Personal Services Contractor (PSC) - Operations Officer

STATEMENT OF WORK Mission of the U.S. Department of State: The U.S. Department of State is the lead institution for the conduct of American diplomacy and the Secretary of state is the President's principal foreign policy advisor. The Department of State's mission is to advance U.S. national security interests, fight terrorism, protect U.S. interests abroad, and implement foreign policy initiatives that build a freer, prosperous and secure world. Mission of the Bureau of Medical Services (MED): The U.S. diplomatic community operates in some of the most dangerous and austere places in the world. This is partly possible because the people that make up the Bureau of Medical Services (MED) will go to any length to care for our diplomats, interagency colleagues, and family members. MED takes a holistic approach to the way we provide care, from the initial medical clearance and post assignment support, to the provision of primary care by our Foreign Service Medical Specialists, and to the enabling subprograms that allow for medical care in high-risk, high-threat environments, medical travel, and emergency evacuation from anywhere in the world. MED is a diverse team made up of medical experts and providers of every variety, as well as logistics managers, IT experts, HR specialists, program analysts and more. Together, this Bureau and every job function within it, exists to safeguard and promote the health and well-being of America's diplomatic community. Mandated by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to develop and implement policies for the Department and to advise the Secretary on global healthcare issues, the Bureau's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) oversees MED's mission and is the Designated Agency Safety and Health Official (DASHO) required by the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970. MED supports onboarding and post assignment, provides occupational health services to mitigate health-related risks, completes all components of the medical clearance process, and administers a comprehensive quality management system. All enabling business functions, including budget and finance, logistics, human capital management, and knowledge management coexist under the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Operations with the Operational Medicine Program to provide improved internal controls and management best practices. MED's global mission to provide preventive, primary, and emergency medical care to Chief of Mission (COM) personnel is accomplished through global programs and echelons of care, from health unit medical providers and regional medical centers, to resources in the United States. The Washington-based MED team works closely with overseas counterparts to ensure the safety of America's diplomatic community of 75,000 people including employees, interagency partners, and family members assigned to U.S. missions abroad. Further, MED provides initial occupational health services to the diplomatic community and the locally employed staff population of over 150,000. MED's combined Civil and Foreign Service, domestic, overseas, and contractor workforce provides the professionalism, expertise, and agility to meet the Department's medical needs. Mission of the Directorate of Operational Medicine (MED/DO/OM): MED's Directorate of Operational Medicine is responsible for executing the Department's Operational Medicine Program. The essential functions of the Operational Medicine Program are planning, developing, resourcing, and executing medical contingency plans to enhance the security of chief-of-mission personnel engaged in high-risk environments worldwide, providing senior decision-makers with flexible response options to identify and mitigate emerging medical risks and employing professionals trained, experienced, and equipped to operate in high-risk environments. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The Operations Officer will: - Provide ongoing support to global crisis response operations under the direction of the Senior Operations Officer and the Task Force Operations Chief. - Track ongoing operations and prepare scheduled and on-request operational updates to the Task Force Operations Chief. - Coordinate all flight clearance and permit acquisitions necessary to execute current operations. - Prepare briefings and papers for senior Department officials, both domestically and in diplomatic missions overseas, to coordinate permits, clearances, ground handling services during the execution phase. - As directed, deploy to a forward operating location to support crisis response operations, focusing on synchronization of logistics and communication of operational metrics for ongoing operations. - Employ knowledge necessary to track, report, control, synchronize, and deconflict multiple ongoing operations on a global basis. - Employ skills necessary to produce finished products using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook applications, as well as basic mapping and global information systems. - Employ ability to operate as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a stressful environment where a significant lapse in performance may result in the loss of life or significant impact on U.S. foreign policy around the world. - Employ experience providing open sources analysis, monitoring for threats or other significant events. - Employ experience in managing and directing complex crisis response or military operations. - Assist in other work areas to fulfill the goals of the bureau's mission. - Participate in the work performed at the Operations Center, which is operational and staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Employees are assigned to shifts. Shift work means you will work during a set period within a 24-hour period. You may work a night shift or day shift, or you may rotate shifts with other workers. The exact schedule may vary depending on the job. