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Employment support products for JCS

Department for Work and Pensions

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

18 Aug 2026 at 09:48

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

24 Mar 2026 at 14:53

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Work and Pensions is exploring employment support products and services for the planned Jobs and Careers Service (JCS), a digital and inclusive service for people seeking work, progressing in work, changing career or retraining. The scope covers 12 potential categories: career advice, career planning, skills gap analysis, financial planning, career coaching, learning and training provision, job discovery, job market insights, CV support, job application support, application tracking, and interview support. Artificial intelligence solutions are included. The services would support personalised employment and training outcomes and employer engagement with recruitment needs. Delivery is intended across the United Kingdom. The work is classified as software-related, community and employment-support services, and is identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community or social enterprises.

This procurement is at the planning stage and is currently preliminary market engagement, not an invitation to tender. DWP expects to use supplier briefings, a request for information, possible one-to-one supplier meetings and possible product demonstrations to shape future requirements and procurement strategy. The briefing event was planned for 2 April 2026, with registration by 11:00am on 31 March. Suppliers could request the RFI by 5:00pm on 17 April, with responses due by 5:00pm on 1 May 2026. DWP aimed to complete one-to-one meetings by 30 September 2026 and product demonstrations by 30 October 2026. The market engagement period was extended to 30 October 2026. DWP may run several procurements, separately or in phases, covering individual or grouped categories.

This engagement will suit suppliers offering established employment, careers, learning, recruitment or workforce-support products, including relevant artificial intelligence and digital service providers. Suppliers can contribute if they cover one category, several categories or the full range, so specialist and broader propositions are both relevant. DWP is particularly interested in evidence about available products and services, route-to-market options and commercial models. Suppliers selected for further discussion or demonstrations are expected to show relevance to JCS requirements, strong capability in their category, understanding of user needs, a mature product and the ability to meet interface or data-sharing requirements. Businesses with inclusive, user-centred digital solutions and experience supporting employment or training journeys should prepare evidence of product maturity, integration capability and outcomes for potential future procurement activity.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Employment support products for JCS

Notice Description

Background: The Get Britain Working (GBW) White Paper, co-authored by the Secretaries of State for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for Education (DfE) and His Majesty's Treasury (HMT), sets out plans to set the country on a path to bring down economic inactivity and improve employment outcomes. A key enabler is to reform Jobcentre Plus (JCP) through the creation of a new single and universal Jobs and Careers Service (JCS). JCS will provide support for anyone who is looking for work, who wants to get on in work, or who wants to change their career or retrain. It will be a service that values employer engagement, working with employers to understand and support their current and future recruitment needs. Among the key objectives of JCS are: * Creating a digital, universal and fully inclusive service; and, * Providing high-quality personalised support to help people into work, support training and get on in work. Requirements / Contract subject-matter: DWP Digital teams are progressing digital activity which will underpin JCS and DWP is keen to explore third party solutions which could support this new digital service. The engagement will cover a wide range of requirements. DWP has defined 12 areas of employment support which we are keen to explore suitable products for, including AI solutions. JCS Employment Support categories: The JCS 'Employment Support' categories are listed below: * ES01 - Career advice * ES02 - Career planning * ES03 - Skills gap analysis * ES04 - Financial planning * ES05 - Career coaching * ES06 - Learning / Training / Provision * ES07 - Job discovery * ES08 - Job market insights * ES09 - CV support * ES10 - Job application support * ES11 - Application tracking * ES12 - Interview support DWP is conducting this preliminary market engagement to help develop the requirements and the strategy/approach for any future procurements for products/services that would align to the JCS Employment Support categories. Following this preliminary market engagement, DWP may decide to run multiple procurements (with each procurement covering an individual or a group of Employment Support categories), either in parallel or in a phased approach, in line with the priorities of the JCS programme. Suppliers are invited to participate even if they are only interested in specific components of the wider scope. Due to the early stage of this engagement and the fact that it could relate to numerous separate procurements, there are certain aspects of any associated procurement activities that are yet to be determined. As a result, there are some sections of this notice which cannot be completed at this time. Where this is the case, we have stated in the relevant field that the information is "To be determined." The following points are examples of areas that still need to be determined: * Procurement procedure: will any resulting procurements be above or below the relevant threshold - to be determined. * Is a dynamic market or framework being established - to be determined. * Total Contract Value (estimated) - to be determined. * Contract start dates, end dates and extension options - to be determined (please ignore the start date of 01/01/2027 and end date of 31/12/2027 that are showing on this notice). * Publication date of the tender or transparency notice - to be determined.

