USAID/Southern Africa is the largest USAID Mission in the world, with 400 staff across 6 countries, hosting several Presidential Initiatives, a Regional Inspector General’s Office, and the USAID Regional Training Center for Africa. It also hosts seven agencies on its 650-seat compound in Pretoria, South Africa. It is for all these clients that the IT staff of the Mission Information Division are responsible to provide varying degrees of Information Technology services. For most of the clients, these services run the gamut of network infrastructure, information security, PC computing, mobile computing and mobile phone, security radio support, internet service provider management, conference/ training room technology, desk phone service and building Wi-Fi services.

 

The Information Management Assistant position falls under the Mission Information Division in the Regional Executive Office and works under the direct supervision of the Regional System Manager. Tasks will be assigned, and the position mentored by a senior Information Management Specialist. The Information Management Assistant will be part of a specialized team of IT professionals and will be required to contribute to the team effort by accomplishing related results as needed. The Information Management Assistant will be required to solve most problems without assistance. The job holder is required to perform work-related travel.

 

 

 

Supervision Received: The Position will be directly supervised by the Regional Systems Manager although tasks will be assigned, and position mentored by a senior Information Management Specialist within the team.

 

Supervision Exercised: Supervision of other mission staff is not contemplated although the jobholder will provide oversight of outside contractors.

Available Guidelines: ADS 541, 545, M/CIO specific application admin guides and documentation.

 

Exercise of Judgment: The Information Management Assistant is expected to exercise considerable judgment in the operation and maintenance of the computer system and its applications.

Authority to Make Commitments: The jobholder has no authority to make commitments, however s/he may be requested to provide determinations and recommendations on appropriate procurements of new and/or revised equipment and peripherals and provides detailed/exact specifications and if possible supporting costs estimates.

 

Nature, Level, and Purpose of Contacts: Continuous contact with system users, to include senior staff members, to clarify and/or to resolve systems operations (hardware and software) problems. Also has regular contact with vendors and/or any other technical experts on matters concerning hardware/software configurations and/or software malfunctions.

 

Time Expected to Reach Full Performance Level: One year.

 

 

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. The CO reserves the right at any point in the evaluation process to establish a competitive range of offerors with whom negotiations will be conducted pursuant to FAR 15.306(c). In accordance with FAR 52.215-1, if the CO determines that the number of offers that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the CO may limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated offers. The FAR provisions referenced above are available at https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far.

The following factors, and points for each, will be the basis for the evaluation of applications meeting the required minimum qualifications. All applications will be evaluated based on the documentation submitted with the application. USAID reserves the right to contact your previous employers for relevant information concerning your performance and may consider such information in its evaluation.

The successful candidate will be selected based upon the following:

 

 

USAID/SA’s Human Resources Section will perform the preliminary review (Step 1 above) to eliminate those applications that do not meet the minimum educational and written English language requirements before forwarding the rest to the Technical Office or Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) for further review and assessment.

 

The TEC will review each of the forwarded applications against the established evaluation criteria to develop a shortlist of applicants to be tested and possibly interviewed. Applicants will be contacted for testing (Step 2) and/or possibly interviews. Based on the results of the tests an applicant may be dropped from the interview list.

 

Following the interview (Step 3), during which the applicant will be evaluated against the established criteria, the TEC will make a preliminary determination of candidates to be considered for employment and forward that list to HR. The TEC Chairperson will conduct and document reference checks (Step 4) and advise the TEC members of the results of these checks. Please note that references may be solicited from current as well as former supervisors in addition to the references you provide in your application package. References will only be solicited for those interviewed applicants who are being considered for ranking.  

 

Based on this final input, the TEC will make its final decision on candidate ranking, prepare a selection memo for the review and approval of the Contracting Officer, after which an offer of employment will be made to the successful candidate. Unsuccessful candidates who were interviewed will be contacted and advised of their non-selection. As positive medical and security clearances are a condition of employment, the selected candidate will undergo stringent investigation prior to employment with USAID/SA.

