SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- R-Administrative Support Services
- Notice Date
- 8/16/2002
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Central Administrative Support Center, 601 East 12th Street, Room 1756, Kansas City, MO, 64106
- ZIP Code
- 64106
- Solicitation Number
- JDD00-02
- Response Due
- 8/27/2002
- Point of Contact
- Joseph D'Felio, Lead Contract Specialist, Phone (816) 426-7267, Fax (816) 426-7532, - William Becker, Acquisitions Branch Chief, Phone (816) 426-6823, Fax (816) 426-7530,
- E-Mail Address
-
joseph.d.dfelio, william.j.becker@noaa.gov
- Description
- The purpose of this announcement is to allow the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Central Administrative Support Center to determine the availability of commercial sources to fill three positions at the Commerce BankCard Center (CBC). This is not a request for proposal, but a market survey/analysis. Contactors capable of providing the services below should respond in writing to the address above with a notice of capability and estimated pricing for these positions. The agency will use this information to determine whether it is in the best interest of the Government to use commercial sources or existing Federal resources to fill these positions. These positions are assigned to the Central Administrative Support Center (CASC), BankCard Center, at 1500 East Bannister Rd in Kansas City, Missouri, under the direction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC). Under the present plan, it would be the Government's intent to select one firm to fill all of the positions. There are three positions: one management analyst, one computer specialist and one bankcard assistant. Work is to be performed in a typical office setting within the Bannister facility. The contractor staff selected for these positions will be required to undergo a security investigation at the contractor's expense. Normal operating hours are from Monday through Friday, except for official U.S. Government holidays. Employees shall work a complete shift between the hours of 7:30 am and 4:30 pm. The management analyst and bankcard assistant are equivalent to full-time positions. The computer specialist hours may fluctuate between 20 to 40 hours of work per week depending on the demand of specialized reporting. This work may diminish to 15-hours- a-week as systems become more automated. The Government will provide forty hours of initial training to each contractor employee. The Contractor will be responsible for reimbursing the Government for the training of replacement employees should the employee leave the position within one year. Training costs will vary depending on the position. The management analyst and computer specialist positions are highly technical and require higher-level training; therefore, retraining costs for these positions will be significantly higher than that of the bankcard assistant. The contractor is responsible for all costs to keep their employees trained at the level necessary to perform the work, particularly in the area of IT systems. The positions serve as assistants to the BankCard Liaison Officer for the DOC Purchase Card Program and directly assist with the coordination and oversight of approximately 7,000 purchase cards issued to DOC and non-DOC employees. These position are responsible for providing assistance to client agencies, in such areas as the establishment of purchase card and check accounts and the maintenance of those accounts, and with private sector vendors in such areas as resolving problems with purchase card purchases. The work performed has a direct impact on the agencies participating in the Purchase Card Program. The nature of the advice and training provided through these positions influences the agency's effectiveness in doing business. Immediate and accurate information must be provided to cardholders, merchants, and agency representatives in order to prevent delays and interruptions in accomplishment of missions worldwide and, in some cases, a complete shutdown of agency operations. Incorrect advice provided to a cardholder could jeopardize the effectiveness of the program and the cardholder's ability to remain compliant and hinder future program expansion. Incorrect answers could cause cardholders to act inappropriately, bringing reprimand upon them and, in severe cases, ultimately cause cancellation of purchase cards. These positions require contact with the general public, merchants, merchant banks, other Government Agencies, client agency personnel in finance and procurement, purchase cardholders, approving officials and Office of the Inspector General investigators throughout the DOC and non-DOC agencies serviced by the CBC. These positions require the use of discretion with release of confidential and secured information and training in customer service techniques. They require a general knowledge of the credit card industry practices, Visa-International/MasterCard regulations and the ability to make judgments in developing work procedures, resolving problems and making open-handed, independent decisions. Management Analyst-Management and Program Analysts serve as analysts and advisors to management on the evaluation of the effectiveness of government programs and operations or the productivity and efficiency of the management of Federal agencies or both. This position requires knowledge of the substantive nature of the agency bankcard programs and activities, agency missions, policies, and objectives. The analyst must apply management principles and processes along with analytical and evaluative methods and techniques for assessing program development, expansion or execution and improving organization effectiveness and efficiency. This position requires an understanding of basic budgetary and financial management principles and techniques as they relate to long range planning of programs and objectives. The work requires skills in application of fact-finding and investigative techniques, oral and written communications, and development of presentations