Schools Buying Hubs Alpha (and optional Beta) require a service design partner

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The Schools Buying Strategy aims to support schools to obtain better value for money from their non-staff spend. One of the key initiatives is the rollout of a national schools buying service (known as hubs). There is already a pilot of the service in two regions. This work is to support the design and development of the national service by taking a user centred and iterative approach and exploring what aspects of the service can be digitised. Any digital service will need to be in public beta by the end of March 2021 to support the national rollout. Problem to Be Solved There have been multiple pieces of research completed that outline the user needs and problems that some schools buyers face when making complex purchases. For example, frameworks are complicated to access and use, and don’t always offer the best price (schools require a hassle free and simple approach). Also, schools find procurement complicated and time consuming and struggle to procure complex services like catering/ cleaning. The schools buying service (hubs) aims to support schools through complex procurement issues and wants to provide an effective solution for a simplified approach. Who Are the Users Our primary users are Schools Business Professionals. Our users need to buy goods or services for schools so that they continue to function smoothly, they need to know what to buy to best meet the needs of the school, they need help buying things they have little experience with, they need to buy things quickly and easily, they need to manage contracts and suppliers and they need to get best value. Others users we need to consider are the commercial experts who will be supporting schools with complex procurements as part of the hubs service. They need to be able to easily support as many schools as possible to access the service and achieve better buying outcomes. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done There have been three relevant pieces of discovery work carried out. These pieces of research have validated user needs and pain points for schools buyers. We have outlined hypotheses and product vision so that we can go straight into an alpha phase. The non-digital schools buying service (hubs) has been in pilot phase in the north west and south west for over 18 months and insight from this pilot phase is available. We also have a small digital service on GOV.uk called 'Find a DfE approved framework'. Existing Team The DfE will provide a service owner, a digital product lead, a product manager and a junior user researcher. There may also be a content designer available to support the team. There will also be access to commercial leads and the hubs service teams. Current Phase Discovery Work Location The primary location will be in Sheffield. (Department for Education, 2 Saint Paul Place, Sheffield, S1 2FJ) For the duration of restrictions on movement due to COVID-19, all teams are expected to work and collaborate remotely. Working Arrangments Co-located in Sheffield at least 3 days a week to maximise opportunity for engagement with DfE users and stakeholders. This primary location will not attract expenses. Some travel to other DfE sites and schools to meet users is expected but must be in line with the DfE travel & subsistence policy. Expenses for User Research must be included in the contract sum, there will be no separate budget for expenses. 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. Security Clearance BPSS (Baseline Security Level) BPSS is standard; the level of security needed will depend on the sensitivity of the data the supplier will have access to. Additional T&Cs By issuing this invitation, the Department is not bound in any way and does not have to accept any tender. The Department also reserves the right at its sole discretion to award a contract for the Alpha stage only. The framework operates on a statement of work (SOW), if the final SOW for Alpha is complete, and a decision is taken not to proceed to 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 Have significant experience of rapid prototype iteration based on ongoing user research. Have significant experience of conducting user research & usability testing sessions (face to face and remote) based on a robust methodology. Have experience of recruitment of user research participants (including users with accessibility and assisted digital needs). Have experience of analysis of existing research, analytics and insight to ensure good understanding of users and their needs. Have experience of delivering high quality content and information architecture design for complex user journeys across multiple touchpoints, that meet user needs. Have experience & capability to deliver live services from both a design and technical perspective. Experience in delivering citizen-facing digital services that achieved successful outcomes & realised planned benefits. Work to GDS service standards or equivalent. Evidence of your ability and approach to deploy quality resources at our primary location (Sheffield) Nice to Haves Evidence of leading, coaching and upskilling people in agile techniques to build agile capability within existing teams. Understanding of the education & schools landscapes. Experience in taking services successfully through the GDS Service Assessment or equivalent No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Demonstrate experience of working on digital projects that have met user needs, delivered successful outcomes and can demonstrate sound knowledge of GDS Digital Service Standards and agile methodologies. Demonstrate experience of a hypothesis driven iterative & explorative approach to meeting user needs. Demonstrate where a digital solution has successfully been delivered and integrated as part of an end to end service, where not all aspects of the service are digital. Value for money - demonstrate application of a flexible and transparent financial structure and fair pricing for service design and delivery. Demonstrate experience of understanding an organisations capability and capacity needs and ensure the right skills are delivered and effectively embedded. Evidence of your approach to managing your resources remotely or on site as part of a complex organisation, taking accountability for achieving deliverables Cultural Fit Criteria Demonstrate how you would quickly join the team and understand user needs, to maintain continuity between existing discovery work and alpha. Demonstrate how you have planned onboarding and inceptions for other agile projects. Demonstrate where you have worked collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team with other service providers and subject matter experts to facilitate decision making and buy in. Describe how you will work transparently and collaboratively with all stakeholders and seek actionable feedback to resolve any issues quickly and efficiently. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Case study Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet Budget range shortlisted suppliers should only provide costs for the roles and number of days that we will specify for the written proposal. up to a maximum of £1m (ex vat) (shortlisted bidders must fully detail their resources and charges at the proposal stage.)