Army Headquaters IAS - Lead Technical Solutions Architect (ARMYHQ2/00164)

Tender description

Summary of the work The MOD requires a Lead Technical Solutions Architect to head up a team of technical specialists in order to develop and maintain the Army's hosting environment and supporting infrastructure. Specialist role Technical Architect Expected Contract Length 220 days + option to extend 220 days Latest start date 20 March 2017 Maximum Day Rate There is no minimum or maximum date rate. The level of Specialist(s) supplied by Specialist Company should meet the requirement set out in the advert. Early Market Engagement N/A Who Speclialist Work With The Specialist Company will be required to work with the Authority and other Suppliers to ensure coherent delivery of the services. The Specialist Company must have the necessary office facilities to support their own off-site working. It is anticipated that the Specialist Company will agree with the Authority to spend varying degrees of time located at the Authority’s site for face-to-face meetings and to carry out work of a security sensitive nature. What Specialists Work On 1. Architect design solutions, formulate estimates and provide design expertise for new, and enhancements to existing, Infrastructure and application services, based on the prioritised business requirements. 2. Produce and review relevant technical design documentation to support the Infrastructure, application platforms and services. 3. Provide ad hoc support to troubleshoot problems with Infrastructure and Platforms within the live environment. 4. Write and develop policies and standards, and technically assure that all Infrastructure Platforms and services are aligned to the aforementioned policies and standards. 5. Provide technical oversight for all designed and hosted applications and services. Skills & Experience • 1. Exceptional proven recent experience in the provision of technical solutions within a large disparate organisation. • 2. Minimum of 5 + Years recent experience leading a team of technical specialists providing design, installation and implementation of Data centres, DR, Remote access solutions and applications hosting platforms. • 3. 5 + Years recent experience as the Design Authority for large hosting environments or infrastructure projects. • 4. Extensive recent hands on knowledge and experience with HP Proliant compute hardware, HP 3PAR storage systems and Cisco adaptive security appliances and switches. • 5. Proven recent experience of design and delivery of a SIEM solution utilising HP ArcSight software and appliances. • 6. Knowledge and demonstrated experience of delivering PKI solutions within a highly secure environment. • 7. Expert market knowledge of industry trends and emerging technologies • 8. Minimum 2+ years design and implementation experience of VMware NSX-v within a secure environment. • 9. Proven demonstrable experience in delivering accreditable systems and detailed working knowledge of JSP 604, 440 and 480. • 10. Proven experience delivering solutions that align with the Protective Monitoring Controls (PMCs) defined within GPG13. • 11. Extensive recent demonstrable experience of designing, reviewing and delivering secure multi-tier hosting platforms based on both Windows and Linux operating systems into secure SDDC based environments. • 12. Recent in depth knowledge and demonstrable experience of delivering solutions that include VMware NSX-v, SRM, vRealize Automation and vCloud suite. • 13. 2 + Years recent experience in the design, setup and administration of VMware vCAC/vRA. • 14. Experience designing and configuring solutions based on Cisco ASA, Source Fire IPDS and Cisco Nexus 5k and 7k security and networking technologies. • 15. Demonstrated experience of leading the integration of large multi-tier COTs application into a high security environment. • 16. Recent experience of reviewing HLD, LLD and Solution Design documents based on Oracle, Microsoft, VMware and Redhat technologies. Nice to Haves • 1. Previous experience of working within a secure Defence Environment. • 2. Previous knowledge and understanding of working within a DevOps/Agile environment. • 3. Working knowledge of ITIL v3. • 4. Working Knowledge of wider defence systems and services. • 5. Experience of designing and delivering and supporting platforms that host Statistical Analysis Software (SAS). • 6. Experience of designing and delivering and supporting platforms that utilise ESRI ArcGIS Geospatial software • 7. Experience of designing and delivering and supporting platforms that utilise webMethods and other Software AG technologies. • 8. Crypto-Authorised with knowledge and experience designing solutions incorporating High grade crypto. • 9. Recently experience of using Enterprise Architecture tooling e.g. ARIS. • 10. Knowledge and recent experience of NATO applications e.g. LogFAS and deployable systems e.g. Magpie and Jackdaw. Work Location The place of delivery of the contract shall be at such location as agreed between the Specialist Company and the Authority. Working Arrangments The Specialist company shall use its own initiative as to the manner in which services are to be delivered; for the avoidance of doubt, the Specialist Company shall not be supervised, directed or controlled regarding how the services are delivered. The Specialist Company shall use its own equipment where security requirements permit. The Specialist Company is expected to provide the services on such hours/days as required to meet any deadlines, as agreed between the Specialist Company and the Authority. The Specialist Company shall provide the necessary resources to support the Services which shall include one or more specialists. Security Clearance Developed Vetting (DV) Security Clearance will be required for the duration of the role. Incumbents are to follow both the letter and spirit of Army Headquarters security regulations. Additional T&Cs These MOD DEFCONs form part of this Call Off Contract: 5J (Edn 18/11/16) Unique Identifiers 76 (Edn 12/06) Contractors on site 129J (Edn 18/11/16) Electronic business Delivery Form 516 (Edn 04/12) Equality 520 (Edn 18/11/16) Corrupt gifts and payments of commission 522 (Edn 18/11/16) Payment and Recovery of Sums Due 531 (Edn 11/14) Disclosure of Information 534 (Edn 18/11/16) Subcontracting and Prompt Payment 566 (Edn 07/14) Change of control contractor 642 (Edn 06/14) Progress meetings The following DEFFORMS will be used: 111 Appendix - Addresses And Other Information 10 Acceptance Of Offer Of Contract No. of Specialists to Evaluate 3 Cultural Fit Criteria • 1. Work as a team within our organisation and other suppliers. • 2. Transparent & collaborative when making decisions. • 3. Has a no-blame culture and encourages people to learn from their mistakes. • 4. Previous experience of working within a Defence environment • 5. No commercial allegiance to any technology vendor Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 75% Cultural fit 5% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Could you consider some with current SC clearance ? Would you let someone start the assignment with SC clearance whilst waiting for DV ? Would the MOD put someone through DV clearance ? IAS would prefer to have someone who is already DV cleared. If the right candidate is not available with DV; then IAS would consider SC for this role dependent on their ability to pass vetting. 2. The person we had in mind for this position has lapsed Security Clearance. Would you consider applying for DV clearance for the correct candidate? IAS would be willing to put someone with SC through DV clearance, if there are no suitable candidates with DV.