DIRECTOR OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS/ HRA

City of New York•New York, NY

3d•$75,805 - $118,852

About The Position

The Department of Social Services (DSS) is comprised of the administrative units of the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS). HRA is dedicated to fighting poverty and income inequality by providing New Yorkers in need with essential benefits such as Food Assistance and Emergency Rental Assistance. DHS is committed to preventing and addressing homelessness in New York City by employing a variety of innovative strategies to help families and individuals successfully exit shelter and return to self-sufficiency as quickly as possible. The Office of Contracts (OC), within the Department of Social Services, is under the direction of the General Counsel. The Office of Contracts, headed by the Agency Chief Contracting Officer (ACCO), oversees the procurement functions for the Agency. The office is responsible for procuring both client services as well as a wide range of goods and non-client services for the Agency. OC ensures that the Agency's contracts are procured in compliance with the New York City Charter and the City's Procurement Policy Board (PPB) Rules as well as the Mayor's Office of Contracts (MOCS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines. OC assists DSS program areas by supporting their procurement efforts and by providing technical assistance and training as needed. OC fulfills its goals and the Agency's mission by functioning as a central liaison between the Agency's program areas which monitor and evaluate the services provided by the vendors and the various City oversight offices, i.e., MOCS, OMB, and the City's Comptroller, charged with registering the Agency contracts. Under the general direction of the Deputy Agency Chief Contracting Officer (DACCO) of the Contract Planning and Initiation Division, with wide latitude for independent judgment, Initiative Division and decision making, the Director, Request for Proposals (RFP)/ Human Resources Administration (HRA) manages the day-to-day development of new procurement initiatives solicitations, as well as solicitations for the continuation of existing services via the RFP process. These initiatives include standard services, professional services and human/ client services, and negotiated acquisitions. Working directly with oversights such as MOCS, HRA Program staff and the Department of Social Services (DSS) Chief Executive Staff, the awards that flow from these solicitations are often multimillion dollar contracts with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that provide services to DSS clients.

Requirements

Applicants must be permanent in the Administrative Procurement Analyst Civil Service title, be permanent in a comparable title eligible for 6.1.9 Title Change or be immediately reachable on Exam No. 3107.
A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of full-time satisfactory professional experience in purchasing, procurement, contract administration or a related field, at least eighteen months of which must have been in an administrative, managerial or executive capacity or supervising professional personnel performing duties in one or more of the above fields; or
A combination of education and/or experience equivalent to the above.
All candidates must have the eighteen months of administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory experience described above.

Nice To Haves

Possession of an acceptable professional procurement certification may be substituted for up to one year of the experience described in '1' above.

Responsibilities

Develop services, work specifications, and timelines for human and non-human service RFPs for new and on-going agency initiatives, programs and services, including critically needed emergency procurements.
Analyze program’s existing procurement portfolio and future needs, ensuring the continuation of services where applicable per the Procurement Policy Board (PPB) rules.
Conduct strategy meetings with program areas to ensure the practicality of standard timelines and identify any potential obstacles to the RFP process and inevitable delivery of service.
Manage and oversee the functional operations of the RFP for HRA.
Perform ongoing review of unit workload and/or performance in order to maximize productivity and minimize delays in the RFP process.
Provide recommendations for prioritization of transactions as needed.
Manage, oversee and ensure all solicitation and proposal evaluation process related activities such as the public notifications, scheduling and conducting of the Pre-Proposal Conferences and, committee charging and chairing, are properly administered per the PPB rules.
Provide training and guidance to staff as needed to ensure the integrity of the solicitation and evaluation process.
Serve as an RFP committee chairperson for the new, complex and innovative initiative RFPs with varying comprehensive components and criteria, for the HRA program areas.
Ensure adherence to the requirements per the PPB Rules, steering discussions, consulting and advising committee members through the review of proposals submitted by potential vendors and ensuring the completion and proper administering of the evaluation tools by the committee members.
Obtain vendor information needed to ensure a thorough review of the proposal details by committee members.
Coordinate technical advisors to advise committee members on factual programmatic data related to the specific procurement as needed.
Advise Agency program area heads on any issues relating to the procurement.
Oversee the provision of technical assistance for the solicitation process to HRA’s program areas to secure critical services by reviewing and directing HRA program area contract managers, communicating needed corrections.
Provide guidance on the submission process for finalized procurement actions to oversights such as the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (MOCS) for review and approval in order to ensure the timely and effective procurement of Agency’s goods and services and achieve Agency goals.
Represent and act on behalf of the DACCO of the Contract Planning and Initiation Division and/ or the ACCO at high level meetings within and outside of the agency, including attendance at pre-proposal conference and bid openings, to address issues related to procurement initiatives.
Monitor, review and approve the selection report and summary rating sheets created by the Senior Procurement Coordinators, for submission to the oversights such MOCS, ensuring the proper completion and supporting documentation inclusion.
Oversee the preparation of appropriate and timely responses to inquiries from the various oversight agencies including the Office of the Comptroller, MOCS, and the Office of Management and Budget, as well as internal and external entities, regarding the solicitation and selection process.
Oversee, manage and maintain centralized filing of the Agency’s RFP files pre and post vendor selection and the initiation of the awarding process.
Implement procedures and protocols to ensure the integrity of all sensitive and confidential RFP records as well as the securing, archiving and destruction of files per the DSS’ retention policies and procedures.
Perform special projects assigned and needed by the Agency Chief Contracting Officer (ACCO), the Senior Deputy Agency Chief Contracting Officer (Senior DACCO), and/ or the DACCO.