National Crime Agency

D134 Developer Team

21
Incomplete applications
20 SME, 1 large
19
Completed applications
14 SME, 5 large
Published Friday 1 November 2019
Deadline for asking questions Friday 8 November 2019 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications Friday 15 November 2019 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Summary of the work To supply software developers to work on a backlog of development tasks on two NCCU priority projects.
Latest start date Monday 2 December 2019
Expected contract length Initial period to 31 March 2020 (Until end of Financial Year.)
Location London
Organisation the work is for National Crime Agency
Budget range Around £300,000 (max daily rate budget per developer = £600-750)

About the work

Why the work is being done In order to deliver to National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP), the NCCU is developing a number of capabilities to exploit data and provide value to our user community

The NCCU have moved a significant amount of capability into the AWS cloud and have worked with a number of partners to develop our data exploitation capabilities. The NCCU operate in a DevSecOps fashion and have made significant progress in a short space of time.
Problem to be solved A partner is required to develop NCCU capabilities..
Who the users are and what they need to do The team would report to a number of senior NCA developers.

All projects are run in an agile fashion and work will be tasked from the backlog of tasks.
Early market engagement
Any work that’s already been done Several different projects are in flight.

The approach is well defined and understood. The team operate in a DevOps way. The work has resulted in a number of systems being migrated into AWS and our data exploitation capabilities have increased as a result.
Existing team The team consists of NCCU employees and contract resource. The mix is about 40/60 respectively.
Current phase Not applicable

Work setup

Address where the work will take place Spring Gardens, London
Working arrangements Standard office hours.
Security clearance SC clearance with the ability to pass NCA top up.

Additional information

Additional terms and conditions Additional terms will be sent to shortlisted suppliers including Security and FOIA terms as NCA is not subject to FOI requests.
Shortlisted suppliers will be required to utilise Bravo after shortlisting.
This outcome is outside the scope of IR35.
Evaluation will be on a scale of 0 to 5: with a minimum score of 3 to pass.
Score Description
0 poor standard, no confidence
1 little confidence
2 clear strengths but giving some concern
3 degree of weakness outweighed by strengths
4 strengths clearly outweigh any minor weakness
5 Robust and fully comprehensive proposal

Skills and experience

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.

Essential skills and experience
  • Demonstrate experience of working within Agile environment – understanding of agile practices and ability to integrate with existing team - 20 Points
  • Demonstrate experience of developing User Interfaces (experience of using JavaScript, Vue.js or similar JavaScript framework) - 20 Points
  • Demonstrate experience of developing with Python (Python 3 (Including knowledge of Flask), expertise in use of Git, Continuous Integration experience, Terraform, Docker) - 20 Points
  • Demonstrate full stack development on AWS (ideally AWS associate developer or higher). Especially experience with AWS Lambda, API Gateway, EC2, Step functions, EMR - 20 Points
  • Demonstrate experience of MySQL/ MariaDB, writing SQL queries and Data ingest techniques and data migration between relational databases - 20 Points
Nice-to-have skills and experience
  • Demonstrate experience of data analytics and recent cloud developments related to data analytics - 10 Points.
  • Demonstrated experience of software development using C# - 10 Points
  • Experience of previous projects and ability to work with existing code bases - 10 Points
  • Experience of supporting users of data analytic systems - 10 Points

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.
How many suppliers to evaluate 4
Proposal criteria
  • The whole team must be able to demonstrate experience of working alongside clients in co-located teams utilising Agile Software Development - 10 Points
  • The whole team must be able to demonstrate technical competence in delivering using the identified technologies utilising DevOps processes - 10 Points
  • The whole team must be able to demonstrate awareness of building within the Cloud and implementing automation in everything that you do - 10 Points
  • The whole team must be able to demonstrate a fair and transparent pricing structure that allows the right resources to be brought into the projects - 10 Points
  • To show success in delivery of all the Requirements published here - 10 Points
Cultural fit criteria
  • The whole team must be able to demonstrate how they would share knowledge and experience with other team members - 5 Points
  • The whole team must be able to have the desire to innovate at pace and focus on delivering value to users - 5 Points
  • The team must be able to collaboratively work as a team within our organisation and with our suppliers and so be transparent and open when making decisions - 5 Points
Payment approach Time and materials
Additional assessment methods
  • Work history
  • Reference
Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

60%

Cultural fit

15%

Price

25%

Questions asked by suppliers

1. Are the NCA able to support SC clearance applications, or do the developers need to have existing SC clearance in place? Existing clearance must be in place. Clearance check to be conducted by NCA
2. Is there a current incumbent? No
3. Is there an incumbent in the role No
4. What kind of development you are looking here, as per the spec the team needs a Phython Dev, C Sharp, DevOps and Java/Scala/JS developer. Can you please elaborate the team as it got mixed skill set. As per the requirement, we required a number of people who collectively can cover the mentioned skills. Full stack developers most appropriate.
5. Can you confirm, would each developer required all the same skill sets, or are the skills broken down across two or more role specifications? Skills can be split across a number of people
6. How long is this work likely to last? Is the budget for the entire duration and per developer? Ideally until the end of the financial year
7. How many developers are likely to be working on this? Is there an existing team supplier would required to collaborate with? Ideally 4 developers. The individual will be required to work with a number of teams.
8. Would remote overseas developers be suitable for this assignment with key supplier (myself) available for on-site engagements? No
9. Can I please ask if there is an incumbent? No incumbent
10. What team size are you expecting suppliers to offer? Ideally 4 individuals, although this can be fewer, providing the skills required are covered
11. Can I please ask if there is an incumbent? No incumbent
12. Will NCA sponsor candidates for SC clearance? No
13. Hello – is it a requirement for the team to be co-located, or is it ok for most of the work to be done remotely? thank you! Co-located
14. Are you looking for a team to co-locate with you on site, and how many days per week? Co-located
15. Will the NCA provide SC sponsorship? No
16. Are you looking for SC cleared resources from day one? Yes
17. You mentioned that you have a mix NCCU employees and contract resource, 40/60 respectively. Is there any incumbent supplier ? If yes, could you let us now who the incumbent is ? Do we have to work on a multi-supplier environment as part of the delivery? No incumbent
18. You mentioned that shortlisted suppliers will be notified through Bravo portal, which bravo portal are you referring to? If you go through to the written proposal stage full details of the portal will be provided.
19. Will you be sharing backlog of development tasks at this stage? Yes
20. Would you accept a blended team rate which on average was within your £600 – 750 per developer rate? Yes
21. Can you please provide a rough estimation about how many developers are needed? up to 4
22. How many software developers are you expecting from a supplier for each of the project? up to 4
23. Are you open to supporting SC clearance for candidates that fulfill other criteria but are not SC cleared? SC required
24. With regard to the clearance element, would you be satisfied for the supplier to agree to have SC clearance in place prior to contract commencement or is it a pre requisite to being considered ? To be in place
25. Is there an incumbent supplier providing development activities for this work already? No
26. Hi NCA, Will you consider a proposal of a development team away from London or working from another NCA Location, but with regular on-site presence of key resource? Required to be co-located
27. Is there an incumbent partner/supplier? No
28. What is the resource profile of the team required? Please see skills requirement
29. Hello - is it a requirement for the team to be col-located, or is it ok for most of the work to be done remotely Co-Located
30. What SFIA levels are you looking for this project? 3 or 4