Back-end developers for digital apprenticeship service (SFADAS06)

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done 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. Early Market Engagement 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 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. Skills & Experience Extensive experience developing Web Applications with C# and ASP.NET MVC Experience of working in an Agile environment (Scrum and/or Kanban) Exposure to TDD and BDD development approaches and tooling Experience of continuous integration and continuous deployment Experience developing event based architectures using established patterns (CQRS, Hexagon, Onion, etc..) Adherence to SOLID principles Experience with ORM tools such as Dapper and/or Entity Framework Can actively participate in Clan (Communities of practice) activities, such as lightning talks, information and knowledge sharing, etc Experience working within mixed discipline agile teams partnering with other specialists (user researchers, business analysts, solutions architects, etc) Nice to Haves Experience working within mixed discipline agile teams partnering with other specialists (user researchers, business analysts, solutions architects, etc) Experience with Microsoft Azure SaaS, PaaS and IaaS components and services Can develop responsive and progressively enhanced front ends Good working knowledge of VSTS Knowledge and experience of automated test tools Demonstrable SASS/LESS/CSS & HTML5 experience Knowledge and experience with cross browser testing tools Experience of Domain Driven Design Track record of transitioning waterfall and water-scrum-fall projects into to true agile continuous delivery projects Track record of unblock “analysis paralysis” by partnering with stakeholder and users to iterate upon a skeleton solution Able to coach and mentor other Civil Servant members of the team. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Demonstrate the supplier’s ability to build intuitive, production-quality web applications based on the described stack Demonstrate an understanding of the architectural principles and practices described Demonstrate an understanding of an Agile delivery Demonstrate an understanding, and provide examples of, production quality digital services Demonstrate the suppliers ability to embed the developers into an agile delivery team Demonstrate ability to work in a face paced agile environment 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 Assessment Method Written proposal Work history Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range