CCS Executive & Non-Executive Recruitment 3 (RM6394) Overview
General Information about the CCS Executive and Non-Executive Recruitment 3 Framework
This is a multi-supplier framework for UK public sector bodies including central government departments (and their arms-length bodies and agencies), non-departmental public bodies and wider public sector organisations for the supply of:
Lot 1 – Executive Search (Grade 6, SCS1 and SCS2) which covers:
- Civil Service Grades – Grade 6, SCS1 (Deputy Director) and SCS2 (Director) and equivalents.
- NHS Grades – NHS Grades AfC Bands 8(a) – 9, NP4 – ST3-5, NP5 – ST6-8, Consultancy (Level 1 – 8), VSM (Executive Directors and Other Second Level Very Senior Managers).
- Wider Public Sector – Local Government – Principal Officer 8-12, Assistant Director, Divisional Director, Head of Service, Corporate Director 2 (and equivalents), Corporate Director 1, Strategic Director 1 & 2, Executive Director, Assistant Director, Director (and equivalents).
Lot 2 – Executive Search – SCS3 and SCS4 (and equivalents) which covers:
- Civil Service Grades: SCS3 (Director General) and SCS4 (Permanent Secretary) (or equivalent).
- NHS Grades: VSM (Chief Executives).
- Wider Public Sector: Local Government – Chief Executive.
Lot 3 – Non-Executive and Public Appointments which includes:
- Chair, Commissioner, Member, Non-Executive Director, Adjudicator, Trustee, Ombudsman or Chief Inspector.
The Framework seeks to attract a number of generalist and specialist Suppliers across the range of job roles, functions and professions. Suppliers are not expected to provide Services for all role types.
The number of suppliers to be awarded a place on the framework is unlimited.
The contract duration is for 3 years with the option to extend for a further period of 12 months (3+1)
Critical Timescales
At this stage of the bid, you need to pay particular attention to the deadlines for asking clarification questions and submission:
- Tender notice published – 5th January 2026.
- Deadline for submission of clarification questions – 3pm, 19th January 2026.
- Deadline for CCS to provide responses to clarification questions – 23rd January 2026.
- Deadline for submission of the bid – 3pm, 3rd February 2026.
- Award decision date (estimated) – 15th June 2026.
- Framework award notice published (start of standstill period) – 15th June 2026.
- End of standstill period – midnight at the end of 24th June 2026.
- Framework start – 25th June 2026.
Registration & Accessing the Documents
To access the documents, you must first register on the following link: https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html.
You can then create an account, find this framework opportunity and follow the instructions on the portal to access the documents and complete the tender.
Clarification Questions
Any clarification questions must be asked BEFORE 3pm, 19th January 2026. Questions asked after this deadline will not be answered. Questions must be asked through the portal as this is the only way that the CCS will communicate with bidders. Once logged into the portal, you will be able to ask clarification questions by clicking on the “Messages” tab and then clicking to “Create Message”.
Please be aware that any questions you ask, together with the answers provided will be published to all bidders. You should therefore avoid putting information into any questions that you ask that identifies you to other bidders who will also have access to the clarification questions and answers.
Criteria
To qualify for this framework, the tender specifies that you must meet ALL of the following mandatory requirements:
- Complete/update your Central Digital Platform (CDP).
- Meet all the requirements in the specification (Framework Schedule 1).
- Hold current and valid Cyber Essentials certification awarded by one of the government’s approved (IASME accredited) Cyber Essentials accreditation bodies by no later than framework award.
- Meet financial risk criteria – if you have a D&B risk score of 30 or above you will pass the financial evaluation. If your D&B risk score is below 30, you will be asked to complete the FVRA tool (attachment 5b) which will be evaluated by CCS post submission, and they will make the decision on whether you meet their required economic and financial standing standard.
- Have the following insurances in place prior to the contract start date
- Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance = £5,000,000.
- Public Liability Insurance = £5,000,000.
- Professional Indemnity Insurance = £1,000,000.
- Data Protection Liability Cap = £10,000,000.
- Provide A MINIMUM OF ONE AND MAXIMUM OF TWO TACs (Technical Ability Certificates) FOR EACH LOT which demonstrate evidence of a contract aligned to specified roles/grades. YOU WILL NEED TO EITHER PROVIDE ONE TAC WHICH COVERS BOTH ROLES/GRADES SPECIFIED ON THE TAC, OR TWO TACS – ONE FOR EACH ROLE/GRADE SPECIFIED FOR EACH GRADE/ROLE SPECIFIED ON THE TAC PER LOT as follows:
- LOT 1 demonstrating an example of a successful Grade 6 or SCS1 or equivalent campaign, AND a successful SCS2 or equivalent campaign for roles detailed within section 3.0 of the Framework Schedule 1.
