Analysing, rationalising, and prototyping FCO internal processes

Tender description

Summary of the work FCO staff are faced with several processes which are offline, slow, and difficult to complete, reducing their productivity and giving them a bad experience. This work is to analyse and prototype transforming them into digital transactions. Specialist role Business analyst Expected Contract Length Until 31 March 2017 Latest start date Mid February 2017 Maximum Day Rate Range of day rate for this requirement between £500 to £1,000 per day. Early Market Engagement We have done in-house discovery work to identify the processes in question and to identify technical solutions. This has produced a backlog of potential processes to transform and a vehicle for doing them. We are asking the specialist to further analyse the forms, feedback on the processes, and prototype as many as s/he can in the time period up to March 31. It will be crucial to listen closely to the requirements of the processing teams, but also to validate that they are necessary, ie this work should enable the full transformation of the processes. Who Speclialist Work With The FCO's Digital transformation unit is a small team, and on the digital side you'll be working primarily with a Digital Transformation Manager. Each individual service you analyse will have its own stakeholders and you are likely to be working with managers and processing staff in each instance. What Specialists Work On We have identified several processes where staff are currently presented with forms in offline formats (.doc, .xls or .pdf). We would like help translating these into digital transactions: Analysing the forms Working them into a digital prototype (both GOV.UK tool and MS Dynamics) Where a process requires several forms, combining them to a single digital process Incorporating (and possibly conducting) user research Skills & Experience • working in an agile team to deliver transactional software based on user requirements (15%) • breaking up epics into manageable user stories (10%) • developing prototypes to test out ideas, then iterating them based on user feedback (10%) • Demonstrable experience using the GOV.UK prototype kit (10%) Nice to Haves • Demonstrable experience using Microsoft Dynamics (5%) • Briefing senior stakeholders, engaging with remote stakeholders (5%) Work Location Work will be done in the FCO's London office in King Charles Street London, and also in the Milton Keynes offices where the processing teams are and also a potential development team. Some work can be done off site if the specialist wants or needs to. Working Arrangments We would like the individual to: Be comfortable talking to non-technical staff and translating their requirements into technical terms Be a good listener Where appropriate, propose changes to processes We need to be able to send the specialist unaccompanied to meet technical and non-technical staff, confident that they will be respectful, productive, and represent the Digital transformation unit well. While off site working is possible, we would want the individual to maintain daily engagement through standups Security Clearance FCO offices are secure buildings and ideally the specialist would have SC clearance. For the right candidate we would sponsor their clearance though this will mean that in the early weeks the candidate is likely to have to join us for morning meetings before leaving the building and working elsewhere. Additional T&Cs Ideally we would pay the specialist on a sprint by sprint basis, associated with the delivery of specific work packages No. of Specialists to Evaluate 3 Cultural Fit Criteria • Working with technical and non-techincal staff to understand requirements (5%) • Building good relationships and trust with teams both with and without departmental sponsors (5%) • Quickly joining teams and understanding their needs (5%) • Experience working in an agile manner (5%) Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 55% Cultural fit 20% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers 1. Does the FCO requirement include the need for a designer? To start with, the FCO did not think this is necessary. However, having considered this, the FCO are still unsure of the need. However, if suppliers feel this is essential to deliver the requirement, then please include a case and costings if they feel this is necessary. 2. What is the work split between London and Milton Keynes? The FCO are happy to work with a good candidate. As teams and end users tend to be in London, while the processing teams tend to be in MK, it is expected that the candidate shall work in Milton Keynes at least a minimum of 1 working day per week. 3. Does the candidate need security clearance? As previously stated in the requirements, the FCO are happy to work with the right candidate though s/he must be prepared for being accompanied everywhere. 4. Period of contract - you state latest start date is mid Feb and contract end is 31 March. Is this a 6 week assignment? Therefore, must it end 31 March? Even if candidate is SC cleared it depends on how long your vetting department and commercial can validate clearance and issue contract. Yes, this is currently a 6 week assignment, which is currently scheduled to expire on 31 March 2017. Yes, we understand issues around Security Clearance and can look at those nearer the time (once we have agreed the right candidate and supplier). 5. Assuming King Charles Street is the usual place of work, is it expected that travel to Milton Keynes be included in the price or is this chargeable as an extra expense as and when it occurs? A typical working week could be 1 day in Milton Keynes per week with the rest of the time in London. Could suppliers please include costs for 1 day’s travel/ week so that we can compare suppliers effectively? The exact working pattern can be negotiated and may vary so any further travel will be paid as expenses. 6. The requirements mention that this might also require the specialist to conduct user research, is it expected that this must be the same individual or are suppliers able to different specialists for certain tasks? We have only asked for a business analyst and by the terms of the engagement we can only employ BAs in this round. The FCO does have trained user researchers who can accompany the BA, but please include any experience in doing user research in your application. Suppliers are welcome to suggest that we could do with complimentary skills and we will consider that. 7. Are you looking for 3 specialists or 1? What is the earliest start date for this assignment? We assume from the questions that the assignment is over a six week period. Just 1 specialist. Earliest start date is as soon as the supplier can manage after we have had a chance to assess candidates – we understand that they might have other commitments. Work ends 31 March.