify needs in the land sector, and further shared priorities. - Develop and maintain effective dialogue with USAID program implementers based in Liberia, and lead coordination in program design, information sharing, and activity implementation among stakeholders. The Advisor plays a critical role in formulating the content of USAID's assistance in Liberia and ensuring coordination with the State Department and other United States Government (USG) agencies. - Serve as Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) or Assistance Officer's Representative (AOR) for assigned contracts and grants. The Advisor will take full project and activity management responsibility for land governance programs which will be assigned to his/her portfolio in accordance with USG procurement regulations. The COR/AOR functions include the day-to-day responsibility for monitoring the implementation of activities, monitoring pipelines, processing obligation actions, and responding to requests for approvals or modifications to specific activities. It also may include writing technical justifications for changes to on-going programs, objectives, activities or indicators. - Design development activities to meet Mission strategic objectives. This includes preparing statements of work or program descriptions, requests for proposals/applications, Acquisition and Assistance requests, decision memos, Congressional Notifications, inter-agency agreement letters, etc. - Participate actively in the procurement process, including activity design, in consultation with USAID/Liberia's Office of Acquisition and Assistance and USG stakeholders. - Fully understand U.S. foreign policy in Liberia. Serve as the USAID representative in international bodies and promote projects that help to meet U.S. foreign policy objectives. Provide briefings to U.S. and foreign officials and other donors on USAID programming in the region as necessary. Contribute to briefers or testimony for high level U.S. Government staff. Maintain contact with USAID/Washington staff on latest democracy, rights and governance policy and technical issues. - Develop assessment/evaluation documents. The Advisor may participate in, coordinate, and manage land governance assessments that are conducted in conjunction with other USG agencies, international organizations, or other donors. - Perform Monitoring & Evaluation function: The Advisor will be responsible for performance monitoring, and regular evaluations of USAID-managed rule of law and land conflict resolution activities. This includes: - review of quarterly and annual program and financial reports from program partners; - review the reports paying particular attention to the data pertaining to: o activity performance indicators as identified within the Performance Management Plan (PMP) and Operational Plan; o program objectives achievement, methodology and lessons learned paying particular attention to inputs, output and expected outcomes including economic, social, cultural, and technical factors; o financial indicators (e.g., expenditures, burn rate/pipeline analysis and congruity of expenditures against activities); and o justifications for incremental funding. - Travel regularly throughout Liberia to coordinate and monitor field operations, identify program implementation constraints, and assess and facilitate progress towards planned results. - Work closely with the Office of Financial Management to review and assess quarterly accruals and disbursements, and track funding pipelines to ensure compliance with the USAID guidelines. - Assess impact and propose new directions for rule of law, and land conflict resolution activities. The Advisor should ensure that activities are carried out in accordance with all applicable Mission and Agency directives and requirements. - Prepare required documents including trip reports, briefing papers, reporting cables, and results reports. - Write and review procurement documents including, but not limited to: GLAAS requests, requests for proposals, requests for assistance, action memos, justifications and annual program statements as applicable. - Serve, as needed, as a member of technical panels reviewing bids or proposals for the provision of technical assistance, commodities, or the award of contracts/grants. 2. Strategy Development Provide analysis, advice, and recommendations regarding the formulation of Mission strategy to the Democracy, Rights and Governance Team leader and Mission management on issues related to the Democracy, Rights and Governance portfolio. 3. Contribute to Mission-level Planning and Reporting: The Land Governance Advisor will be responsible for data collection and synthesis for select sections of the USAID/Liberia Congressional Budget Justification, Annual Operational Plan, Performance Plan and Report, Country Development Cooperation Strategy, and satisfying other program management requirements as described in USAID's Automated Directive System (ADS) 200 Series. To fulfill these tasks, the Advisor's duties/responsibilities will include but are not limited to: - Tracking the collection of performance data that originate from various sources such as USAID/Liberia's implementing partners, local partners, and other international organizations; - Preparing inventories of current indicators, information collected, and information still needed; - Devising more efficient methods for collecting information; - Verifying data reliability and accuracy; - Determining that the information gathered responds to the indicators of the Annual Report and related performance monitoring plans; and - Utilizing, as appropriate, partner reports to contribute quantitative and qualitative input into the USAID/Liberia's annual reporting requirement. 