Recruitment Platform for Government Beta

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done CSHR want to modernise the digital recruitment service and experience offered; after completing Discovery/Alpha projects researching and developing our understanding of recruitment user needs and some investigation around the technical framework required. We want to design a user experience optimised for all users and develop a technical architecture able to integrate modern cloud based services across the whole recruitment journey. We want to build a platform to replace the current Civil Service Jobs system and develop/enable shared components/services across the digital products within our portfolio: Learning Platform for Government, Fast Stream and Early Talent Recruitment and Civil Service Careers site. Problem to Be Solved To meet current and future recruitment needs, the Civil Service needs a modern cloud-based technical architecture that integrates recruitment platforms and services to deliver a complete customer experience that meet all user needs. The solution needs to identify, integrate and share technical capabilities and services across a range of products and meet GDS standards. To do this, we need a delivery team with the capabilities of technical design, UX design, data modelling and service design leads, full stack and front-end developers, delivery manager, user researchers, content designers to join the existing internal team to deliver the outputs required. Who Are the Users As a Candidate, I need to find and apply for jobs in the civil service, so I can progress my career. Hiring manager, I need an easy way to manage my vacancies, to get the right person and minimise time investment. Recruiter, I need an easy way to manage a large and complex set of vacancies, so recruitment can be quick, efficient and achieve good outcomes CSHR, we want the technical flexibility to swap in and out recruitment systems, to meet future recruitment needs, avoid vender lock-in and gain efficiencies from having more control over the continous improvement process. Early Market Engagement We have met with a number of cloud based recruitment service providers to understand how they can meet our user needs and support our proposed high-level technical architecture and target operating model. During the Alpha stage we developed a prototype candidate interface working with 2 Applicant Tracking System (ATS) suppliers to understand the technical options of CSHR owning and buiding a separate front end and linking at a data level to multiple ATS systems as part of the back office process and service. For the Career site element we have worked with GDS to understand how we could re-use elements of their Wordpress campaign sites. Work Already Done CSHR Digital team have completed full discovery and alpha phases of the project that have identified a detailed set of problem statements and user needs and established an understanding of the high level technical framework required. During Alpha we developed a front end prototype and working with 2 ATS suppliers developed our thinking around the technical framework required to manage the recruitment experience and meet user needs. We have also begun to look at the wider enterprise architecture required to integrate the recruitment, learning and career site services managed by the Digital team. Existing Team The internal team consists of a Service Manager, Product manager, Delivery manager, Head of UX, User Researcher and Senior Business Analyst and Stakeholder/Comms Manager. The delivery team will be required to work with the ATS supplier and also suppliers of commercial products that are used as part of the recruitment platform. There will also be a requirement to work with the delivery team who are delivering the Learning platform. Current Phase Beta Work Location 101 Victoria Street | Bristol | BS1 6BU and London base tbc Working Arrangments The core team is required to be co-located with the current team in Bristol, work on the Career site will require a London base. Remote working can be discussed, we are willing to provide some flexibility. We work Mon-Fri standard office hours. Travel will be paid to locations other than your agreed project base location. We operate standard agile working methodology with daily stand-ups, sprint planning, two-week sprints, fortnightly demos and retrospectives and use physical Kanban wall alongside digital tools such as Confluence/Trello. We would expect the proposed team to integrate with this way of working. Security Clearance Basic security is required for all members of the team. Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Expertise in solutions that utilise Service Orientated Architecture and micro services (10 points) Expertise in cloud technologies: design, planning. security, integration, whilst remaining Cloud provider agnostic (10 points) Highly experienced in designing, developing and using APIs (REST/SOAP) and defining data structures and models for applications that can scale and deliver high performance and availability (10 points) Be able to architect robust systems and display knowledge about system security risks and how to pragmatically mitigate them (10 points) Experience of the analysis and architecture of BI and data models (10 points) Experience of effective identification and use of open source software components (10 points) Experience in relational and non-relational databases in multiple formats (10 points) Experience with automated (testing) including TDD/BDD environments, continuous integration, delivery/deployment, particularly version control and source code management (e.g. GitHub), containers (e.g. Docker) and continuous integration (e.g. Jenkins) (10 points) Expertise in Agile delivery (e.g., Scrum, Kanban etc.) as outlined in the Government Service Design Manual and using BDD and TDD (10 points) Experience of delivery in Data Engineering and Data Management Services, especially in a sensitive data environment (10 points) Expertise in coaching/mentoring less skilled people, leaving a legacy (10 points) Experience of creating user experiences that comply to Gov.UK guidelines for design, interaction, accessability and assisted digital (10 points) Experience of creating user experiences that are clearly and demonstrably meeting user needs and evidenced through interative testing and research (10 points) Experience of providing a multi disciplined team who will work together and in partnership with internal teams and other suppliers to deliver projects (20 points) Experience of meeting GDS Digital Service Standards (10 points) Experience of service design to meet user needs and Digital service standards (10 points) Be flexible with programming languages to meet business requirements (10 points) Have a robust security management system which addresses physical, personnel, procedural and technical risks and must be willing to acquire Cyber Essential Plus certification in agreed timescales. (20points) Nice to Haves Experience of recruitment platforms would be desirable (5 points) Experience of GaaP products: Verify/Notify (5 points) Experience of designing services to meet Assisted Digital requirements(5 points) Experience of desigining a cloud based infrastructure and services to meet user requirements and provide value for money (5 points) Experience of delivering to meet ISO27001:2013 (5 points) ISO27001 certification and Cyber Essentials Plus Certified (5 points) Demonstrable ability to design secure solutions in accordance with NCSC security design principles (5 points) No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria Outline how you will help CSHR achieve VFM throughout the Beta phase (90 points) It's important the core delivery team contains a strong FTE backbone in roles critical to the success of the project. Propose your team structure that addresses this need (100 points) Outline the experience and skills of the proposed team and how these will help to achieve a quality outcome. Please include CVs (100 points). How will you ensure the skills and knowledge required will be maintained throughout the project and that staff changes will not impact delivery or continuity (100 points) Outline using an example, how the team proposed will work collaboratively with internal teams/projects to deliver the project vision, translating the high-level product vision into an agreed/understood backlog. (100 points) Outline how they intend to approach the project and methodology, including how they intend to collaborate and integrate with other project teams. (90 points) Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers (20 points) Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions (20 points) Take responsibility for their work; ensuring a no blame culture and encouraging people to learn from their mistakes (20 points) Share knowledge and experience with other team members and work with clients with low technical expertise (20 points) Challenge the status quo and be comfortable standing up for their discipline (20 points) Ensure there is clear and agreed leadership structure within your team (20 points) Ability to work within a Programme context managing dependencies alongside the Agile principles for Project Delvery (20 points) Be innovative and pro active promoting ideas for continuous improvement (20 points) Payment Approach Time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 55% Cultural fit 20% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £1.5m to £2.2m