Contract, Agreement, Acquisition, and Financial Execution Services (CAAFE) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL)

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and market research and planning purposes. This RFI shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotations or Proposals (RFQ or RFP). No solicitation document exists and the Government may or may not issue a formal solicitation as a result of any information received in response to this RFI.

The Government will not pay for any response or demonstration expenses. All costs incurred responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Failure to respond to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future solicitation. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. 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 that organization's capabilities.

The Government's explicit intent through this RFI is to obtain general product/service information. The Government is not requesting and does not want to receive from respondents any proprietary data, trade secrets, business sensitive information, or information considered CONFIDENTIAL under 18 U.S.C. 1905. The Government's constraint does not in any way relieve contractors from their responsibility to properly mark proprietary data when it is provided, nor does it alleviate any requirement for the Government to protect marked data. The Government is not obligated to protect unmarked data.

The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned.

I. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Directorate of Science and Technology (S&T) Office of National Laboratories (ONL) Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL) is seeking information for Contract, Agreement, Acquisition, and Financial Execution (CAAFE) support services (formerly part of the Business Operations Support Services (BOSS) requirement). With its staff of federal employees and contractors, including physicists, chemists, engineers, and mathematicians, TSL is internationally recognized for its unique ability to advance detection technology from conception to deployment through applied research, test and evaluation, assessment, and certification testing.

The objective of this CAAFE project, if implemented, is to provide TSL with essential procurement planning and execution, contract administration and auditing, cooperative partnership establishment support and maintenance, and office and technical support as part of the coordination and administration of complex scientific programs. This includes savvy in communications, media, outreach, records management, as well as expertise in the acquisition of labor, supplies, equipment, and materials along with financial analysis and management all contributing to the diverse business and scientific mission areas of TSL.

Purpose of RFI

Responses to this RFI are solely for the purpose of market research and will be used for a market survey of prospective program management, communications, business operations, and acquisition and financial management support services. No content in this RFI shall be interpreted as a commitment on the part of TSL to enter a contract with any respondent or to make any procurement.

As stated above, by submitting a response to this RFI, each respondent agrees that any cost incurred in responding to this request, or in support of activities associated with this RFI, shall be the sole responsibility of respondent. The Government incur no obligations or liabilities whatsoever, to anyone, for any costs or expenses incurred by the respondent in responding to this RFI.

Through this RFI, TSL will assess the capabilities of respondents to provide the services of experienced program management, communications, business operations, and acquisition and financial management support personnel who can effectively manage a variety of disciplines and details necessary to maintain uninterrupted performance in a fast-paced laboratory environment.

The incumbent contractor for this effort is Nextstep Technologies, Inc. under task order 70RSAT21FR0000026 against their General Services Administration (GSA) One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract 47QRAD20D1207. The total value of this task order is $9,728,608.37.

II. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION

Please describe your capabilities to deliver the required support services as outlined in the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW).

Support for this requirement encompasses:

• Procurement Planning and Execution;
• Contract Administration and Auditing;
• Cooperative Partnership Establishment Support And Maintenance; and
• Office and Technical Support (including Technical Editing and Technical Writing, Office Coordination, Travel Planning and Administration, and Records Management).

Your responses shall include, but are not limited to:

• Descriptions of your capability to provide personnel with the technical skills, knowledge, and experience in the required services disciplines stated above;
• Your general approach for building and maintaining sufficient resources in these areas; and
• Your labor mix of skills, if different than the personnel that the Government outlined in the SOW, along with a brief explanation.

Please limit your responses to 10 (ten) single-side 8 1 2 x 11 pages using 12-point font for text and no less than 8-point font for any images or graphics.

Any questions, comments, and/or additional information (if any), should be submitted via e-mail to the DHS Office of Procurement Operations (OPO) Points of Contact (POCs) Contracting Officer Robert Marosz at Robert.Marosz@hq.dhs.gov.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted via e-mail Mr. Marosz no later than 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on October 31, 2025.

III. OTHER

Once again, this RFI is for information gathering and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a Request for Proposal or solicitation of an offer. Submission of vendor information constitutes consent to publication of that information in TSL CAAFE program documentation.