SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Federal Travel Administration Consultant
- Notice Date
- 2/1/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 3155, MSC 9593, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20892
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-SBSS-17-183
- Archive Date
- 2/22/2017
- Point of Contact
- Jermaine Duncan, Phone: 3018277515
- E-Mail Address
-
jermaine.duncan@nih.gov
(jermaine.duncan@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE 1.Solicitation Number: HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-SBSS-17-183 2.Title: Federal Travel Administration Consultant 3.Classification Code: R - Professional, administrative, and management support services 4.NAICS Code: 541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Services Description: This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only. Background: The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducting research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of neurological disorders and stroke. The NINDS mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. Investigators in the NINDS intramural program conduct research in the basic, translational, and clinical neurosciences. Travel is intrinsic to good science as it allows researchers to enhance their professional development, to stay abreast of the latest developments in one's field, to disseminate one's own findings, and to exchange ideas in person with collaborators. In fact, it is an expectation that NIH fellows attend meetings and conferences as a part of their training program; and that senior scientists collaborate across the world to collaborate with world renowned scientists and organizations that are in related fields of research. One of the biggest challenges faced by NINDS travelers, office managers and administrators is the myriad of ever changing rules and regulations that need to be followed to stay compliant; and the complexity of the Concur Government Edition (CGE) travel system. It is mission critical to ensure compliance. As a result, there is a substantial need for a consultant that has the expertise to both train on these complex regulations and systems, and provides random audits on travel authorizations and vouchers. Purpose and Objectives: The Contractor shall provide the following travel management consulting services: The Contractor shall provide the following services: •Serve as a technical expert to NIH/NINDS staff on the Concur Government Edition (CGE) system. •Serve as a technical expert in the area of Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) requirements and NIH travel policies and procedures. •Perform audits on CGE travel authorizations and vouchers for compliance with FTR and HHS travel policies and procedures. Audits will be performed on domestic, foreign, sponsored and foreign sponsored authorizations and vouchers. •Prepare training materials and presentations to NIH/NINDS staff for on-site in a classroom environment related to the CGE system, the FTR, NIH policy and procedures for domestic, foreign and sponsored travel. Classroom training will be required bi-annually. •Provide random audit reports to the NINDS DIR Section Chief as requested. Reports shall be completed in a template provided by the Government. The Program Office and Contractor may discuss updates to the template during the award period of performance. Reports shall be submitted monthly to the NIH by email as an Excel file within 15 business days from the last day of the month. Level of Effort: The level of effort is estimated at one (1) contractor for a maximum of 240 labor hours during the period of performance of this contract. A minimum of 100 labor hours are required. Additional labor hours may be purchased at Government discretion as options for increased quantity in increments of 40 hours. Key Personnel: The Contractor working under this award shall be considered key personnel. Key Personnel requirements are as follows: •The Contractor must have a minimum of ten (10) years' working experience with the FTR and HHS travel policies and procedures, specifically in administering domestic, sponsored and international travel for federally funded programs •The Contractor must have a minimum of five (5) years' working experience providing group and individual training on federal travel-related best practices. •The Contractor must have a minimum of five (5) years' working experience auditing federal domestic, foreign and sponsored travel authorizations and vouchers. •The Contractor must have a minimum of 1 year working experience with the CGE system. The proposed Key Personnel will become subject to the provisions of Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) Clause HHSAR 352.242-70 KEY PERSONNEL, HHSAR 352.242-70 (January 2006) The Key Personnel specified in this contract are considered to be essential to work performance. At least 30 days prior to diverting any of the specified individuals to other programs or contracts (or as soon as possible, if an individual must be replaced, for example, as a result of leaving the employ of the Contractor), the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer and shall submit comprehensive justification for the diversion or replacement request (including proposed substitutions for key personnel) to permit evaluation by the Government of the impact on performance under this contract. The Contractor shall not divert or otherwise replace any Key Personnel without the written consent of the Contracting Officer. The proposed Key Personnel will become subject to the provisions of Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) Clause HHSAR 352.237-75 Key Personnel as follows: The key personnel specified in