Senior Agile Delivery Manager
17 hours ago
Birmingham
Role: Senior Agile Delivery Manager Contract Length: 12 months Location: Newcastle, Leeds or Birmingham (60% office attendance p/w). Commute must be 60 – 90 mins max each way. IR35: inside Role Context Client is forming a new software engineering team to address a defined backlog of ~20–30 items focused on service security, testability, resilience and recoverability. This role is not a coordination-only delivery role. We require a highly experienced Delivery Manager who can operate immediately and sustainably in a hands-on Scrum Master / agile delivery capacity, working directly with engineers on day-to-day delivery. You will work closely with a Senior Technical Business Analyst and Architect to ensure the backlog is technically ready, prioritised and executable before and during active sprint delivery. Core Purpose The Senior Agile Delivery Manager is a technical delivery leader responsible for the hands-on delivery of software within a modern engineering environment. You will: • Lead agile ceremonies,, • Actively manage delivery risks and dependencies,, • Influence and engage senior stakeholders, and, • Enable engineering teams to deliver high-quality software outcomes. Recent, applied experience leading software development teams is essential. Statements of capability or aspiration without evidence will not be considered sufficient. Key Responsibilities Agile Delivery (Hands-on) • Act as Scrum Master / Delivery Manager for a software engineering team on a day-to-day basis., • Lead sprint planning, daily stand-ups, reviews and retrospectives., • Actively remove delivery blockers and manage scope, flow and prioritisation., • Maintain delivery momentum across a sustained period of active build work. Software Delivery & Technical Engagement • Work directly with software developers, testers and DevOps engineers., • Understand and manage delivery within modern software engineering lifecycles., • Engage confidently with technical discussions and trade-offs., • Support delivery across complex technical concerns (e.g. resilience, security, recoverabil-ity). Note: Experience limited to cloud migration programmes, CRM implementations (e.g. Dynamics) or systems integration / database-only delivery will not meet the requirements of this role unless there is clear, recent evidence of hands-on software product delivery. Senior Stakeholder Influence • Influence and challenge senior technical and non-technical stakeholders., • Provide clear, evidence-based delivery reporting., • Build trust through consistent delivery performance and transparency. Planning, Coordination & Reporting • Maintain and refine prioritised backlogs with Product Managers and technical leads., • Proactively manage risks, issues and cross-team dependencies., • Use Jira effectively for planning, tracking and reporting at team and initiative level., • Complete delivery-related governance and change activity (e.g. ServiceNow). Essential Skills & Experience (Mandatory) Candidates must clearly evidence the following on their CV: • Recent, hands-on agile delivery experience with software development teams, • Operating as a Scrum Master / Delivery Manager in active software build, • Delivery within modern engineering environments, including: o Version control (e.g. Git) o CI/CD pipelines o Cloud-native or platform-based services • Strong senior stakeholder engagement and influence, • Practical experience managing delivery risks, dependencies and complex backlogs, • High proficiency in Jira (team and programme level), • SFIA Level 6 capability demonstrated through applied experience, not role titles CVs must describe what was delivered, how it was delivered, the technical challenges in-volved and how they were overcome. Technical Environment (Experience Required) The successful candidate will have worked recently and directly with engineering teams using technologies and practices such as: • Cloud platforms (e.g. Azure and/or AWS) as part of software delivery, not migration on-ly, • Infrastructure as Code (e.g. Terraform), • CI/CD tooling and modern DevOps practices, • Automated testing and quality practices, • Secure, resilient digital services Desirable Experience • Experience with platform engineering or data engineering teams, • Previous experience working within DWP or wider UK government digital services, • Use of ServiceNow for delivery/change processes Location & Attendance (Critical) • Candidates must be able to attend Newcastle, Leeds or Birmingham offices regularly (minimum 60%), • Commute assessment is home-to-office, not city-to-city, • Long or unrealistic commutes are not sustainable and will not be considered