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE & TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS The place of work is U.S. State Department facilities within the Washington, DC Metro area. Domestic and overseas travel may be required based on operational missions and other job tasking. This position does not allow for remote work/telework. PERIOD OF PEFORMANCE: Base Year*: To be determined at time of contract award Option Years 1-4 (or period) *: To be determined at time of contract award (*) Current Statutory Authority for the contract does not extend past September 30, 2022. Accordingly, options for performance beyond that date will not be exercised unless additional statutory authority for such contracts is enacted before the exercise of the option. RELATIONSHIPS The Operations Offices will be assigned to either the Protective Medicine Office or Strategic Medical Preparedness Office to coordinate and synchronize planning, response, and support to diplomatic missions worldwide. The Operations Officer will report to either a Program Manager or Senior Program Manager. The Operations Officer will be representing MED in interactions with other personnel from other USG departments and agencies and should develop strong working relationships to enhance MED's ability to deliver against its operational medicine mission. COMPLEXITY The Operations Officer role is complex in nature. The Operations Officer will support the Global Response Task Force Operations Center, which is operational and staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The Operations Officer's projects will require dynamic support, subject matter expertise and the creative application of innovative solutions while still maintaining strict adherence to high level policy. The Operations Officer will be required to single-handedly, or in partnership with other stakeholders, resolve critical problems and achieve difficult goals that may have far reaching impacts other critical diplomatic programs. GUIDELINES Guidelines consist of USG and Department of State Acquisition Regulations and accepted legal principles and theories. In addition, incumbent must be able to determine application of basic administrative policy statements concerning the issue or problem being studied, and may include reference to pertinent legislative history, related court decisions, state and local laws, or policy initiatives of agency management. The incumbent must also consider and adhere to various other existing federal regulations, and the interaction between DOS policies, legislation, the Foreign Assistance Act, and other authorization and appropriations in the MED account, applicable National Security and Presidential Decision Directives, OMB Circulars, and DOS financial operating procedures and policies. The incumbent is recognized as a substantive authority on overall management and/or interpretation of guidance on program and project planning and evaluation in the area or operations management. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS 1. U.S. citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain Department of State Secret level security and Medical clearances. Department of State Ethics Clearance (if applicable). Applicant will also be subject to random drug testing. Verification of employment eligibility in the United States is required. 2. Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service which provided the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. 3. Ten years of demonstrated experience supporting deployment and employment of crisis response capabilities in response to complex overseas emergencies. 4. Demonstrated expertise in coordinating interagency activities in response to natural and man-made disasters, with specific attention to overseas emergencies. EVALUATION FACTORS (Used to determine the competitive ranking of qualified offerors in comparison to other offerors.) Offerors should cite specific, illustrative examples for each factor. Responses must be limited to 500 words per factor. Any additional words above the limit will neither be read nor scored. FACTOR 1: Work Experience (25 points) Demonstrated ability to support the tracking, reporting, controlling, synchronizing, and deconflicting of multiple ongoing operations on a global basis. Preference for will be for candidates who have experience working in an operational medicine environment. FACTOR 2: Program Experience (20 points) Demonstrated experience supporting programs within an Operations Center, Joint Operations Center, or other similar control center during sensitive or crisis response operations. Demonstrated ability to produce products and reports using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook applications, as well as basic mapping and global information systems. FACTOR 3 Management & Communication Experience (25 points) Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, in a timely and concise manner; interact effectively with others to prepare and analyze requirements. Demonstrated ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team in a stressful environment where a significant lapse in performance may result in the loss of life or significant impact on U.S. foreign policy around the world. BASIS OF RATING: Offerors who clearly meet the Education/Experience Minimum Requirements will be further evaluated based on scoring of the Evaluation Factor responses. Offerors are required to address each of the Evaluation Factors in a separate document describing specifically and accurately what experience, training, education and/or awards they have received that are relevant to each factor. Failure to specifically address the Evaluation Factors may result in your not receiving credit for all of your pertinent experience, education, training and/or awards. The Offeror Rating System is as Follows: Evaluation Factors have been assigned the following points: Factor #1 - 25 Factor #2 - 20 Factor #3 - 25 Total Possible - 70 Points Interview Performance - 30 Points Satisfactory Professional Reference Checks - Pass/Fail (no points assigned) Past performance evaluation of applicant's ability to perform under the contract. In conducting the evaluation, the U.S. government reserves the right to utilize all evaluation information available at the time of evaluation, whether provided by the applicant or obtained from other sources. Total Possible Points: 100 The most qualified candidates may be interviewed, required to provide a writing sample, and demonstrate an ability to operate commonly used office applications. MED will not pay for any expenses associated with the interviews. In addition, applications (written materials and interviews) will be evaluated based on content as well as on the applicant's writing, presentation, and communication skills. In the event that an applicant has fully demonstrated his/her qualifications and there are no other competitive applicants, MED reserves the right to forego the interview process. Professional references will be evaluated for applicants being considered for selection. NOTE: Please see Attachments for additional information.