this contract are considered to be essential to work performance. At least 30 days prior to the contractor voluntarily diverting any of the specified individuals to other programs or contracts the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer and shall submit a justification for the diversion or replacement and a request to replace the individual. The request must identify the proposed replacement and provide an explanation of how the replacement's skills, experience, and credentials meet or exceed the requirements of the contract (including, when applicable, Human Subjects Testing requirements). If the employee of the contractor is terminated for cause or separates from the contractor voluntarily with less than thirty days' notice, the Contractor shall provide the maximum notice practicable under the circumstances. The Contractor shall not divert, replace, or announce any such change to key personnel without the written consent of the Contracting Officer. The contract will be modified to add or delete key personnel as necessary to reflect the agreement of the parties. The following individual(s) is/are considered to be essential to the work being performed here under: NameTitle To be determined in the contract awardFederal Travel Administration Consultant Security Requirements The Contractor must obtain approved access to the NIH campus. The Contractor will utilize Government e-mail and computer systems. Data shall not be accessed, downloaded to or stored on portable or outside systems. The Contractor will undergo a background check by the NIH Division of Personnel Security and Access (DPSAC) and upon successful completion be issued a Health and Human Services (HHS) Identification Badge. It is required that all contractors involved with the NINDS community work collaboratively with federal staff and other contractors towards the NINDS mission and other affected organizations and follow the direction of the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), and/or the designated Federal Project Manager(s)/Lead(s). This collaboration includes day-to-day activities, support, development, knowledge transfer and creating and sharing documentation when required. Delivery or Deliverables DeliverablesPerformance StandardAcceptable Quality LevelMethod Used/Frequency •Serve as a technical expert to NIH/NINDS staff on the Concur Government Edition (CGE) system.In accordance with statement of work98%Daily •Serve as a technical expert in the area of Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) requirements and NIH travel policies and procedures. In accordance with statement of work: As needed95%Daily •Perform audits on CGE travel authorizations and vouchers for compliance with FTR and HHS travel policies and procedures. Audits will be performed on domestic, foreign, sponsored and foreign sponsored authorizations and vouchers. In accordance with statement of work: Daily98%Monthly •Prepare training materials and presentations to NIH/NINDS staff for on-site in a classroom environment related to the CGE system, the FTR, NIH policy and procedures for domestic, foreign and sponsored travel. In accordance with statement of work98%Bi-annually for classroom training. Reporting Requirements Reports shall be completed in a template provided by the Government (see Attachment A). The Program Office and Contractor may discuss updates to the template during the award period of performance. Reports shall be submitted monthly to the NIH by email as an Excel file within 15 business days from the last day of the month. Contractor shall submit training materials for review upon contract award. Contractor shall ensure all training material remains updated throughout the period of performance of this contract as regulations and internal policies change. Contractor shall provide any training material updates to the project officer of this contract at any time there is a change, with the changes highlighted in such a way that they are easily detectable. Government Furnished Information/Property The Government shall provide the contractor with facilities, equipment, and information necessary to perform the required tasks as well as mandatory annual on-line training per NIH requirements for badge and remote access privileges. The Contractor shall secure and protect all Contractor-owned property and equipment brought into Government facilities during performance of work under this contract. The Government shall not be held liable for loss of or damage to Contractor-owned property or equipment brought into Government facilities. The Contractor shall remove any Contractor-owned property deemed inappropriate by the Government, for any reason, from the Government facility in which it is found. The Contractor must ensure that any computer system used in the course of this contract shall include the following features: 1.Any computer used in relation to this contract must be patched with most updated IT Security Patches. 2.Any Contractor computer used in relation this contract must have virus protection loaded and running with definition files that are updated on at least a daily basis. 3.Hard drives and portable media used for this contract must be encrypted using the FIPS 140-2 standard. 4.Contractors are required to take NIH Security and Privacy Training annually http://irtsectraining.nih.gov/ 5.Contractor are required to sign the NIH non-disclosure agreement http://irtsectraining.nih.gov/NIH_Non-Disclosure_Agreement.pdf 6.Contractors are required to report any lost or stolen NIH data to the NINDS ISSO within one hour of knowing of the lost or theft even if the data is on a Contractor furnished computer. 