Human Translation Services

Summary (Newest Update)

Background The International Boundary and Water Commission, United States Section (IBWC) is responsible for applying United States–Mexico boundary and water treaties. The agency's Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) requires Human Translation Services to ensure accurate and timely English translations of Spanish-language documents received from the Mexican Section for operational, diplomatic, and engineering purposes. This solicitation is issued as a request for quote (RFQ) for Translation Services at the El Paso HQ, specifically targeting SBA Certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program participants. Work Details The Contractor shall provide professional Spanish to English translation services and related support to the FAO of the USIBWC. Key tasks include: 1. Performing translation services for approximately 32,200 words per month from Spanish to English, including various official documents. 2. Formatting translated documents in MS Word or PowerPoint to match original layouts. 3. Maintaining Excel translation logs/spreadsheets as per FAO procedures. 4. Using FAO-provided MemoQ translation memory and GovCraft machine-translation tools while ensuring all translations are human-reviewed. 5. Participating in weekly staff webinars and quarterly binational meetings for coordination purposes. 6. Treating all translated documents as confidential. Period of Performance Base Year - 12 months plus 1 Option Year. Place of Performance Work shall be performed remotely at the Contractor’s site. Bidder Requirements Offerors must be SBA Certified Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB). The contractor must have documented experience translating complex technical, legal, engineering, and scientific documents from Spanish to English, with a high level of competency demonstrated through previous work or client references in relevant fields. Assigned personnel must complete a Non-Sensitive Public Trust background investigation. Incumbent Analysis (see Incumbents section for more detail) This opportunity appears to have a closely related prior contract for human translation services, with Tilde Language Services identified under award 191BWC25P0046 (04/21/25–12/31/25) valued at $81,900. The prior work is described broadly as “TRANSLATION SERVICES,” and the current SOW similarly requires Spanish-to-English human translation support with document formatting and use of translation tools/memory for IBWC Foreign Affairs Office operational and diplomatic/engineering needs, suggesting the new requirement may be a continuation or follow-on of the same translation function.