Awarded to Spring Technology

Start date: Monday 17 December 2018
Value: £30,000
Company size: SME
Defence Equipment & Support

Technical Author

2 Incomplete applications

1 SME, 1 large

2 Completed applications

2 SME, 0 large

Important dates

Published
Tuesday 23 October 2018
Deadline for asking questions
Tuesday 30 October 2018 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications
Tuesday 6 November 2018 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Specialist role
Content designer
Summary of the work
The Technical Author’s role is required to create technical documentation for a deployed capability. The Tech Author will report to and will be directed, on a daily basis by the Project Manager for the creation, maintenance and configuration control of deployed technical documentation.
Latest start date
Monday 19 November 2018
Expected contract length
20 weeks (up until 31st March 2019) with an optional 5 week extension (option is currently unfunded)
Location
West Midlands
Organisation the work is for
Defence Equipment & Support
Maximum day rate
£400 per day worked (8 hours).

Anticipated travel to MOD Abbey Wood at least 2 days per month to be included within this rate.

About the work

Early market engagement
Who the specialist will work with
You will be a key member of the Integrated Logistics Support Team, overseeing the integration of the project. You will work with the delivery organisation, DE&S, on a daily basis.
What the specialist will work on
This is a generalist post for the generation of technical documentation as directed by the Delivery Manager in the following areas (not exhaustive):
• System Operating Instructions in native formats.
• System Operating Procedures in native formats.
• High Level Design.
• Low Level Design.
• Build Guides & Operating Guides.
• Factory and System Acceptance Testing (FAT & SAT) Plans.
• Operational Readiness Evaluation (ORE) input documents.
• Knowledge Articles and Work Instructions (Operating and Maintenance, Repair and Diagnosis).
• Network Architecture input documents associated with the operation of Deployed Platforms.
• Patching Plan.
• Backup and recovery procedures.

Work setup

Address where the work will take place
Hereford
Working arrangements
40 hrs (8hrs Mon - Fri).

This role will be based at the West Midlands site with anticipated travel to MOD Abbey Wood at least 2 times per Month to attend meetings with the Delivery Team. No expenses are payable as this travel is expected to be inclusive within the daily rate.
Security clearance
DV required on day 1 of the appointment due to the sensitivity of the role.

Additional information

Additional terms and conditions
In the event that the post is vacated the Supplier shall ensure that it is filled within one working week by a candidate who meets the criteria of this competition with prior approval of the Buyer.

The Supplier and their representatives shall abide by:
DEFCON 5J(Edn 18/11/16)-Unique Identifiers
DEFCON 76(Edn 12/06)-Contractor’s Personnel at Government Sites
DEFCON 501(Edn 11/17)-Definitions and Interpretations
DEFCON 522(Edn 11/17)-Payment and Recovery of Sums Due
DEFCON 658(Edn 10/17)-Cyber
DEFCON 659A(Edn 02/17)-Security Measures
DEFCON 660(Edn 12/15)-Official-Sensitive Security Requirements
DEFCON 703(Edn 08/13)-Intellectual Property Rights - Vesting in the Authority

Available online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/acquisition-operating-framework

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
  • Generalist knowledge of Windows 10
  • Generalist knowledge of Microsoft System Centre 2012 suite of products
  • Generalist knowledge of C4IS Networks
  • Generalist knowledge of operation and management of SECRET CIS systems
  • Awareness of Defence Logistics Framework, JSP101 and DefStan 00-600, 00-40, 00-42
  • Experience of developing Technical CIS documentation.
Nice-to-have skills and experience
  • Technical Author qualification.
  • Experience with MOD AESPs
  • Demonstrated willingness to be flexible and adaptable to changing priorities with strong multi-tasking and organizational skills.
  • Knowledgeable of upgrades, refresh projects in an Agile environment

How suppliers will be evaluated

How many specialists to evaluate
3
Cultural fit criteria
Ability to work with others in a high pressure and conflicting priorities environment.
Assessment methods
  • Work history
  • Interview
Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

70%

Cultural fit

10%

Price

20%

Questions asked by suppliers

1. Please can you confirm if the role is inside or outside of IR35?
The Intermediaries Legislation does not apply to this engagement, concluded by using the ‘check employment status for tax’ online tool https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-employment-status-for-tax/cluster/.
2. Is there an incumbent?
There is no incumbent, this is a requirement for temporary additional resource.
3. Has the role has been published previously and why was the requirement not filled?
The Authority realised that the essential and nice-to-have criteria which had been published under the old advert was incorrect, therefore the process was cancelled. The current advert contains the correct criteria.
4. The security clearance requirements are 'DV required on day 1 of the appointment due to the sensitivity of the role', is this an essential for a Technical Author? – we have SC Technical Authors that have worked on/currently working in 'sensitive' environments that we could get DV clearance for if absolutely necessary and if accepted?
As stated in the advert, applicants are required to have MOD DV clearance on day 1 of the appointment. No assistance will be provided to obtain this due to time constraints.

This role is to fill an urgent requirement. DV clearance requires 6-8 months to acquire, this would be outside of the timescales required for this role to start.
5. Is there any chance of home working?
No, home working will not be possible due to the nature of the project and its associated work streams.