Business analysis for digital apprenticeship service (SFADAS08)

Tender description

Summary of the work Provide a flexible team of business analysts (5-10) to work in fast-paced agile delivery teams. The successful supplier will be able to demonstrate that the individuals they put forward for work have the essential experience, knowledge and technical skills set out in this proposal. Expected Contract Length 2 years but may be shorter depending on progress towards delivering the strands of work. Latest start date 31/08/2016 Why the Work is Being Done BIS and the SFA are delivering a new digital apprenticeship service. The service vision is “Empowering employers to build skills through quality apprenticeships”. Currently apprenticeship funding is allocated and paid directly to training providers. Therefore employers will take control of government funding for apprenticeships. The policy intent is to drive up the quality and quantity of apprenticeships. We have completed a number of discovery and alpha stages for some components the service. The first strand will go live in August 2016. The services being procured are expected to deliver the remaining strands of work by April 2017. Problem to Be Solved Often employers don't know they have the option to choose from a range of providers, or that government will fund training for their apprentices. Employers need to be able to: 1) hire apprentices; 2) choose the right type of training for their apprentices; 3) find a suitable training provider; 4) understand what funding is available, including the apprenticeship levy, where that applies to them; and 5) manage their training costs. Who Are the Users 1) As a citizen I need to improve my employment prospects so that I can start a career and earn money. 2) As an employer I need to employ an apprentice so I can improve the skills of my workforce, and get support for my business. 3) As a training provider for apprenticeships I need to ensure employers choose my services so my business is viable. 4) As SFA I need to manage levy payment and funding to training providers and ensure growth in apprenticeships for the benefit of the economy. Work Already Done We have completed a series of discovery and alpha phases for the various strands of work within the service. Two strands of work are currently in the beta phase. Existing Team The supplier will be working with civil servants and multiple suppliers across various strands of work for delivery of the service. Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • Provide a mix of agile and senior business analysts with substantial experience of analysing digital / web services in a fast paced environment. • Business analysts will have the ability to gather, analyse and articulate complex business process and/or policy decisions in a clear visual way to project teams. • Make recommendations for action against the analysis done. • Full understanding and demonstrable experience of requirements engineering in an Agile/Scrum environment. • Ability to plan, and facilitate workshops with a range of technical and non-technical stakeholders structured against predefined list of outcomes. • A strong understanding of Agile and Waterfall project management delivery methodologies. • Work closely with the nominated product owner to define a product approach to meet the specified user need. • Experienced in developing product visions, backlogs and roadmaps. • Experience of process modelling, including process model standards such as BPMN, IDEF0 or the IBM Notation. • Experienced in business change, rationalisation and transformation. • Experience of working with projects where objectives are not always fully clarified from the outset or there are significant volumes of changes. • Ability to work with project managers, Developers, Senior Managers and a wide variety of technical and non-technical stakeholders. • Strong written communication skills and the ability to communicate with business users in non-technical language. • Able to coach and mentor other civil servants on agile business analysis practices. Nice to Haves • Experience of working on GOV.UK and other government services. • Strong understanding of the Government Digital Service’s Design Principles and Digital Service Standard. • Experience in developing target operating models, value stream mapping and LEAN process improvement. • A qualification in business analysis, such as the BCS Diploma in Business Analysis, or Degree in related software development. • Experience of working closely with user researchers to refine the product backlog based on research feedback Work Location Skills Funding Agency, Cheylesmore House, 5 Quinton Road, Coventry CV1 2WT, with occasional travel to other locations nationwide. Working Arrangments Onsite full-time 5 days a week co-located with the rest of the team at the SFA offices in Coventry. Occasional travel to other BIS or SFA (or partner organisation) offices may be required, subject to SFA travel and subsistence policy. This programme is being delivered using agile methodologies. Successful application of agile principles and techniques requires that the teams are co-located and able to work directly with colleagues representing digital delivery, operational and policy requirements. Security Clearance The successful supplier must be able to demonstrate that all proposed team members have been subject to Baseline Personnel Security Standards checks as set out in the SFA Baseline Security Policy 2014. Additional T&Cs Standard DOS framework and call-off terms and conditions. Day rates should be inclusive of any costs of travelling to and working from the base location. The cost of travel to other locations while performing SFA work will be covered as per the SFA travel and subsistence policy and will need to be invoiced by the supplier with supporting receipts. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria • Demonstrate the supplier’s experience and knowledge of delivering business analysis • Demonstrate an understanding and prior use of business analysis methodologies and analysis techniques • Demonstrate how the supplier contributes to building an effective multidisciplinary team • Demonstrate the supplier’s approach to incorporating user needs and government needs into the product backlog supporting the product owner to prioritise work effectively and efficiently • Demonstrate how the supplier actively promotes understanding and acceptance of agile, user-centred delivery • Demonstrate how the supplier has worked in a multi-team environment with multiple business analysts collaborating to deliver a broader service Cultural Fit Criteria • Demonstrate commitment to excellence and improvement, for example through seeking actionable feedback, setting targets etc. • Show a commitment to ensuring a team understands the user need over simply delivering work • Transparent and collaborative when making decisions and recommendations • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes • Demonstrate courage (for example, express controversial views, confront reality, make tough decisions, question actions inconsistent with group behaviours, candid about progress/estimates) • Demonstrate vulnerability (for example, declare uncertainty, fear, recognise mistakes, apologise, acknowledge weaknesses) • Demonstrate responsibility (for example, act like a leader, serve your team, provide solutions to problems, engage in external/internal environments, seek the best for the organisation beyond your team) • Demonstrate simplicity (for example, take simple steps to goals, do less but better, mitigate failures, talk straight with respect) • Demonstrate excellence (for example, seek actionable feedback, set challenging targets, know users, deliver cost effective high level customer satisfaction) • Demonstrate enthusiasm (for example, bring whole self to work, celebrate success, share passion and energy with others, optimistic) Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Do you require 5-10 Business Analysts to be supplied by one organisation? Or would you look to work with a number of organisations to achieve this number of Business Analysts? We are looking to award one contract with one organisation to provide the 5-10 Business Analysts. 2. Will the user research findings/report be made available? We work as in teams, so where there is a user researcher in the team, we would expect them to share their work with colleagues. 3. Which streams of work have already had Discovery and Alpha completed? All have except DAS Citizen and DAS Data. 4. Do you expect this opportunity to fall under the proposed changes to off payroll working within the Public Sector, and will you be deducting tax at source? https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/off-payroll-working-in-the-public-sector-reform-of-the-intermediaries-legislation Apologies, but we have not been able to obtain a definitive answer to this. It is a consultation. We would expect to comply with legislation, should it lead to such an outcome.