and reports. The incumbent of this position is responsible for the review and analysis of policy and procedural issues, funding, and work management processes and provides related program support and assistance on management initiatives, information collection, printing and publications of documents and workforce analysis. The analyst may work on internal control management and coordination or research and investigate new or improved business and management practices for application to the BankCard Center. The analyst may serve as a project leader or as a team leader within the organization. The analyst also serves as coordinator for the Director of the BankCard Center in matters of competitive sourcing. In the areas of competitive sourcing, process re-engineering, and shifting to commercial practices, the analyst coordinates the development and implementation of necessary policies and procedures with the Director and contractors. The position requires the ability to identify commercial practices that support re-engineering of products and services including the area of information management and identifies techniques for successfully anticipating changes in the customer base to improve support and reduce cost. The analyst also performs business case analyses to identify likely candidates for re-engineering or outsourcing and attends conferences or facilitates studies to gather information from government and commercial sources. The position also requires that the analyst provide quick responses and contingency support for unanticipated meetings, briefings, conferences, and work planning sessions with government agencies and commercial activities. The analyst manages evaluations and the arrangements for studies, surveys and analyses conducted on behalf of the Commerce BankCard Center and relating to programs and operations. Objectives vary with individual projects (e.g., measuring the effectiveness of policies and procedures; evaluating the economy and efficiency of operations, identifying vulnerabilities to fraud, waste and abuse) and the focus may be broad to narrow (e.g., an entire program area, a program segment or a significant special issue). The incumbent should have a background or experience in the following areas: business, financial management, systems acquisition, budget execution, budget formulation, budget justification, staffing, policy development, cost analysis, IT systems and purchasing. Skills required for this position include the knowledge of concepts and methods used in program evaluation or research including data collection and analysis, policy and program analysis, statistical analysis, quantitative and qualitative research, interviewing techniques and risk analysis. Skills in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with high-level officials, other Federal agencies and professional organizations and the ability to prepare and deliver both written and oral briefings reports and presentations to management and senior Department officials are also necessary. Computer Specialist-This position performs a wide range of computer programming, analysis, network, and/or equipment assignments, including the role of database administrator. The position requires knowledge of Oracle 8.0 or higher, open VMS operating system, Windows NT and Windows 2000. The individual performs major portions or functional aspects of a project including how the system should be organized, such as the number and kind of records, files and documents necessary, and the procedures to obtain and organize the required information. The computer specialist develops complex routines and detailed sequences of internal program logic by coding, testing, debugging and developing test data and appropriate testing procedures to analyze and evaluate results and create and maintain documentation. The position requires knowledge of policies and established system design approaches including the knowledge of a wide range of computer techniques, requirements, methods, and procedures. The work involves the independent design of several different stages of a project requiring problem analysis. The specialist considers probable areas for future changes in requirements, which will facilitate subsequent modifications. This includes the need to assess unusual circumstances and variations in approach. The work involves investigating and analyzing a variety of unusual problems, questions, or conditions associated with a particular application or specialty area; formulation of projects or studies such as those to substantially alter the system; or establishment of criteria. The position requires the development of computer programs to gather and analyze data that provide output in the form of reports for the Department of Commerce Purchase Card program on the Oracle database. Some of reports require a 24-hour turn-around. Bankcard Assistant-The bankcard assistant responds to inquiries from cardholders and approving officials on applicable regulations affecting procurement of merchandise through use of the bankcard and processes cardholder inquiries in the DOC database and contractor bank's remote system. Temporary/emergency changes on cardholder's monthly and single purchase limits per customer requests, guidance, recommendations and oversight for establishing new accounts and maintaining existing accounts are also part of this position. The bankcard assistant generates delegation of authority letters and distributes them electronically to approving officials and cardholders. The incumbent has delegated authority to effect emergency spending limit increases up to $1000 for clients, following up with notification to client agencies explaining the reason for each increase. The assistant actively participates in the resolution of cardholder disputes by advising cardholders how to handle the dispute and following the dispute through to resolution.
- Place of Performance
- Address: N/A
- Record
- SN00142479-W 20020818/020816213222 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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