3x Senior Software Developers

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done DfT’s Digital Service is a new, strategically important team. There are currently 3 products in development with committed deadlines; 1) Performance Management tool to implement new department wide policy 2) Checkout; online procurement forms to increase operational efficiency 3) Port Freight; statistics collection re handling of freight traffic at UK sea ports. The data collection process is currently contracted out as a fully managed service. The website solution was developed over 10 years ago and only runs on limited web browsers. The current contract runs out in March 2019, and a replacement system is required by March 2019. Problem to Be Solved The development team consists of 3 senior developers, 2 developers, 5 apprentices, a UX designer and a DBA. There are 4 vacancies for senior developers. We need additional experienced senior developers to increase capacity to deliver the live project and embed best practice. A new cloud platform has been introduced, along with Agile ways of working, new roles and these changes are not yet embedded. Most of the more experienced members of the team worked in the former internal Application Development and Support Team and have limited experience of cloud development and working in Agile teams. Who Are the Users Checkout - Internal staff across DfTc Port Freight – There are around 400 different data suppliers (both major/minor ports and shipping agents), with the existing website being the main method for data submission. The business requirement stems from the Maritime Statistics team which has four key stakeholders involved in the programme of work. PMR2 – 17000 users across DfT family Early Market Engagement N/A Work Already Done N/A Existing Team Performance Management Tool - In house team: 1x Delivery Manager, 1x Product Manager, 1x User Researcher, 1x User Experience (UX), 1x Digital Architect and 1x Senior Developer, 2x Apprentice Developers. Checkout - In house team: 1x Delivery Manager, 1x Product Manager, 1x User Researcher, 1x User Experience (UX), 1x Business Analyst, 1x Digital Architect and 1x Developer and 3x Apprentice Developers. Port Freight - In house team: 1x Delivery Manager, 1x Product Manager, 1x User Researcher, 1x User Experience (UX), 1x Business Analyst, 1x Digital Architect and 2x Senior Developers. Current Phase Not applicable Work Location Windsor House, 50 Victoria St, Westminster, London, SW1H 0TL And Ashdown House, Sedlescombe Road North, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7GA Working Arrangments Developers will be co-located with the Digital Team in London/Hastings, Monday-Friday, 37 hours (10-4 core). The project will follow the GDS Digital Service Standard and technology Code of Practice using Agile methodology: daily stand-ups, sprint planning, sprints, demos, retrospectives, show and tells. The GCP developers will need to take the lead by being a role model in Agile development and ways of working (pair programming, Scrum methodology, Test Driven Development), and invest time in knowledge sharing and coaching to increase the capability of the digital team. Architecture’s preference is App Engine with the option of container-based solution as alternative Security Clearance SC. Will consider BPSS initially if SC can be provided later. Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience ● Experience in full stack web development in Google Cloud Platform ● Experience in DevOps, CICD in Google Cloud Platform ● Knowledge of Agile and Scrum methodology ● Embedding Agile techniques and best practice approach to software development within a software development lifecycle framework ● Understand service-led or micro-service led architecture and delivery of repeatable, scalable services within development ● Product delivery focused ● Cloud technologies App Engine Flex(.Net core) with Cloud SQL (Maritime ● PHP Object Oriented project experience (Checkout) ● Used PHP frameworks (Laravel) (Checkout) ● Test Driven Development (TDD) approach (PHPUnit (Checkout) and TBD (Maritime) ● Acceptance tests (Behat) (Checkout) ● Has participated and organised pair + mob programming sessions; code reviews. Both as a team member and team lead ● Substantial experience in the full development lifecycle including testing and deployment ● Experience in providing coaching or mentoring to junior developers and how to embed best practices within a team. Nice to Haves ● Experience working on government digital projects ● Able to start immediately, to provide capacity to the development team to start delivering the plan to establish and embed a framework for a professional function. ● understand serverless development and experience working within that environment No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 10 Proposal Criteria • Have evidence of experience defining and implementing new services in a cloud environment ● Approach and methodology with particular attention to agile and collaborative delivery ● Value for money in comparison to technical competence Cultural Fit Criteria ● Collaboratively work as a team within our organisation and with our suppliers ● Transparent and open when making decisions ● Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes ● Share knowledge and experience with other team members Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 40% Cultural fit 20% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £750 max day rate (average price in spreadsheet)