Careers Management and Employability Platform

“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.”