Market Engagement Notice - North Sea Jobs Service (NSJS) & Transition Training Fund (TTF)

Descriptions

****PRELIMINARY MARKET ENGAGEMENT EVENT February 10th 2026**** The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), as the contracting authority, invites suppliers to participate in early market engagement for the forthcoming procurement of the North Sea Jobs Service (NSJS) and the Transition Training Fund (TTF) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Department is currently assessing the most appropriate commercial route to market and is seeking supplier insight to shape both the specification and procurement strategy. Summary of Requirement: This document summarises proposed deliverables for the UK North Sea Jobs Service (NSJS) and Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (TTF). The aim of this work is to support oil and gas workers into new employment in clean energy and other Industrial Strategy Priority Sectors through a new North Sea Jobs Service. As announced in the North Sea Future Plan, the NSJS will offer end-to-end career transition support for oil and gas workers looking to move into secure jobs in growing industries. The Jobs Service will work closely with industry to identify vacancies, match eligible workers to prospective employers, and identify ways to close any qualification and training gaps through the Transition Training Fund and existing services, ensuring that workers are supported into jobs in critical sectors. The Jobs Service will work alongside the current TTF which funds careers advice and training courses for current and former oil and gas workers who live in or are employed in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire. In the Clean Energy Jobs Plan, we announced that we would work with the Scottish Government to extend and broaden the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund over the next 3 years. The Energy Skills Passport is an industry led initiative overseen by RenewableUK and Offshore Energies UK and supported by the UK and Scottish Governments which aims to align standards, recognise transferable skills and qualifications and map out career pathways for suitable roles. The department for Energy Security and Net Zero are engaging with potential suppliers, Trade Unions, Industry Bodies, Devolved Governments to design and develop the North Sea Jobs Service. Expected Deliverables: The minimum expected deliverables are: • Set up and delivery of North Sea Job Service estimated 5,000-10,000 workers per year between FY 2026/27-2029/30 and the Transition Training Fund for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. • Set up and maintenance of infrastructure including system and personnel requirements to deliver hybrid North Sea Jobs and Transition Training Fund services. • Delivery of hybrid training and employment support services for Oil and Gas workers which may include: o ‘Front door’ contact point for service users and employers and a referral mechanism o Strategic relationship management with employers in Industrial Strategy Priority Sectors to enable forward-looking identification of relevant vacancies o Administration of training courses internally and/or with external training providers across the UK. o Creation and/or integration of Job Boards for Industrial Strategy Priority Sectors o Delivery of employment services including career advice, identification of target vacancies, employment fairs, referral and/or Guaranteed Interview Schemes for Industrial Strategy Priority Sectors. • Training provider and employer frameworks and relationships management across in Oil and Gas and Industrial Strategy Priority Sectors . Questions: Responses to the below questions should be light touch and returns no longer than 5 pages. Please response in word or PDF format. Is this requirement of interest to you and would you bid for this work? And if so, how would you consider delivering this proposal? 1. Do you have experience with projects with a similar requirement, and can you provide some brief examples? 2. What are the key points you would like us to address in the specification, to enable you to produce a quality bid? 3. What expectation would you have on length of tender stage to allow for a high-quality bid to be received from yourself. 4. To be able to deliver what we need, how quickly do you think the NSJS could be stood up and operational? 5. Given that the majority of workers will be based or will have links via employers to Scotland, we are exploring requirements to have a presence in Scotland. Would this impact your decision to bid for the NSJS? Do you currently have a presence in Scotland? 6. What infrastructure and systems including digital and personnel do you think will be required to set up and deliver the NSJS and TTF. 7. Please provide a high-level estimated cost breakdown for the delivery of this project. This will be used for information only and has no impact on bid assessment at a later stage when more information will be provided. 