R -- Ethics Support for the NIH Ethics Office

The NIH Ethics Office is seeking an expert ethics consultant to assist the Ethics Office management in various ethics related functions. The NIH Ethics Office is seeking small business concerns, including 8(a) small business and/or small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business and Service-disabled Veteran small business concerns with the capabilities to fulfill this requirement. Ethics functions include ethics education, information distribution, documentation, verification, advisement, interpretation of standard of conduct statutes, regulations and policies, analysis, and application. This vendor will be responsible for all ethics issues involving employees of the NIH Office of the Director, the NIH Ethics Community (Deputy Ethics Counselors, Ethics Coordinators, and employees at NIH, as needed.) The vendor will provide training and educational materials for all IC ethic staffs for use by their employees, including resources for maintaining the New Employees Ethics Orientation Website and the NIH ethics Program Website. The NIH Ethics Office requires professional assistance to provide NIH associates with ethics education, accurate advice on all related matters, and interpretation and/or application of federal conflict of interest standards. The ethics counsel will participate in the review of requests for official and other than official activities, awards, financial disclosure reports, waivers, authorization for certificates of divesture. The ethics counsel will be responsible for reviewing federal financial disclosure reports (SF-278, OGE-450, and HHS-717-1 forms) and outside activity papers (HHS-520 and HHS-521 forms). Reviews will verify technical accuracy, information completeness, and conflict of interest issues. The ethics expert will analyze and advise on questions and issues brought to the attention of the NIH Ethics Office and make recommendations to NIH Institutes and Centers ethic programs on technical and substantive matters. Expertise in the use of The Ethics in Government Act, the Federal Criminal Conflict of Interest Statutes, the Hatch Act (political activity), the Procurement Integrity Act, and the Standard of Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch is mandatory. This responsibility, also, extends to the rules involving initial appointment and recruitment of employees, ethics while holding position or office, and post-employment matters. The vendor will advise on the receipt of gifts, awards, honorary degrees, and sponsored travel. This professional will be involved in the finding and investigation of conflicting matters, their corrective actions, and referral of information to the Inspector General. The ethics expert will possess extensive knowledge of the mission, organization, and functions of NIH programs and the relationship of ethics considerations to the organization's ability to conduct research is needed. Expertise is needed in evaluating new ethics and other relevant legislation, regulations, and policies and their impact on NIH organizational goals and objectives, and applying that knowledge to develop NIH-wide policies and procedures. Vendor must have the ability to handle competing priorities of the NIH Ethics Office that encompass varying degrees of complexity, urgency, and importance. The vendor must be able to adjust work priorities to meet changing needs and exercise confidentiality, tact, flexibility, and decisiveness in performing assignments. The vendor must have the ability to research background information and interpret opinions and policy decisions relative to ethics issues; determine the need for and design new methods and procedures to accomplish work more effectively. Judgments regarding relevant ethics or management policy/procedural interpretations are considered technically sound. The NIH is requesting capability statements from small business concerns capable of fulfilling this requirement. The Technical Evaluation Criteria for this project is posted herein. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) and does not commit the Government to award a contract now or in the future. No RFP is available at this time. Small business concerns that believe they possess the capabilities necessary to undertake the work described above should submit an original and two (02) copies of their capability statement, not to exceed 15 pages, to the address shown in this notice by March 6, 2008. Interested sources should tailor their capability statements to be responsive to the tasks described above and the evaluation criteria posted herein. Capability statements exceeding the page limitation will not be considered. Electronic copies of capability statements will also be accepted and can be submitted via email to johnsontim@od.nih.gov or faxed to Tim Johnson @ (301) 402-3704. Electronic capability statements are also subject to the 15 page limitation. The North American Classification System (NAICS) code is 541611. SEE NUMBERED NOTE 26. No collect calls will be accepted.