Planning Information

General Information: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Commercial Directorate is undertaking preliminary market engagement to inform the future procurement(s) of employment support products (including Artificial Intelligence solutions) for use in JCS. This engagement will involve various strands of activity (as detailed below) and aims to: (i) help Suppliers understand DWP’s objectives and early design considerations; and, (ii) enable the market to provide evidence-based feedback that may help shape DWP’s procurement approach. Specific strands of this preliminary market engagement will close as detailed in the relevant section below. Where a specific strand does not state a close date or deadline, DWP’s intended close date for all strands within this preliminary market engagement is 30 October 2026. DWP reserves the right to amend the various dates / deadlines for this preliminary market engagement and, in such event, will publish an update to this UK2 Preliminary Market Engagement Notice. 1) Supplier Briefing Event The Supplier Briefing Event will be held via Teams on Thursday 2 April 2026, 10:00am to 12:00pm. At the event DWP will outline the purpose, objectives and its requirements for the Jobs and Careers Service (JCS). DWP’s attendees at the event will be from DWP’s Digital team responsible for delivering JCS and DWP’s Commercial team responsible for the procurement of any required products/services from Suppliers. Suppliers are required to register their interest to participate in the Supplier Briefing Event no later than 11:00am on 31 March 2026 by submitting the MS Form at the following URL: https://forms.office.com/e/3jEXJ1bAaE Please note that attendance at the Supplier Briefing Event is not mandatory. Suppliers not attending the Supplier Briefing Event are still able to participate in the RFI Questionnaire. 2) RFI Questionnaire DWP will be issuing a Request for Information (RFI) questionnaire to Suppliers who wish to provide information relating to their products that address the high-level requirements of the JCS Employment Support categories detailed herein. The RFI will cover themes such as: details of the products /services available from the supplier; route to market options; commercial models; etc. Suppliers wishing to complete a questionnaire should request a copy of the RFI no later than 5:00pm on 17 April 2026 by submitting the MS Form at the following URL: https://forms.office.com/e/k0yShw63Wk A Supplier’s RFI Response must be submitted no later than 5:00pm on 1 May 2026 in accordance with the submission instructions that will be set out in the RFI. RFI Responses received after this deadline will not be considered. DWP may follow up with individual Suppliers to clarify the content of its RFI Response. Where further questions arise beyond those set out in the RFI, DWP may issue follow-up questions and request a further response to such follow-up questions from participating suppliers. The deadline for responding to any follow-up questions will be specified in DWP’s request. 3) One-to-one Supplier Meetings DWP may choose to invite a limited number of Suppliers on an individual basis to discuss potential solutions. These meetings will be recorded to ensure fairness. The DWP aims to complete one-to-one supplier meetings by 30 September 2026. 4) Product demonstrations DWP may choose to invite a limited number of Suppliers to provide a product/service demonstration for a potential specific solution that may meet DWP’s requirements and may help to develop specifications and assessment criteria. These sessions may also be used for DWP to explore alternative solutions. The DWP aims to complete all product demonstrations by 30 October 2026. Selection criteria for 1:1 meetings and product demonstrations: The selection criteria DWP will use for 1:1 supplier meetings and product demonstrations will be based on the following criteria: • Relevance to DWP’s high-level requirements; • Quality of capability in the relevant category; • Understanding of user needs; • Ability to demonstrate a mature product; • Ability of the product to provide any required interface / data sharing requirements. The JCS Employment Support categories are being explored individually at this stage. DWP welcomes participation from suppliers able to deliver products that address one, multiple or all categories. No preference will be given to suppliers based on the number of categories they can cover. Non participation in this preliminary market engagement will not advantage or disadvantage a supplier’s ability to participate in any future procurement (which will be conducted in accordance with applicable public procurement regulations).

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0672ee
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/078391-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

CPV Codes

72260000 - Software-related services

75200000 - Provision of services to the community

75310000 - Benefit services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
18 Aug 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Jan 2027 - 31 Dec 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Department for Work and Pensions
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9NA
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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