Data Directorate Data Architecture & Governance Transformation (Updated)

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The Department for Education uses data to direct funding, measure effectiveness and govern the education sector in England. Our data management activity is led by the Chief Data Officer, who is transforming our organisation to better support the Department's efficient and effective use of data. This wider support will initially be focussed in two key areas - Data Architecture, making our systems use and share data more effectively, and Data Governance, ensuring a sustained, executive-level focus on understanding and assuring our data assets. We require experts to help us continue to deliver our strategy and finalise our GDPR deliverables. Problem to Be Solved Our current data landscape is complex, not easily understood, and poorly governed at an enterprise level. This means that change is difficult to manage, whether that be commercial (re-letting contracts), technical (changes to data sets), managerial (training new starters) or strategic (establishing new data services). The knock-on financial, compliance  and user experience consequences mean that the Department carries some heavy data-related reputational risk, which we are keen to address by paying down the technical debt represented by our data landscape. Who Are the Users As a Chief Data Officer, I need to change DfE's culture, architecture, processes and governance around data to suit a 21st century, data-rich, delivery-focussed public sector organisation. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done We have already created a Data Strategy & Vision. As the first steps to reaching those, we have recently created a senior-level Data Governance Board and started to roll out Data Governance processes across the Department. At the same time, we have begun to look at our Data Architecture around Learners, and we are rolling out standard Data Architectural artefacts as part of the Architectural governance of projects. We have also delivered the first phase of a unified Data & Analytics Platform for the whole Department. We are seeking an implementation partner to continue our delivery. Existing Team The supplier will be working within the Data Directorate, and will be accountable directly to the Chief Data Officer. They will help to establish the architecture and governance capability including a Chief Data Architect and Data Governance lead. They will work alongside and support the Directorate’s leadership team to establish the capabilities and processes required to create an efficient, modern data management organization. In addition, there will be a small number of permanent staff to support the team and manage skills transfer, and there may be other suppliers engaged across the Directorate and beyond on specific Directorate projects. Current Phase Not applicable Work Location Sheffield, Coventry, London, Darlington Working Arrangments The work will be largely office-based, in Sheffield and London to ensure good integration and skills transfer with the permanent team, and will involve travel to other sites as necessary to facilitate or attend workshops or committee meetings, meet team members and other stakeholders. Where travel from the home office location is required, expenses will be reimbursed at the standard Departmental rates. Security Clearance Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Experience of transforming large, data and/or analytics organisations within central government Experience of establishing and operating Data Governance processes in large, complex, data intensive organisations within central government Experience of establishing and running Data Architectural teams, including principles, policies, standards and operating processes within central government Data Architecture - designing and evolving efficient, change-resilient, scalable, automated data pipelines. Proven resourcing and engagement model to ensure the right quality of the team Experience of working well in large public sector organisations, across organisational boundaries, and with multi-agency departments Nice to Haves Experience and understanding of the Education sector. Experience and understanding of educational datasets No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Approach and methodology How the approach meets our goals How risks and dependencies have been identified and how they will be managed Team structure Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers Share knowledge and experience with other team members Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range