Peace Corps Regional Programming, Training, and Evaluation Advisor (RA) Personal Services Contractor

INTRODUCTION: DESCRIPTION OF THE POSITION Peace Corps seeks candidates highly experienced in programming, training, and evaluation with the ability to travel on extended assignments to support posts in the Inter-America and the Pacific (IAP); Europe, Mediterranean, and Asia (EMA); or Africa (AF) Regions as a Regional Programming, Training, and Evaluation Advisor (RA) personal services contractor (PSC). The role of the RA is to provide assistance in developing appropriate strategies for programming, training, and evaluation for posts in the Region of assignment, and for supporting development of program and training staff at posts in the Region of assignment. The RA will provide high-quality training, consultation, and support that is appropriate to the needs of each post in order to build their capacity to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate programming, training and evaluation systems. The RA may be asked to respond to additional requests for assistance in areas such as strategic planning, team building, and may provide staff coverage. The RA reports to, and is supervised by, the Regional Chief of Programming and Training. The duties will be carried out in consultation with the Chief of Programming and Training, as well as Country Directors (CDs), Directors of Programming and Training (DPTs), Program Managers (PMs), and Training Managers (TMs) in Region posts. See attached Statement of Work for complete description of responsibilities. With the applications received in response to this advertisement, Peace Corps may, at its discretion, fill one or more RA PSC position(s) which may materialize within six (6) months following the closing date of this advertisement, or may decide not to fill any such PSC positions. All PSC positions are subject to the availability of funds and continued need. WORKING CONDITIONS: Flexible work schedule and frequent travel. Depending on the citizenship/permanent residency of the selected candidate, the position can either be: Based at the principal Peace Corps office in a country in the Region of assignment (i.e. - primary country of assignment -- TBD). Relocation expenses will not be covered. From there, travel is estimated at 60-70% of the time to provide programming, training, and evaluation support to posts across the entire region. Or Travel estimated at 100% of the time to provide programming, training, and evaluation support to posts across the entire region. This is neither a remote position nor will telework be permitted beyond that permitted by the applicable Peace Corps policies/procedures regarding PSC telework. The RA will be assigned to a post for all working days of their contract. The anticipated personal services contract(s) will be for a one-year period with up to three (3) or four (4) option years, exercisable based on satisfactory performance, availability of funds, and continued need. Depending on specific position requirements, certain contracts will be written as full-time (260 work days authorized per contract year, a minimum of 40 hours of work per week), whereas others will be written as intermittent (less than 260 work days authorized per year). For intermittent contracts, the work schedule will be full-time on an as-needed/intermittent basis (averaging a minimum of 8 hours per work day), with up to 260 work days authorized per contract year. No minimum number of work days authorized per contract year or work days per contract year actually worked are guaranteed. The RA may be required to hold a duty phone and/or to respond to off-hour calls or attend off-hour meetings (i.e. nights, weekends, and holidays) related to their position. The RA is ineligible for additional pay or leave (e.g. paid leave, holiday pay, or overtime pay) for work performed off-hours (i.e. nights, weekends, and holidays) or for hours spent working beyond their minimum work schedule. The selected applicant(s) must follow all health and safety guidelines (including COVID-19 protocols such as masking, social distancing, hand hygiene, submitting to temperature or other health checks/screenings and/or testing, following quarantine requirements, and following vaccination mandates, etc.) as specified by the position by the Peace Corps. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: Daily pre-tax compensation will be negotiated within the appropriate range for the position at the discretion of the Peace Corps Contracting Officer. Items of consideration may include salary history and experience. Benefits will be offered for this position in accordance with guidance provided by Peace Corps' Sub-Office of Acquisition and Contract Management. Compensation and benefits will differ for citizens or permanent residents of the primary country of assignment (TBD) versus citizens and permanent residents of countries other than the primary country of assignment. Benefits for citizens and permanent residents of countries other than the primary country of assignment may include the following, depending on citizenship/permanent residency and contract type (i.e. full-time vs. intermittent): * Medical emergency evacuation insurance or United States Embassy health unit access * Vacation leave * Sick leave * Home leave * Housing or Lodging/Utilities (may be provided under a Travel Authorization (TA) with reduced meals and incidental expenses payments if the lodging includes a kitchen) * Education allowance (US Citizens only) Required Qualifications: * United States Citizenship - may be required for some positions and not required for others. * No known impediments to obtaining and maintaining a background security certificate. For US Citizens, no known impediments to obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret clearance. * No known impediments to obtaining and maintaining a medical evaluation and clearance for overseas assignments worldwide. For US Citizens, no known impediments to obtaining and maintaining a Worldwide Medical clearance. * The contract award will be subject to the contractor successfully registering in the System for Award Management (www.sam.gov). This registration must remain active for the duration of the contract. No known impediments to obtaining and