Department for Work and Pensions: Digital and Transformation External Resourcing Programme

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is seeking to establish a strategic external resourcing programme (SERP) valued at approximately £1 billion over multiple years. This programme will consolidate the procurement and management of external digital and technology specialists to support DWP's Digital & Transformation Group in modernizing services for over 20 million UK citizens. DWP is conducting market engagement to understand supplier capacity and readiness for delivering augmented resources across the following disciplines: Engineering, Product & Delivery, User Centred Design, Architecture, Data, Cyber Security, Project Management Office (PMO), and Artificial Intelligence. Roles will align to the Government Digital and Data (GDaD) capability framework. The primary objective of this engagement is to gather insights from potential suppliers on market interest, capacity, drivers for value for money, and suitable commercial routes. This is a pre-procurement consultation phase; no formal procurement has yet been launched. Following this engagement period, DWP will finalize its commercial strategy and announce any formal procurement opportunities through appropriate channels. Suppliers capable of delivering augmented digital resources across single or multi-disciplinary areas are invited to participate in this market engagement exercise. Current analysis suggests the Digital Outcomes and Specialists (DOS) 7 framework (RM1043.9) may be the primary route to market, though this will be tested during the engagement process.