Provision of a Human Resources and Payroll Solution and Associated Services to the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission

Purpose of this Notice This Planned Procurement Notice relates to requirements that were the subject of a preliminary market engagement exercise undertaken by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) under Find a Tender Service reference 2026/S 000-080852. The engagement considered replacement solutions for HR, payroll and finance functions. Following engagement, the Assembly Commission intends to conduct separate procurements for HR & payroll and for finance solutions. This notice provides advance information to help potential suppliers assess the opportunity, identify any delivery partners and plan bid and demonstration resources. The Assembly Commission intends to rely on this notice as a qualifying planned procurement notice under section 15(3) of the Procurement Act 2023 to enable a reduced tendering period were permitted by section 54. This notice is not a call for competition; the tender notice and associated procurement documents will explain how to participate. Scope of Requirement The Assembly Commission intends to undertake two separate procurements for the provision, implementation and ongoing support of a modern human resources and payroll solution and a finance solution. The procurement forms part of the Assembly Commission's wider objective to modernise corporate systems and processes, improve user experience, strengthen organisational reporting and support data-driven decision making. Following completion of preliminary market engagement, the Assembly Commission intends to adopt a best-of-breed approach, procuring specialist solutions capable of operating within an integrated corporate services environment. The requirement is therefore not anticipated to comprise a single Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. Solutions should support an integrated user experience, effective data sharing, enhanced reporting and analytics, workflow automation, robust governance and security controls, and future scalability. The Assembly Commission is seeking solutions that support the delivery of: •Human resources, including workforce administration, employee and manager self-service, recruitment, onboarding, learning, performance management and workforce reporting. •Payroll, including payroll administration, statutory compliance, reporting and integration with workforce data. •Finance, including financial accounting, budgeting, accounts payable and receivable, procurement-to-pay processes and financial reporting. This planned procurement notice relates to the HR and payroll an solution requirement only. A separate planned procurement notice is expected to be issued for the finance solution requirement. The Assembly Commission is not currently seeking to procure a single combined HR, payroll and finance ERP solution through this notice. The two separate contracts are expected to include software provision, implementation and configuration services, data migration, integration, training and ongoing support and maintenance. Outline Requirement – HR & Payroll Solution The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission intends to procure a modern HR, payroll and pensions solution and associated implementation and support services. This will be a separate procurement from the planned finance system procurement. The system should have the technical capability to integrate with other best of breed applications such as finance and procurement and in doing so support integrated reporting. The system must ensure data is exchanged securely. The anticipated HR solution scope includes the management of core personnel records and the end-to-end employee lifecycle. Solutions must support delivery of services such as - vacancy management, recruitment and onboarding, absence and leave management, learning and development, employee-relations case management, and employee and manager self-service. This is not an exhaustive list. The system should reduce duplicated data entry and manual processing and provide authorised users with timely, secure access to accurate information. Payroll functionality is expected to support multiple, independently controlled payrolls and pay groups, including payroll bureau arrangements for different employing bodies. It will need to accommodate individuals holding multiple or concurrent employment contracts, potentially with different employers, pay arrangements, pension schemes and leave entitlements. The anticipated scope includes configurable pay grades, allowances and deductions, statutory and occupational pay calculations, retrospective adjustments, payment outputs, HMRC submissions, reconciliations and payroll reporting. The requirement includes support for pension-related administration, employee and employer contributions, reporting and secure data exchange with relevant pension scheme administrators and providers. This is expected to cover Northern Ireland Civil Service pension arrangements, the Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme and pension schemes applicable to Membe