 

 

 

This position is open to South African citizens and South African permanent resident permit holders. USAID Southern Africa management will consider nepotism/conflict of interest, budget, need for continuity, and residency status in determining successful applications. Current USG employees on probationary status (i.e., within their first year of employment) are not eligible to apply.

 

The EEO complaint procedure is not available to individuals who believe they have been denied equal opportunity based upon marital status or political affiliation. Individuals with such complaints should avail themselves of the appropriate grievance procedures, remedies

for prohibited personnel practices, and/or courts for relief.

References:

 

Three (3) references, who are not family members or relatives, with working telephone and e-mail contacts. The references must be able to provide substantive information about your past performance and abilities. USAID reserves the right to contact your previous employers for relevant information concerning your performance and may consider such information in its evaluation of the application.

 

This position will be compensated in accordance with the U.S. Mission for South Africa’s Local Compensation Plan (LCP). The successful candidate’s salary level will be based on prior job-related experience and salary history.

Once the Contracting Officer informs the successful Offeror about being selected for a contract      award, the CO will provide the successful Offeror instructions about how to complete and submit the forms.

 

The plan includes basic salary, miscellaneous allowance, pension fund and medical aid subsidy.

 

TAXES

Every CCNPSC staff member in the Mission regardless of agency affiliation is required as a     condition of employment, to pay their taxes to the South African Government.

 

USAID regulations and policies governing CCNPSC awards are available at these sources:

 

1.      USAID Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR), Appendix J, “Direct USAID Contracts With a Cooperating Country National and with a Third Country National for Personal Services Abroad,” including contract clause “General Provisions,” available at https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/aidar_0.pdf

2.      Contract Cover Page form AID 309-1 available at https://www.usaid.gov/forms will be used for this contract.

3.      Acquisition and Assistance Policy Directives/Contract Information Bulletins (AAPDs/CIBs) for Personal Services Contracts with Individuals available at http://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/aapds-cibs .

4.      Ethical Conduct. By the acceptance of a USAID personal services contract as an individual, the contractor will be acknowledging receipt of the “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch,” available from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, in accordance with General Provision 2 and 5 CFR 2635. See https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/OGE Regulations .

CCN PSCs may participate in temporary duty (TDY) travel to USAID/Washington and other Missions in order to participate in the Foreign Service National Fellowship Program described in ADS 495maa.

Education: Two years College completion or University studies in Computer hardware engineering and Networking, or any related field is required.

Prior Work Experience: A minimum of three years of experience performing progressively responsible work of a program, technical, advisory, or administrative nature with emphasis on analytical, judgmental, and expository abilities with respect to the operation, management, analysis, programming, and utilization of computer systems is required. Exposure to Local Area Networking technology and personal computers/workstations is required as well. Previous experience with various commercial suites of software applications for word processing, database management, spreadsheets, presentations, and inventory management.

 

Post Entry Training: Training on the applicable Operating Systems, LAN management/wiring/topology and design, cloud computing and virtual environment, telecommunications (modems, routers), Internet, Google and unique USAID-sanctioned software.

 

Language Proficiency: Written and oral fluency English level IV required.

Job Knowledge: Sound knowledge of Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Ethernet Topology, Local Area Network’s (LAN's), Wide Area Networks, (WAN's), Windows 10, Office 365, Google cloud technologies, Cisco IP phone systems, Cisco VTC systems, and audio-visual systems. A sound knowledge of standard business work processes, management principles and fault-finding techniques as well as an understanding of work planning.

 

Skills and Abilities: Good communication and interpersonal skills are essential as The Information Management Assistant is required to liaise with and provide support to all mission staff including senior management. Strong multi-tasking capabilities with the ability to work well under pressure in a dynamic environment, a passion for improving processes and strong commitment to customer satisfaction.