7.Contractors are required to adhere to the NIH IT rules of behavior which can be found at https://ocio.nih.gov/InfoSecurity/training/Pages/nihitrob.aspx 8.Any computers used in reference to this contract must be assessed for vulnerabilities. 9.Any computers used in reference to this contract must be backed up on an external hard drive which is password protected. 10.Any computers used in reference to this contract must have auditing enabled such that if an incident occurred then that event could be reconstructed. 11.Any computers that are used in reference to this contract must employ at a minimum user name and password authentication or if possible two factor authentication. 12.Any computer used in relation to this contract must be password protected. All Password must meet the NIH standard such that users must choose passwords that have at least eight characters and at least three of the following types of characters: a.capital letters b.lower case letters c.numeric characters d.special characters (!@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\`{}[]:";'<>?,./) Data Rights: The NINDS shall have unlimited rights to and ownership of all deliverables provided under this procurement including reports, analyses, recommendations, briefings, work plans, created SOPs and all other deliverables. In addition, it includes any additional deliverables required by contract change. The definition of "unlimited rights" is contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 27.401, "Definitions." FAR clause 52.227-14, "Rights in Data-General," is hereby incorporated by reference and shall be made a part of any resulting contract/order. Non-Personal Service Statement: The contract employee performing services will be controlled, directed and supervised at all times by management personnel of the contractor. Actions of contractor employees may not be interpreted or implemented in any manner that results in any contractor employee creating or modifying Federal policy, obligating the appropriated funds of the U.S. Government, overseeing the work of Federal employees, providing direct personal services to any Federal employee or otherwise violating the prohibitions set forth in Parts 7.5 and 37.1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Period of Performance The period of performance for this requirement shall be as follows: Base: March 1, 2017 through February 28, 2018 Option 1: March 1, 2018 through February 28, 2019 Option 2: March 1, 2019 through February 28, 2020 Option 3:March 1, 2020 through February 28, 2021 Option 4:March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2022 Place of Performance The place of performance shall be both at the Contractor's worksite and the Government's NIH location. Performance from the contractor site shall be via remote access to the NIH network to perform periodic on-line CGE audits. Training presentations and meetings shall be provided by the Contractor to the Government on the Government's site at NIH Bethesda Main Campus, NINDS/DIR, in conference space reserved by NINDS for the training. Contract Type The Government intends to issue a firm fixed price order for this requirement. Invoicing shall be on a NET30 basis and payment shall be made via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Capability Statement: Contractors that believe that they possess the ability to provide the required Neuropsychology Consulting Support Services should submit documentation on their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contract Specialist. Interested organizations must demonstrate and document in any response submitted, to this market survey extensive experience with and the ability to perform all of the specialized requirements elsewhere described. The information submitted must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement/information sought paragraphs stated herein. A cover page and an executive summary may be included but is not required. The response is limited to fifteen (15) page limit. The 15-page limit does not include the cover page, executive summary, or references, if requested. Interested organizations are required to identify their organization name, address, DUNS Number type of business (e.g. 8(a), HubZone, etc), applicable North American Industry Classification System Code, and size standards in accordance with the Small Business Administration. The government request that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. However, responses that indicate the information therein is proprietary will be properly safeguarded for Government use only. Capability statements must include the name and telephone number of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation will be considered non-responsive. When submitting this information, please reference the solicitation notice number. All capability statements sent in response to this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted to Jermaine Duncan, Contract Specialist, via email at jermaine.duncan@nih.gov before the closing date and time of this announcement. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. Note: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. No proprietary, classified, confidential or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After review of the responses received, pre-solicitation and solicitation notices may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. The solicitation release date is pending. The Government anticipates negotiation of a firm fixed price purchase order. Contracting Office Address: 31 Center Drive Room 1B59 Bethesda, Maryland 20892 United States Place of Performance: Bethesda, Maryland 20892 United States Primary Point of Contact: Jermaine Duncan, Contract Specialist Jermaine.duncan@nih.gov Phone: 301-827-7515
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