Payments platform prototype design and build

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done There are around 140 Scottish agencies within the Scottish Government (SG) and Public Sector which, currently, are separately responsible for maintaining and modernising their inbound and outbound payments systems. Volumes of payments made and received by both existing and new powers to be devolved to Scotland are set to rise, and the expectation is that this will increase to over 10 million payments per annum. We are undertaking exploratory work to determine if it is possible to create a payments service for SG. Problem to Be Solved 1) We want you to help us design and deliver a prototype to test if it's feasible to build a standardised payments solution capable of being linked to a diverse set of Public Sector organisations, and connecting to a range of existing commodity payments services. 2) Provide recommendations and options (to support our business case) on how the service could be scaled and managed, to include technology options, costs, team structure and service models. The solution should be based on loosely-coupled, component-based, secure & sustainable technology and existing commodity services, and adhere to SG’s Service Design Principles/Digital First Service Standards. Who Are the Users At this stage, users are predominantly internal. ● As a citizen or business, I need to be able to pay/receive money to/from the Scottish Government and wider public sector ● As a public sector organisation, I need to be able to pay/receive money to/from business and citizens ● As a public sector organisation, I need to be able to plan, execute and measure financial transactions ● As the Scottish Government, I need to be able to respond to increasing scale and complexity of payments as devolved powers change, and receive consistent management information to carry out financial administration Early Market Engagement Work Already Done While some material already exists – such as case studies and reports from other linked projects, desk research and stakeholder interviews – it is important to understand this project is designed to inform our future approach. Work already underway includes activity to understand the existing landscape, user needs and business processes, and test a number of technological assumptions. Existing Team We have a small core team in place, supported by subject matter experts and stakeholders from other Scottish Government departments, agencies and public bodies. Our combined skillset includes product ownership, business analysis, user research, business change/transformation, and technical architecture. We are working with two other suppliers who are providing strategic input on commercial models to support how we engage with the market going forward, and a partner to help us develop insights and analysis from other governments and public sector organisations. All suppliers are expected to share knowledge and work together. Current Phase Not started Work Location The work will take place in the Scottish Government's offices at Victoria Quay, Edinburgh Working Arrangments We expect you to co-locate at our offices in Edinburgh, and form part of a multidisciplinary agile team, ideally on a full-time basis but we will accept at minimum 3 days a week. Security Clearance BPSS Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Ability to begin work by latest start date (Yes/No) Ability to deploy a multidisciplinary team and co-locate in Edinburgh for the project duration (Yes/No) Provide examples of successful design and delivery of loosely-coupled, component-based technology projects involving complex integrations (30%) Demonstrable experience of iteratively designing secure and sustainable high-volume transactional digital services based on user needs (25%) Provide examples of where you’ve provided information and evidence to support the scaling and management of a live service (20%) Demonstrable experience of agile delivery within government or other relevant organisations (15%) Knowledge of payments service technology (10%) Nice to Haves Experience of delivering projects that conform to Scottish Government’s Digital First Service Standards (https://resources.mygov.scot/standards/digital-first/) or GOV.UK’s Digital Service Standard, or other relevant technology assurance No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 6 Proposal Criteria Technical solution (40%) Approach and methodology (20%) How the solution will meet user needs (20%) Team structure (20%) Cultural Fit Criteria Demonstrate experience of working as part of a team within a complex organisation, outlining your style and approach to challenging the status quo (25%) Provide an example of working in a user-centred design environment (25%) Provide an example of where you’ve had to be agile and flexible to changing or uncertain requirements (25%) Provide an example where you have worked collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team with other suppliers (25%) Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Work history Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range the budget is up to £300,000, including vat