4. Other Tasks - Ensure effective responses to Program Office requests for participation or information, such as participation in strategic planning exercises, or information for newsletters, other USG agencies, USAID/Washington, the U.S. Congress, etc. - Gather the latest information about developments pertaining to the Advisor's portfolio and report such information as required to Team Leader and other Mission management and staff. - Perform other tasks as requested by the Team Leader or senior Mission managers which are consistent with the advisory, managerial, and reporting requirements of the Advisor's position. - Accompany, brief and guide visiting Congressional Delegations, Staff Delegations, and other mid-to-high level delegations from the United States and other countries as necessary. - Maintain contact and dialogue with donor organizations, as well as, non-governmental organization (NGOs). - Organize donor coordination events in support of program activities. D. Position Title of Direct Supervisor: Team Leader, Office of Democracy, Rights and Governance (or designee) E. Supervisory Controls: Though not presently envisioned, the incumbent may supervise FSN democracy, rights and governance program managers as needed. II. QUALIFICATIONS: In order to be considered for this position, a candidate must meet the Required Minimum Qualifications listed below. Consideration and selection will be based on panel evaluation of the Required Minimum Qualifications and Evaluation Factors. Additionally, interviews and writing samples may be requested. Applicants are encouraged to address each of the criteria on a separate sheet describing specifically and accurately what experience, training, education, or awards that are relevant to each. Failure to address the minimum qualifications and evaluation factors may result in your not receiving credit for all pertinent experience, education, training, and awards. Required Minimum Qualifications: The incumbent should meet the following requirements to be able to carry out the aforementioned duties and responsibilities. 1. Education: A graduate degree (Master's or doctorate) in law, human rights, international development, public administration, social sciences, or other closely related field. 2. Work experience: - At least six years of experience designing, managing and evaluating development projects related to good governance, civil society, or rule of law, with increasingly responsible project management, project design, and project development experience. - At least two years of experience designing, managing and/or evaluating development projects focused on land governance (including land policy, land administration, land dispute resolution, concessions management, land rights, and land management). - Current professional knowledge of development assistance issues and development approaches. - Current, specialized technical knowledge of relevant land governance evidence, guidelines, approaches, and best practices. - Knowledge of relevant evaluations, assessments and analyses. - Demonstrated technical skills related to the design, management and evaluation of development projects in general. 3. Management Skills - Demonstrated program management skills including previous experience in contract and grants management. - Field experience in developing/transition/post-conflict country environments. - Professional level management experience including budget and project management is required. 4. Communication: - A strong ability to work as a member of a team and to foster teamwork is required, as is the ability to develop and maintain productive working relationships at all levels, including with staff and colleagues, the U.S. Ambassador and members of the U.S. country team, ministerial-level officials in the Government of Liberia, the heads of other donor agencies, and leaders of the NGO and corporate community. - Ability to lead policy and program negotiations and dialogue with host country officials. - Excellent English language communications skills (native speaker level), both written and oral, including public speaking skills (as the incumbent may be called upon to deliver presentations before large and varied audiences) are essential. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively through oral presentations and briefings, written reporting and analysis, and information technology tools. 5. Post Entry Training: The incumbent will be expected to possess the necessary technical training and skills required to perform the duties/responsibilities required of the position. Post entry training will be focused primarily on the Agency's established policies, procedures and regulations that govern: 1) USAID specific Contracting/Agreement Officer's Representative responsibilities/duties; 2) USAID specific activity management and procurement systems; and 3) USAID-sponsored training in Project Design and Activity Management. In addition, the incumbent will be required to work within the existing USAID team management office structure. Organized/formal training (both internal & external) may be provided from time to time depending on the availability of program funds and determined to be in direct support of USAID/Liberia activities. 6. Physical Condition: The successful candidate will be required to pass a physical certification exam, paid for by the U.S. Government. USAID prohibits discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of physical or mental impairment. USAID promotes, with reasonable accommodation, the full realization of equal employment opportunities for the disabled in recruitment, promotion, assignment, and training. III. EVALUATION FACTORS Candidates will be evaluated and ranked based on the following selection criteria: Education Background (15 points) a. Graduate degree (Master's or doctorate) in law, human rights, international development, public administration, social sciences, or other closely related field. Relevant Development Experience (35 points) a. Current professional knowledge of development assistance issues and development approaches. Knowledge of relevant evaluations, assessments and analyses. Demonstrated technical skills related to the design, management and evaluation of development projects in general. b. Current, specialized technical knowledge of relevant land governance evidence, guidelines, approaches, and best practices. c. At least six years of development experience related to good governance, civil society, or rule of law, with increasingly responsible project management experience is essential. d. At least two years of experience designing, managing and/or evaluating development projects focused on land governance (including land policy, land administration, land dispute resolution, concessions management, land rights, and land management). e. A sound understanding of political, rule of law, democracy