Apprenticeship Service agile development - User-centred design, development, architecture & testing

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The Government has committed to increasing the quality and quantity of apprenticeships in England. To support the creation of an employer-led system and allow employers to take control of funding for apprenticeships we have introduced the apprenticeship service. The apprenticeship service provides a wide range of functions for employers, including: enabling them to manage their apprenticeship funding, to select a suitable apprenticeship standard or framework, choose a suitable provider to deliver apprenticeship training, provide digital certification and will soon enable them to be able to find an End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO). we continue to add new capability to the apprenticeship service to meet user needs and in line with apprenticeship programme objectives Problem to Be Solved During 2020-21 volumes of employers on the service will scale significantly as those 150,000+ employers that don’t pay the levy will transition to an employer led-model. High-level user needs identified are: Making the service easy to use – so that smaller employers can meet their business needs. Scaling the apprenticeship service so that this holds true at significant volumes. Decision–making and personalisation – giving users the right information at the right time through the right channel that suits their situation and that will help them decide if, and which apprenticeships are best for their business. Surface unmet demand to the marketplace – ensuring suppliers have visibility of real-time employer demand and can explore opportunities to fill gaps and meet employers skills needs. Maturing the apprenticeship service - building out our continuous improvement function with focus on simplifying processes to remove burden, ensuring we maintain service availability & reliability as we scale the volume of users and increasing performance & efficiency We will also be adding new capabilities that enable EPAOs to receive payment direct from government and capabilities that improve quality of the apprentices experience. Who Are the Users Our users are both external (employers, training providers, end-point assessment organisations and apprentices) and government, for example: As a student I need to easily access impartial information to understand and access apprenticeships, and to receive timely information on how I progress with my apprenticeship. As a non-levy employer I need to understand the funding for hiring an apprentice, find and recruit the right apprentice As a training provider I need to understand how I receive funding for apprenticeships from government As an end-point assessment organisation I need to understand the registration process for operating in the marketplace As ESFA I need to oversee effective delivery of Apprenticeships, including sharing information with stakeholders, directly managing the issue of certificates. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done The minimum viable AS was introduced in 2017 and we continue to develop significantly capability as we move towards the agreed vision for the service whereby all employers take greater control of apprenticeship funding through their AS account to drive up quality in the market place. Since that time we have continued to add new capabilities to the service as we build out toward our 2020 vision for great end to end experiences for our users. These capabilities are connected through personalised user-outcome, AI based, real time data model. Existing Team Our build-test-run delivery model is underpinned by an agile at scale build capability. Existing teams are comprised of multi-disciplinary agile delivery skills. These teams are involved in service development for providing brand new digital services, going through the standard GDS phases. Typical team size is up to 10 with a skills mix such as product/service managers, delivery managers, business analysts, user research and design professionals, developers and testers. Teams are co-located in Coventry and comprise of managed service suppliers and permanent staff. Current Phase Not applicable Work Location Primary location will be ESFA Cheylesmore House, Coventry. Occasional travel to the DfE/ESFA site in London along with travel across England for user research may be required Working Arrangments This will be a 5 day per week commitment and detailed working arrangements, including team location, size and make-up, will be contained within each statement of work. Day to day delivery will be governed by standard agile delivery techniques. These could be either a Kanban or a scrum approach (depending on the work) but the standard agile ceremonies appropriate to those will be undertaken. These will be monitored by the Delivery Manager and the Product Owner will be responsible for prioritising backlogs in refinement sessions. Security Clearance Personnel from the Service provider need to have a BPSS check. Additional T&Cs Expenses must be pre-agreed and comply with DfE Travel and Subsistence (T&S) Policy. Any expenses shall be submitted in line with DfE standard T&S policy. Primary work location stated in SoW will not attract expenses. No parking is available on site. Skills & Experience Within last two-years have experience in successfully designing and delivering end-to-end digital products in government, demonstrated through passing Government Digital Service(GDS) assessments at every stage of GDS agile delivery framework Within last two-years have experience in successfully implementing User Centred Design Services(User Research/Service Design/ Content Design/Interaction Design/Business Analysis) demonstrated through successful project-delivery and achievement of key success measures for projects Evidence of demonstrable experience within the last two years in working on complex, multi-stakeholder programmes (both internal and external) Proven experience using range of agile tools/techniques, including: scrum, kanban, scrum of scrums, stand ups, sprint reviews, sprint refinement, sprint planning. Use of tools such as Jira, Confluence, Github, Trello. Proven experience of delivering agile methodology alongside colleagues from internal policy teams - who are less familiar with agile delivery. Proven experience of supporting customers to build in-house capabilities and ensure effective knowledge management and transfer Experience within the last two years in scalable cloud-based web applications (preferably Microsoft Azure), detailed knowledge of the C#,.NET,ASP.NET MVC programming languages and building front-end web applications (HTML/CSS/JS) Evidence within the last two years of experience in architecture services and ensuring products are robust, scalable, open and secure. Experience of producing clear and concise test documentation: Test plans; Test scripts; Test reports; and Defect logs and executing test scripts and raise defects. Experience delivering application/infrastructure vulnerability and penetration testing, ensuring secure coding baked in to web applications/architecture for products developed and in development and building automated testing to align with continuous assurance. Nice to Haves Within the last two years experience of design, development and delivery of multi-strand digital programmes within the public sector Experience of delivering services similar to our priority areas Experience of passing multiple GDS service assessments within complex digital programmes across government No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Demonstrate experience in end-to-end delivery of digital products from discovery through to live within Public Sector Demonstrate ability to deliver digital products/services to government Digital Service (GDS) standard across the GDS agile delivery phases Experience and methodology in approach to agile project using both Kanban and scrum Demonstrable experience of working alongside clients that are typically unfamiliar with agile project management, in co-located, integrated teams Demonstrate approach to knowledge and skills transfer to enable the transition of service delivery to the business Technical competence in a wide range of relevant technologies and agile practices including business analysis, project management, research, design, development, architecture and testing Ability to promptly mobilise expertise to scale up team and flex resource when needed and to respond to fluctuating requirements Ability to demonstrate flexible use of resources across multiple streams of work to maximise efficiency Value for money Demonstrate understanding of the challenges of implementing user centred design in a multi-stakeholder government environment Cultural Fit Criteria Working with different suppliers and buyers staff in a collaborative way to deliver common goals Participate in community of practice and demonstrate knowledge sharing Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Case study Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 35% Cultural fit 15% Price 50% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet Budget range these capability services are to be delivered over a contract period of 2 years and with an indicative contract value of approximately £4,000,000 – £5,000,000 for the full 2-year service delivery.