Technical Architect for NOMS Digital Studio

Tender description

Summary of the work An exciting opportunity for talented, tenacious individuals looking to join our team and take lead in creating world-class services in the Prison and Probation environment. Conducting Service Discovery to identify and deliver high-quality, user-centred products that positively impact the lives of offenders, prison staff and society as a whole. Specialist role Technical Architect Expected Contract Length SOW001 dated to 30/06/2017. Subsequent SOWs 3 month durations, up to 24 months. Latest start date 13/02/2017 Who Speclialist Work With We're building a team of around 70 experts in Web Development, Design and User Research. This is a brilliant opportunity to be part of a growing team from its nascent stage and play an active and continued role in the strategic development of both the team and the studio approaches. Immediate team: Service design team of a Service Designer and Service Manager (Sheffield). Wider Service Area team: Service design team working across up to 3 Product Delivery Teams (Sheffield). Community of User Researchers and Head of User Experience in Sheffield, wider MoJ community and Cross-Government Community What Specialists Work On -Service mapping of the prison/probation service, identifying opportunities for service improvement -Discovery/delivery of the 'allocate a prisoner to a prison' service-delivering efficiency improvements -Hands-on technical leadership in development, operation and improvement of services -Work with product managers to understand user needs for new/existing services -Technical authority in prospective meetings with other departments, evaluate technical proposals from suppliers, implementation recommendations to stakeholders -Work with delivery teams breaking technical requirements down, identify API requirements for integration with internal/external systems -Lead development of user-driven prototypes, identify technical options/inform architectural approaches, working with team members to write tests, code and documentation for new/existing systems Skills & Experience • Can submit Candidate CV to kiah_rose.sheppard@justice.gsi.gov.uk by Midday Wednesday 1st February • Comprehensive and recent experience designing and implementing complex software systems, ie is an active software developer currently engaged in architecting and building high-volume digital services • Proven capability in managing technology implementation projects and in presenting to/working with stakeholders at every level of seniority • Comprehensive and recent experience designing and implementing complex software systems, i.e. is an active software developer currently engaged in architecting and building high-volume digital services • Proven capability in managing technology implementation projects and in presenting to / working with stakeholders at every level of seniority • Demonstrable track record of successfully taking an evolutionary architecture approach to software architecture • Knowledge of Agile product management, in particular determination of vision, objectives, goals and success criteria Nice to Haves • Experience of developing product roadmaps, backlogs and measurable success criteria, and of writing user stories, i.e. can establish a path to delivery for breaking down stories • Experience organising and performing prototyping and proof of concepts • Experience with Agile methodologies (TDD, SCRUM, Kanban, etc) • Building and scaling high-traffic websites and/or high volume transaction processing and analysis platforms • Experience of developing product roadmaps, backlogs and measurable success criteria, and of writing user stories, ie can establish a path to delivery for breaking down stories Work Location Greenfield Hse, 32 Scotland St, Sheffield, S3 7DQ (with some time in London) Working Arrangments You will be working on-site in Sheffield with some travel to London, with at least three to four days per week based at the Studio in Sheffield, for face to face engagement with the rest of the team. There is a £500 limit on travel expenses, where expenses will only be covered for research trips and meetings outside of Sheffield. Travel between Sheffield and the supplier’s location will not be covered. Security Clearance Basic (Disclosure Scotland) No. of Specialists to Evaluate 5 Cultural Fit Criteria • We challenge the status quo: we aim to understand the reason behind ‘the way things have always been done’ to see if there is a better way to do things • We respect each other in our different opinions and are constructive in feedback • The unit of delivery is the team: we have no individual heroes, the stars are the teams as whole entities • We aren’t afraid of conflict - we surface tensions and conflict early, and address them promptly • We believe empowered teams deliver the best products; those who are doing the work should and do have the greatest understanding of the work - so ask the team! • We inspect and adapt regularly to continuously improve • Working product in the hands of users early and often • Products degrade quickly, so we regularly iterate and improvement our products ongoing • Collocating the people, skills and knowledge you need is the best way to deliver • Measure progress by what value you deliver • Keep focus on quality, making sure the whole team is aware of any debt taken on • Keep it simple and do less; whether that’s features in the product or the way you are delivering • Everyone is responsible for quality Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. IR35 Questions Please note that I have received your IR35 related questions, and I apologise for not yet providing a response. I am currently seeking advice and will pass this on as soon as possible. Thank you - KRS 2. Can you please confirm what technologies will be used? Each team will decide the tech required for a given project. No two teams are the same, as a point of reference we currently have teams in London which are Ruby Centric, in Sheffield we are expecting a blend of Javascript/Node.js/Java and possibly other jvm langs. Its important to note the tech should fit the requirements not the other way around. 3. If the candidate that is successful for this role is a contractor through a PSC, will the MoJ deem this contract as inside or outside the new IR35 legislation? We would not be able to make that assessment unless:a) We receive all the working practices of the contractor, orb) HMRC release their new Digital IR35 tool for us to assess the engagement prior to it starting.The HMRC tool is due to go live prior to April, and once released HMRC will stand by the outcomes from it.