OR-0005 Research and Innovation Funding Service (RIFS) professional Scala back-end developers.

Tender description

Summary of the work RIFS require experienced back-end developers (preferably with some front-end experience) to work in a fast-paced agile delivery team. Developers will produce high-quality, accessible, cross-browser user journeys that meet well-researched user needs. We envisage that four back-end developers are required initially but this is likely to increase as the team matures. Expected Contract Length Approx 12 months (poss shorter), sufficient to help launch the service into Public Beta (Spring 17) Latest start date As soon as possible Budget Range Expectation is that day rates for this work will be in the range of £550 - £750 Why the Work is Being Done Grants funding is a significant activity of government with over 1,000 different grant schemes, including RIFS, administered across government. RIFS represents a wider ambition across government to consider how grants funding can be consolidated across fewer platforms than currently. RIFS presents an opportunity to look at how research and innovation grants funding can be transformed in its design and execution as a user centred end-to-end service. This service aims to address pain points currently experienced by users, transforming the entire user experience. Grants funding for users should be easy and accessible, reflecting the excellent reputation of UK research. Problem to Be Solved The Research and Innovation Funding Service (RIFS) brings together two previously separate strands of work that support grants funding for research (UK Research Councils) and innovation (Innovate UK). The aim is to create digital services that support the entire grant funding process from idea generation to impact reporting. The service is currently in beta phase production, and we anticipate a public beta in Spring 2017. Who Are the Users As a funder I need to be able to advertise an opportunity to research organisations/businesses so they can apply for funding to undertake research in priority areas. As a research organisation/business, I need to be able submit applications for research or innovation funding (respectively) so that I can respond to requests to undertake research in priority areas that have the potential to benefit the UK economy. As an assessor or peer reviewer I need to be able to review grant applications and collaborate with other reviewers, so that an application’s suitability for funding can be assessed and granted (or refused). Early Market Engagement RIFS has been in motion for several months. Development suppliers have already made some progress in the work at both high and more granular levels. A number of architectural decisions have been made; others remain under review. Work Already Done The two previously separate services that constitute RIFS – Research grants and Innovation grants – have both passed their Digital By Default Alpha service assessments and the unified programme is now in the early stages of Beta development. Some code had been developed for the separate services - much of which can be reused. Existing Team The Research and Innovation Funding Service team, specifically the Product Owner, Delivery Manager, Scrum Master, User Researchers, Interaction Designers and Testers. The developers will be working with civil servants and multiple suppliers across various strands of work for delivery of the service Current Phase Beta Skills & Experience • Extensive experience with working with the Scala (especially Play! framework), IntelliJ or Eclipse • Good experience in creating RESTful services using JS • Good experience with relational databases such as PostGreSQL with Slick or similar framework • Robust understanding of good application design principles for the web/platforms, and an ability to communicate these to other team members, technical and non-technical • BDD/ATDD development experience • Good experience with working in an Agile environment (Scrum, Kanban) Nice to Haves • Experience of microservices and event sourcing architectures • CI/CD with "push on green" • Exposure to Docker and PaaS (Heroku, Openshift, CloudFoundry) • Scala functional programming Work Location Work will be split between the primary site is Polaris House, Swindon SN2 1UH and a secondary site at Department for Business, Energy, Industrial Strategy HQ at 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET. Working Arrangments Monday to Friday on site, locations as described above. A professional working day, hours and working pattern as needed to deliver the service in an efficient way as agreed by the Programme Director. Requests to work from home will be considered at the discretion of the Programme Director. Travel expenses will be paid where incurred for travel to Swindon. Security Clearance Minimum Baseline Personnel Security Standard No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Proposed approach and methodology • Proposed team structure (including CVs of key members) • Value for money justification • Similar contract examples, case studies, references Cultural Fit Criteria • Demonstrate flexibility (e.g. the ability to shift tasks to meet changing priorities) • Demonstrate responsibility (e.g. 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 (e.g. take simple steps to goals, do less but better, mitigate failures, talk straight with respect) • Demonstrate excellence (e.g. seek actionable feedback, set challenging targets, know users, deliver cost effective high level customer satisfaction) • Demonstrate enthusiasm (e.g. bring whole self to work, celebrate success, share passion and energy with others, optimistic) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. In evaluating you're asking for "Proposed approach and methodology" - should this be under Opportunities rather than Specialists ? This has been published as an Outcome as it is a team of Developers required, not an individual Specialist.Which means that the shortlisted suppliers will be asked to submit a proposal that includes "Proposed approach and methodology". 2. Please can you confirm the base location for the developers - is it London or Swindon? Our consultants are happy to travel between the two but we will assign different people depending on the base location (some of our consultants will not be able to make a regular commute to Swindon because of where they live). Work will be split between the primary site is Polaris House, Swindon SN2 1UH and a secondary site at Department for Business, Energy, Industrial Strategy HQ at 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET.It is expected that the base location will be Swindon 3. The working arrangements state that "Travel expenses will be paid where incurred for travel to Swindon", which would imply the main site London. The clarification suggests that the main base of work will be Swindon although work is split between London and Swindon. What proportion of work can be performed in London? Can we assume that if the developer is based in London then expenses are paid for travel to Swindon and if the developer is based in Swindon then expenses are paid for travel to London? Can we assume that if the developer is based in London then expenses are paid for travel to Swindon and if the developer is based in Swindon then expenses are paid for travel to London? YESCurrently working 2 days London/2 days Swindon per week and 1 day flexi. This could change but either way we will pay travel expenses.