15.303  Responsibilities.

(a)  Agency heads are responsible for source selection. The contracting officer is designated as the source selection authority, unless the agency head appoints another individual for a particular acquisition or group of acquisitions.

(b)  The source selection authority shall-

(1)  Establish an evaluation team, tailored for the particular acquisition, that includes appropriate contracting, legal, logistics, technical, and other expertise to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of offers;

(2)  Approve the source selection strategy or acquisition plan, if applicable, before solicitation release;

(3)  Ensure consistency among the solicitation requirements, notices to offerors, proposal preparation instructions, evaluation factors and subfactors, solicitation provisions or contract clauses, and data requirements;

(4)  Ensure that proposals are evaluated based solely on the factors and subfactors contained in the solicitation (10 U.S.C. 2305(b)(1) and 41 U.S.C. 253b(d)(3));

(5)  Consider the recommendations of advisory boards or panels (if any); and

(6)  Select the source or sources whose proposal is the best value to the Government (10 U.S.C. 2305(b)(4)(B) and 41 U.S.C. 253b(d)(3)).

(c)  The contracting officer shall-

(1)  After release of a solicitation, serve as the focal point for inquiries from actual or prospective offerors;

(2)  After receipt of proposals, control exchanges with offerors in accordance with 15.306; and

(3)  Award the contract(s).