maintaining an active registration in the System for Award Management. * Minimum five year of experience providing support to international volunteers, students, or interns. * Minimum five years of experience living and working in transitioning or developing international countries. * Minimum seven years of experience developing and leading training on relevant topics for multicultural staff, volunteers, interns, or students. * Minimum seven years of experience in program design management and evaluation. * Minimum five year of supervisory experience as a first-level manager or higher (e.g. Deputy Director of Programming and Training, Training Manager, Regional Manager or Program Manager). * Ability to communicate professionally orally and in writing in English. * Ability to communicate professionally orally and in writing in Spanish (applicable to positions in the Inter-Americas and the Pacific (IAP) Region only). * Ability to appropriately work in confidential situations. * Ability to travel to overseas posts for undefined periods of time. APPLICATION PROCESS AND REQUIREMENTS: Interested applicants should submit the following materials together via e-mail to the Point of Contact and Secondary Point of Contact listed. Please include "1145PC22R0008 RA PSC Application" in the e-mail subject line. * Completed and signed Application Form (a blank Application Form is an attachment to this solicitation) and the attachments indicated therein (e.g. current resume or CV) Peace Corps does not accept responsibility for technical issues or glitches that cause application materials to be received past this cutoff date. Peace Corps reserves the right to delay the application review and/or evaluation process, should it be in their interests to do so. Only the paper application materials of those candidates that have been found to be technically qualified upon initial application review (i.e. submitted a complete application package and determined to have met all of the required qualifications stated above) will move further along in the evaluation process. Additional steps in the evaluation process will be as described below. All candidates found to be technically qualified upon initial application review will have the paper application materials they submitted reviewed further in accordance with the following evaluation criteria: * Experience with Peace Corps or another organization which works with volunteers, interns, or students. * Familiarity with Peace Corps development approach, programming and evaluation guidance, policies, procedures, and systems, or similar programming experience in another organization. * Familiarity with Peace Corps development training approach and guidance, policies, procedures, and systems, or similar training experience in another organization. * Experience leading and supervising multicultural teams to design, implement and evaluate country level programming and training activities and functions including onboarding, establishing, managing, and evaluating work plans, assignments and overall performance of programming and training staff. The most highly ranked candidate(s) following the paper application review process described above will be invited to complete one or more interview(s), which will cover, at a minimum: * The applicant's training, skills, and/or experience in the areas specified in the Statement of Work. * The applicant's accuracy and/or style when responding to scenarios and/or problem statements. * The applicant's English proficiency and professional comportment during the interview. Please also note that the following may also be evaluated by Peace Corps: * Past performance in similar positions (both formal and informal information regarding past performance may be sought by Peace Corps and considered). Past performance information may be obtained on both hard skills (i.e. technical experience and expertise, quality and timeliness of work product produced, etc.) and soft skills (i.e. professional judgment, professional demeanor, leadership abilities, ability to work as a member of a team, etc.). * Country or Region-specific experience related to the possible countries of assignment. * Skill in language(s) related to the language(s) utilized in countries of possible assignment. The highest ranked candidate(s) following the interview(s) will have their references checked and/or past performance reviewed. Based on the outcome of those additional application reviews, interview(s), and/or reference checks, applicant(s) may be tentatively chosen to fill open RA PSC position(s) for Peace Corps. Please note that: * Peace Corps reserves the right to not evaluate the application of or to withhold an offer of a personal services contract to an individual that has a history of poor past performance or conduct as a Peace Corps Trainee, Volunteer, or staff member (USDH, PSC, or FSN). * Peace Corps reserves the right to withhold an offer of a personal services contract to an individual that is a relative or household member of a current Peace Corps staff member. * Individuals who have current or prior connections with intelligence activities or agencies through employment, related work, or even family relations may be ineligible for a personal services contract. * The selected individual will be required to follow any workplace health and/or safety rules indicated for their position - including complying with any medical and/or training requirements specified for their position in accordance with public health and/or occupational health or safety policies. This may require the individual to submit to a medical evaluation/examination, submit proof of required vaccinations, or submit other medical information to the Peace Corps or another US Government Agency both prior to contract award and/or during the period of performance of the contract. Peace Corps will not discriminate against an applicant because of that person's race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older, except when the applicant is a citizen or permanent resident of the primary country of assignment (TBD) and is beyond the mandatory retirement age in that country), disability, or genetic information. FILES ATTACHED TO THIS SOLICITATION: 1. Regional PTE Advisor Statement of Work 2. Regional PTE Advisor Application Form