and development realities of post-conflict/recovery nations. Experience in sub-Saharan Africa is strongly preferred. f. Working knowledge of USAID project development, and business practices is preferred. Management Experience (35 points) a. Experience communicating and managing relationships in a multi-cultural, international environment. b. Demonstrated program management skills including previous experience in contract and grants management. c. Extensive field experience in developing/transition/post-conflict country environments. d. Professional level management experience in personnel and budget management is also required. Communications (15 points) a. A strong ability to work as a member of teams and to foster teamwork is required as is the ability to develop and maintain productive working relationships at all levels, including with staff and colleagues, the U.S. Ambassador and members of the U.S. country team, ministerial-level officials in the Government of Liberia, representatives of other donor agencies, and key civil society and private sector organizations. b. Ability to lead policy and program negotiations and dialogue with host country officials. c. Excellent English language communications skills (native speaker level), both written and oral, including public speaking skills (as the incumbent may be called upon to deliver presentations before large and varied audiences) are essential. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively through oral presentations and briefings, written reporting and analysis, and information technology tools. Maximum Points Available: 100 1. TERM OF PERFORMANCE The base term of the contract will be for two years, which may be extended upon mutual agreement and subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funds. This position has been classified as equivalent to a GS-14 position in the USG Civil Service. The actual salary of the successful candidate will be negotiated depending on qualifications and previous salary history. In addition to the basic salary, differentials and other benefits in effect at the time and which are applicable and subject to change on a similar basis as for direct-hire USG employees, will be added. 2. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ACQUISITION AND ASSISTANCE POLICY DIRECTIVES (AAPDs) contain information or changes pertaining to USAID policy, regulation and procedures concerning acquisition and assistance including Personal Service Contracts. Please refer to the USAID website http://www.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/psc_solicit/ to locate relevant AAPDs. As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a PSC is normally authorized the following benefits. 1. ALLOWANCES: as applicable.* ? Temporary Lodging Allowance (Section 120). ? Living quarters allowance (Section 130) or government furnished housing. ? Post Allowance (Section 220). ? Supplemental Post Allowance (Section 230). ? Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260). ? Education allowance (Section 270). ? Educational Travel (Section 280). ? Post differential (Chapter 500). ? Payments during Evacuation/authorized Departure (Section 600), and 2. BENEFITS: ? Employee's FICA Contribution ? Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance ? Pay Comparability Adjustment ? Annual Increase ? Eligibility for Worker's Compensation ? Annual & Sick Leave ? Access to Embassy medical facilities, and pouch mail service Note: If a US citizen, the Contractor's salary will be subject to employee's FICA and Medicare contribution. FEDERAL TAXES: USPSCs are not exempt from payment of Federal Income Taxes. 3. Contract Information Bulletins (CIBs) Pertaining to PSCs. 97- 16 Class Justification for Use of Other Than Full & Open Completion for Personal Services Contracts with U.S. Citizens Contracted with Locally with CCNs and TCNs Subject to the Local Compensation Plan, and for Overseas Contracts of $250,000 or Less 97-11 (Corrected) 1997 FICA & Medicare Tax Rates for Personal Services Contracts 97-6 Contractual Coverage for Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) Services 97-3 New USAID Contractor Employee Physical Examination 96-23 Unauthorized Provision in Personal Services Contract 96-19 U.S. Personal Services Contract (USPSC) - Leave 96-11 PSC's Annual Health Insurance Costs 96-8 Determining a Market Value for PSCs Hired Under Appendix D, Handbook 14 94-9 Sunday Pay for U.S. Personal Services Contracts (PSCs) 93-17 Financial Disclosure Requirements Under a Personal Services Contract (PSC) List of Required Forms for PSCs 1. Standard Form 171 **2. Contractor Physical Examination (AID Form 1420-62). **3. Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions (for National Security) (SF-86), or **4. Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions (SF-85). **5. Finger Print Card (FD-258). Note: Form 5 is available from the requirements office. _____________ *Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas). **The forms listed 2 thru 5 shall only be completed upon the advice of the Contracting Officer that an applicant is the successful candidate for the job. INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS: All Applicants must address how they meet the Minimum Qualifications, as described below: a. Submit a fully completed and hand-signed copy of an Optional Application for Federal Employment Form (OF-612), cover letter and a current resume/curriculum vita (CV) containing the following information which clearly demonstrates your education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities as they relate to the evaluation criteria. Forms are available at the USAID website, http://www.usaid.gov/forms/ or internet http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/formslibrary.do?formType=ALL or at Federal offices). b. Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet (AID 1420-17) All applications packages are to be submitted to: Sylvester Browne Supervisory Executive Specialist USAID/Liberia Email: sbrowne@usaid.gov and lhasson@usaid.gov Please cite the solicitation number and position title within the subject line of your email application. Any attachments provided via email shall be Microsoft Word or PDF and should not be zipped. NOTE: attachments to an e-mail must not exceed 3 MB.