Technical Architect - Buying for Schools Digital Platform

Tender description

Who Speclialist Work With You will be joining an existing multi-disciplinary team consisting of delivery manager, product manager, user researcher, interaction designer, content designer and a senior developer What Specialists Work On As the technical architect on this project you will be ensuring the service fits into the overall departmental strategy. You will be working as part of a multidisciplinary user-focused digital delivery team, within a wider programme of work across the schools commercial team. You will work closely with the delivery team to help design and develop a simple and sustainable service, including considerations for operability. You will also need to collaborate with colleagues across the DfE to evolve the department's approach to digital, and how this service aligns to it. Where the Work Takes Place Department for Education, 2 St Pauls Place, Sheffield, S1 2FJ Early Market Engagement Working Arrangements Ideally co-located with the team in Sheffield but consideration will be givento remote working. Occasional travel to other DfE sites may be required. We will operate using agile methodology including daily stand ups, sprint planning, sprints, retrospectives and show and tells. Face to face attendance at all Show and Tells is expected. Work Location Department for Education, 2 St Pauls Place, Sheffield, S1 2FJ Security Clearance BPSS (Baseline Security Level) Additional T&Cs The framework operates on a statement of work (SOW), if the final SOW for Private Beta is complete, and a decision is taken not to proceed to Public Beta, the contract can be terminated. Additional contractual clauses expected include: GDPR, Departmental Security Standards (for departmental data) & clauses on issued property and use of premises. Skills & Experience Comprehensive and recent experience designing and implementing web-based software systems and/or 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 approach to software architecture Experience working on technical projects within an agile team Experience collaborating with senior technical staff across multiple projects and programmes An ability to communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience Recent experience of hands-on server-side software development Ability to develop efficient and clear code and systems Experience of incorporating operational and infrastructure concerns when architecting systems Experience of architecting for simplicity and operability in cloud and/or PaaS environments Familiarity with DevOps and continuous iterative delivery principles Nice to Haves Experience building services to the Digital Service Standard Experience in progressing a service from alpha into private beta Experience of using NodeJS to build and run production systems Understanding and experience of front-end web development (HTML/CSS/JS) Experience acting as a "tech lead" on complex projects, providing support for product and delivery management and pragmatically weighing the complexities involved against the need to act Experience running a production service, including setting up appropriate monitoring and alerting Experience of using GitHub and/or working in the open Experience of deploying applications to run on Platform as a Service offerings Experience with Microsoft Azure No. of Specialists to Evaluate 3 Cultural Fit Criteria Work with third parties to take Alpha designs and move them into developed Beta's Integrate successfully into an existing Agile team with existing working practices Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes Share knowledge and experience with other team members Challenge the status quo Assessment Method Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 20% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers Budget range