NI Department of Finance - Test manager for implementation of Agile QA Testing Strategy

Tender description

Summary of the work Following the development of an Agile QA Testing Strategy last year, this assignment seeks to implement the Strategy's Test Target Operating Model (TOM) to help development teams reach the level of testing maturity they aspired to during the strategy development exercise. Specialist role Quality assurance analyst Expected Contract Length 6 -8 Weeks Latest start date Monday 14 January 2019 Early Market Engagement N/A Who Speclialist Work With Digital Development teams within NI Department of Finance, made up primarily of internal staff and a small number of external consultants. What Specialists Work On Implementation of recommendations of the Dept of Finance NI Agile QA Testing Strategy Main tasks: Develop a test training programme and transfer knowledge to the test lead Develop a Test Policy covering vision, impacts, organisational resources, continuous improvement and quality management leading to - an agreed defect management approach - a dynamic template for Testing reporting - a formal process for moving into acceptance testing Introduce a formal approach for maintaining traceability of requirements through testing and create a portfolio of deliverables for the Test Service Skills & Experience • Supplier must provide evidence of having successfully implemented an Agile QA test strategy, within the last 3 years, including gaining senior management approval, and directing implementation . 20 points • Experience, in the last 3 years, of leading agile transformation in newly established agile teams. 15 points • Experience, in the last 3 years, of coaching client personnel in all aspects of quality assurance and software testing. 15 points • Experience of Test-Driven Development (TDD), Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) and Continuous Integration (CI) and associated industry standard tools. 15 points • Supplier must provide evidence of having used industry standard test tools to support functional and non functional testing. 15 poin • Experience developing and executing test plans, cases, scripts, and creating test data for Agile development teams, including functional, integration and regression testing as well as assisting with UAT. 10 points • At least 3 years experience of Agile testing in a .Net environment. 10 points Nice to Haves • Testing qualification e.g. ISTQB, iSQI - 5 points • Testing in an Open Source environment - 5 points • Testing in a Drupal environment - 5 points • Mobile Application Testing - 5 points • Experience of working within the NI public sector in a Quality Assurance role. - 5 points • Experience of developing GDS Digital Service Standard compliant services - 5 points Work Location Dundonald House, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3SB Working Arrangments Supplier staff will be required to work on-site alongside agile development teams, reporting to an DSS team leader from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, excluding Northern Ireland Public Holidays. All necessary additional costs such as flights, day to day travel, subsistence and accommodation costs to get to and from place of work must be included in costs to establish total cost of engagement. Where travel is needed to facilitate face to face meetings during the working day these will be met by the Department. Security Clearance All resources must be BPSS (Baseline Personnel Security Standard) compliant or equivalent (or prepared to undergo clearance process prior to commencement of work). Additional T&Cs N/A No. of Specialists to Evaluate 5 Cultural Fit Criteria • Evidence of working as a blended team: Government team, other suppliers. 5 points • Evidence of working with clients with different levels of technical expertise. 5 points Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 5% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Please confirm does this assignment sit inside or outside of IR35? IR35 will apply if staff are self-employed. If staff are salaried employees it will not apply. 2. What is the daily pay rate for this assignment? As price is one of the evaluation criteria, tenderers should provide their daily rate which must include all expenses. 3. Will the clearance be processed by the client? It is the responsibility of tenderers to ensure that proposed staff have correct security clearance. 4. If the candidates has got his own limited company, He is an employee and director of his company and provide services for this contract through that company, will this be outside IR35? No, IR35 applies when the worker provides services via an intermediary (usually their own personal service company (PSC)) which can include an intermediary that is also a managed service company. 5. Please advise why this opportunity is only 6-8 weeks duration. 6-8 weeks is the estimated duration needed to create a blueprint for implementation of the organisations Agile QA Testing Strategy. 6. Is this opportunity likely to extend past the initial 6-8 weeks duration? No. However it is possible that further assistance may be sought under a separate procurement in relation to implementation of a testing service within the Department. 7. How should organisations interpret the elevation section when it states 5 firms will be considered? We do not offer guidance on how organisations should interpret the evaluation section, but it is important to note that ALL tenders will be considered. A shortlisting exercise will determine which 5 firms make it through to evaluation phase. 8. May I know if this is a new role and there is already an incumbent? The Test Manager role is new. The successful specialist will work alongside, and transfer knowledge to, an internal member of staff in creating the blueprint to implement the Agile QA Testing Strategy. 9. According to the DOS3 buyers guide "Digital Outcomes and Specialists 3 framework can only be used for workers who meet the rules for working off-payroll (known as ‘outside IR35’)". Could this be clarified please in relation to this role? Digital Outcomes and Specialists is for provision of service, not for staff. The Supplier will be the 'employer' of the candidate provided, not the Department of Finance NI. In purchasing through this framework, the Buyer is assessing the capability, not the individual. If, for some reason, the Supplier could no longer provide that individual, they would be able to provide an alternate candidate with the same capabilities. To further clarify, Specialists provided through this framework must be employed by the Supplier. Suppliers have responsibility and liability for work they do. Buyers can’t place specialists provided in permanent or interim roles.