Careers Management and Employability Platform

Tender description

York St John University (YSJ) is preparing to procure a Careers Management and Employability Platform to support student employability, careers engagement, employer interaction, placement administration, work-related experiential learning and graduate outcomes. The University is exploring a range of potential delivery models and is seeking market engagement to inform the development of a future procurement. Potential approaches may include specialist careers management platforms, Microsoft/Dataverse-based solutions delivered by implementation partners, or hybrid approaches which combine specialist platform capability with wider institutional systems and services. The University has not predetermined the technical solution and is seeking market insight to better understand current market capability, delivery approaches and innovation. The future solution is expected to provide a unified experience for students, graduates, employers, academic staff and careers professionals, whilst supporting integration with the University's wider digital, data and reporting environment. This pre-market engagement exercise is intended to inform the development of the full procurement and ensure that any future Invitation to Tender (ITT) reflects current best practice, innovation and market capability. Total value (estimated) £250,000 Contract dates (estimated) - Contract term anticipated to be 3-5 years with potential extension options. - Market engagement period anticipated to be two weeks. - Procurement timetable to be determined following completion of market engagement activities. - Project delivery anticipated to begin January 2027, with a September 2027 go live target. Engagement process description Careers Management and Employability Platform The University's objective is to establish a modern, integrated and scalable solution that supports the entire employability journey, from prospective students and current students through to graduates and alumni. The platform is expected to improve engagement between students, employers, academics and careers professionals whilst enabling evidence-based employability development, improved access to opportunities and enhanced graduate outcomes. This includes strengthening the University's ability to: - Deliver personalised employability support and career development journeys. - Connect students and graduates with employers, placements, internships, volunteering opportunities and graduate vacancies. - Support the creation and ongoing development of employability profiles, skills records and evidence portfolios. - Manage careers appointments, events, employer engagement activities and work-related experiential learning opportunities. - Enable data-driven decision making through reporting, analytics and integration with institutional data platforms. - Support academic engagement with student employability development and employability-related activity. The University is seeking market insight to inform how this requirement can best be delivered, including solution architectures, commercial models, implementation approaches and innovations aligned to the Higher Education sector. Indicative scope of requirement While requirements continue to be refined, the University anticipates that the future solution may be required to support some or all of the following capabilities: Student Engagement and Employability Development - Personal employability profiles and digital skills records. - Skills audits and graduate attribute assessment. - Goal setting, action planning and career development pathways. - CV development and feedback workflows. - Multimedia evidence portfolios. - Continued access for graduates and alumni. - Post delivery maintenance Careers Service Operations - Appointment booking and management. - Online and hybrid appointments. - Microsoft Teams integration. - Automated communications and reminders. - Attendance and engagement tracking. - Operational reporting and service dashboards. Employer Engagement - Employer onboarding and profile management. - Vacancy and opportunity management. - Placement, internship and volunteering administration. - Careers fairs and employer events. - Opportunity matching and targeted communications. Placement and Work-Related Experiential Learning - Placement administration workflows. - Compliance and due diligence monitoring. - Student participation tracking. - Employer feedback collection. - Work-related experiential learning administration. Academic Engagement - Academic and tutor access to student employability profiles. - Feedback and review capability. - Monitoring of student progression and employability activity. Data, Reporting and Integration The University is particularly interested in understanding market capability relating to: - Microsoft Entra ID and Single Sign-On. - Outlook and Microsoft Teams integration. - Moodle integration. - SITS student record integration. - Power BI integration. - Data warehouse integration. - Student-to-alumni lifecycle management. - Open APIs, interoperability and institutional data architecture. Security and Compliance The University anticipates that any future procurement will include assessment of: - ISO 27001 certification. - Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus. - UK GDPR compliance. - Data residency and hosting arrangements. - Secure software development practices. - Vulnerability management processes. - Role-based access controls and audit capability. - Business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements. Purpose of this engagement This pre-market engagement exercise is designed to: - Test the University's current assumptions regarding scope, solution design and procurement approach. - Understand how similar requirements are being addressed across the Higher Education sector. - Explore the relative merits of specialist careers management platforms, Microsoft ecosystem solutions and hybrid delivery models. - Better understand implementation complexity, integration requirements and resource implications. - Identify innovative approaches, emerging functionality and service models available within the market. - Understand indicative implementation timescales and whole-life cost considerations. - Ensure any future procurement reflects practical, deliverable and market-aligned requirements. - Inform future decisions regarding procurement strategy, commercial structure and contract design. Insights gathered will directly inform the final specification and procurement approach. During the engagement period, the University may: - Invite suppliers to submit written responses and capability statements. - Hold market engagement sessions or one-to-one discussions. - Seek feedback on draft requirements and procurement options. - Request demonstrations of relevant platforms and delivery approaches. - Explore examples of comparable Higher Education implementations and case studies. Participation is entirely voluntary and will not influence any future procurement evaluation.