- LOT 2 demonstrating an example of a successful SCS3 or equivalent campaign, AND a successful SCS4 or equivalent campaign for roles detailed within section 3.0 of the Framework Schedule 1.
- LOT 3 demonstrating an example of a successful Non-Executive Director campaign, AND a successful Public Appointment campaign for roles detailed within section 3.0 of the Framework Schedule 1.
Each TAC must relate to a contract that started and was delivered since 5th January 2023 (i.e. all recruitment activity must have taken place after 5th January 2023).
TACs can be from public, private of third sector customers and may include call-off contracts under frameworks (but framework contracts themselves will not be valid). They need to be for completed work. Please see the most recent version of Attachment 2b (i), (ii) and (iii) for further details regarding TACs. This is available with “track changes” so you can see what was amended by the CCS on 9th January).
TACs must be filled in by the agency and signed by the customer. The customer may be contacted by CCS as part of their evaluation to verify the content.
PLEASE NOTE – the section above about TACs has been updated based on clarifications provided by CCS on 9th January!
Documents
- Attachment 1 – About the framework (information only).
- Attachment 2 – How to bid (information only).
- Attachment 2a – Procurement Specific Questionnaire (completed on the eSourcing tool in the qualification response section).
- Attachment 2b – Technical Ability Certificates for each lot (again completed on the eSourcing tool in the qualification response section).
- Attachment 2d – Quality Questionnaire (completed on the eSourcing tool in the technical response section). This contains both generic mandatory questions for all lots, and lot specific questions.
- Attachment 3a, 3b and 3c – Lot specific price matrices (complete yellow and green cells).
- Attachments 4a and 4b – Documents to be completed for subcontractors and consortia members and uploaded online in the relevant questions in the qualification envelope).
- Attachment 5 and 5b – Financial Viability Risk Assessment (to be completed where the bidder or consortium members do not have a Dun & Bradstreet Risk Score of 30 or more).
- Attachment 6 – Framework contract documents – information only.
- Attachment 7 – Job specifications – information only.
- Attachment 8 – Regional Coverage – to be completed by all bidders and uploaded to the relevant questions in the PSQ within the qualification response section of the portal.
- Attachment 9 – Supplier Specialisms – to be completed by all bidders and uploaded to the relevant questions in the PSQ within the qualification response section of the portal.
You should NOT upload attachments that have not been asked for by CCS. Also do NOT cross reference your answers to other questions as each question is independently assessed.
Questions, Scoring and Weightings (Technical Response)
The weightings for each lot are:
ALL LOTS – Candidate – text answer of maximum 8,000 characters relating to sourcing, assessing and presenting high quality candidates. Question has 3 subsections. You must score 33 or more out of 100 to achieve a pass for this question (possible scores 100/66/33/0). Question weighting 27.5%
ALL LOTS – Buyer – text answer of maximum 8,000 characters relating to how you will deliver a quality/efficient service to the buyer. Question has 3 subsections. You must score 33 or more out of 100 to achieve a pass for this question (possible scores 100/66/33/0). Question weighting 27.5%
LOT SPECIFIC questions (one question for each lot with 3 subsections and a character count of 8,000 per answer). You must score 33 or more out of 100 to achieve a pass for this question (possible scores 100/66/33/0). Question weighting 25%
SOCIAL VALUE – Yes/No answer with weighting of 10%.
PRICE – Complete pricing schedule (weighting 10%).
AI QUESTION – not scored but if using AI in delivery of the services, you must provide a text answer to describe how you will use AI in the delivery of the services.
BRUNTON BID WRITING SERVICES & PRICING
We are offering two service options for this tender:
Option 1. TO OUTSOURCE THE FULL BID where we complete all of the questions on your behalf and upload all of the required documentation to the portal ready for your review and submission.
- For one lot – £9,960 + vat
- For two lots – £11,940 + vat
- For three lots – £13,950 + vat
Option 2 – THE CONSULTANCY AND REVIEW SERVICE which includes:
- A full review of all of the documentation relating to the bid (so we know the documents inside out and will be well positioned to give advice).
- Ongoing review of the “clarification” questions and answers as they are published.
- An initial consultation call to discuss what needs to be done (in particular the approach required for each of the qualitative questions and TACs).
- Unlimited telephone and email support throughout the bid period (until the submission deadline).
- Maximum of 2 reviews of your draft responses to the qualitative questions and TACs (using track changes and comments in Microsoft Word format) to maximise available scores. PLEASE NOTE this service does not include us rewriting the technical answers within your submission. This is an advice and review service. If you need full bid writing support, we recommend the full outsource service specified above.
- A review of all documents to be uploaded to the portal to ensure they have been completed fully and correctly.
- A full review of the portal (once you have uploaded your bid) to ensure it is complete and compliant and that all attachments have been uploaded correctly.
- For one lot – £5,976 + vat
- For two lots – £7,164 + vat
- For three lots – £8,370 + vat