8. Which pricing model do you believe provides the best value for money for this training requirement, and why? Market Engagement Information: The current intention is to procure this under DPS - Adult Skills and Learning (RM6348) via a tender competition. The DPS allows suppliers to join and leave by request from CCS. As an initial stage this market engagement offers an overview of the requirement and a request for you to complete and return a response to the questions, please keep this light touch. The department is identifying suitable routes to market currently. Please note that the Department reserves the right to proceed via a different route to the framework once market engagement has been reviewed. The Authority intends to hold virtual market engagement session Tuesday 10th February 3pm-5pm. Each Supplier who wishes to participate and attend will be limited to two representatives. We will explain the requirement in more detail and potential bidders will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss their own ideas and understanding of the service we wish to procure. The Rules of Engagement on the day will be that: all information and data will be classified as not above Official Sensitive; this means although information will be shared with those suppliers invited, it is not for onward transmission or publication. Questions will be welcome at any point and any questions not answered on the day, will be answered in writing and shared to all attendees. Please note that this notice and invitation to participate in the market engagement session is not a formal commencement of a procurement procedure. No formal commitment to a particular procurement procedure is made until further notification. The Authority reserves the right to amend our strategy and do not commit ourselves to the route or methodology outlined herein; and to note, this market engagement does not constitute a commitment to or adoption of any fixed position. If you would like to attend the market engagement session on Tuesday 10th February, please contact Waseem.Rana@energysecurity.gov.uk and Cat.Howells@energysecurity.gov.uk and confirm your attendance by midday Tuesday 10th of February. All suppliers that provide a return will be informed of the confirmed route to market at a later stage. If we use the DPS route we will provide information on the filters we will be using to ensure suppliers have reasonable time to join. If a return is not received a supplier will only be notified of the tender if they are filtered by the DPS platform as a suitable supplier. The department requests, if you are interested and can deliver the requirement, please provide a return with questions answered by Friday13th February. Please note responses to this market engagement request will have no bearing on any future tender assessment and will not advantage or disadvantage any supplier in the procurement process. The information gathered is intended only to inform and refine the specification and procurement strategy. Please return responses to Cat.Howells@energysecurity.gov.uk and Waseem.rana@energysecurity.gov.uk. ----- Footnote: Servicing the oil and gas industry’: ‘Direct’ workers: individuals working for oil and gas operators (SIC codes 6 and 9.1; the extraction of oil and gas, and support activities for petroleum and natural gas mining. ‘Indirect’ workers: working in one of the main supply chain roles/sectors are defined as Mining Support, Machinery and Equipment, Financial Services, Repair and maintenance, O&G extraction, metal ores and other, Employment Services, Fabricated metal, Water transport, Rental and leading services, Architectural services etc, Air transport, Construction, Computer services, Iron and Steel Other’ includes: legal activities, computer, coke, petroleum and petrochemicals, head office and consulting- Source: Definitions used across the Industrial Strategy growth-driving sectors (the ‘IS-8’ sectors) include Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy Industries, Creative Industries, Defence, Digital and Technologies, Financial Services, Life Sciences and Professional and Business Services. The Industrial Strategy uses a mixed approach to defining sectors. More information can be found Industrial Strategy Sector Definitions List - GOV.UK

Engagement

To support development of the final specification and procurement approach, we are asking suppliers to complete two actions: 1. Confirm attendance – Market Engagement Session The Authority will host a virtual market engagement session to outline the requirement in more detail and answer initial questions. The market engagement event is not mandatory, but we would encourage your attendance. Session details: • Date: Tuesday 10th February • Time: 15:00 – 17:00 • Format: Microsoft Teams • Attendance limit: Up to two representatives per supplier Please confirm attendance by midday Tuesday 10th February by replying with the names and email addresses of your attendees. 2. Submit your written response We are requesting a short, light touch written return (maximum 4 pages) responding to the questions set out in the attached notice. This will help refine the specification and route to market. Deadline for written returns: Friday 13th February Return to: • Cat.Howells@energysecurity.gov.uk • Waseem.Rana@energysecurity.gov.uk Please note: this engagement is not part of the formal evaluation process. Responses or attendance will not advantage or disadvantage suppliers in any future competition.