Sparta Global & OPSS
OPSS partners with Sparta Global to build a targeted capability strategy to support vital role in British public life.
“We have worked with Sparta Global for some time now, and the work we have done with them has helped us manage the significant recruitment pressures which exist within DDaT in the Civil Service. Sparta Global has enabled us to build capability across technical and non-technical DDaT roles to better support the organisation.
”
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) plays a vital role in British public life. As the UK’s national product regulator – operating under the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) – the OPSS ensures that consumer goods are safe, protecting people and places from product-related harm while driving business confidence and economic growth.
To deliver on this regulatory mission, the OPSS relies heavily on continuous technical innovation, but like many public sector employers the OPSS found itself facing severe recruitment pressures within the Government’s Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function. Inflated private-sector salaries across equivalent technical roles proved incredibly difficult to compete with, leaving the OPSS digital team struggling to attain the skills required to hit long-term objectives. To break this cycle and establish a sustainable talent model, the OPSS partnered with Sparta Global.
Rather than offering a generic staffing fix, Sparta Global collaborated with the OPSS to design a targeted capability strategy addressing specific operational gaps in Business Analysis, Software Development, and Quality Assurance.
Emerging technologists from Sparta Global’s Academy were selected not just for their technical aptitude, but for their explicit motivation to build long-term careers within the Civil Service. The deployment framework was meticulously structured to ensure immediate and compliant integration into public sector workflows:
-
Agile Integration: Deployed Spartans immediately joined active Agile delivery teams to contribute directly to the regulator’s core mission.
-
Bespoke Skill Alignment: To ensure the consultants matched the department’s exact technology stack, they received additional training in C# and Power Apps.
-
Structured Mentorship: Each consultant was paired with a mentor to closely track their professional progress directly against the official DDaT framework.
-
Co-ordinated Onboarding: Close collaboration between Sparta’s training and delivery teams smoothed the initial transition, allowing the consultants to accelerate their operational impact.
By assessing the consultants against the exact same performance frameworks used for permanent civil servants, the OPSS ensured that the team was progressing toward expected capability levels from day one.
This structured approach paid off immensely over the initial 18-month deployments, delivering clear milestones for the regulator’s technology strategy:
-
Exceptional Career Conversion: Four out of five (80%) deployed Spartans were offered permanent Civil Service roles at the conclusion of their engagement.
-
Reduced Contractor Reliance: By converting these highly trained consultants into permanent staff, the OPSS successfully mitigated skills gaps while reducing its reliance on expensive external contractors.
-
Sustainable Pipeline: The partnership provided the stable, long-term technical support needed to advance the regulator’s internal and external digital services.
