A leading Professional Services Consultancy is seeking an Agile Coach ARTs on a contract basis initially to work on an exiting project with a UK leading Bank.
Please note that this role will be a contract role initially with the intention to go permanant after July.
You will be required to work onsite at the client office in Northampton 2-3 times a week.
Role Overview
The Agile Coach will predominantly work at the feature team level, providing expert guidance to optimize agile practices and enhance the flow of work. Experience working with Agile Release Trains (ARTs) is highly beneficial. The role involves close collaboration with Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and other key stakeholders to foster agile maturity and continuous improvement across teams and ARTs.
Key Responsibilities
* The Agile Coach will collaborate with Scrum Masters and Product Owners to optimize agile ways of working and improve the flow of work within feature teams.
* Support Program Increment (PI) Planning and other critical ART-level ceremonies such as PO sync meetings and key events.
* Assist teams in prioritizing backlogs, breaking down work from epics to features to user stories, and supporting estimation activities.
* Provide coaching and support at 'Level 2' to ARTs (team of teams), acting as a key point of contact for Scrum Masters operating at 'Level 3'.
* The Agile Coach will work closely with Customer Journey Lab leads to provide guidance on enhancing agility within teams aligned to customer journeys.
* Model agile best practices, ensuring the effectiveness of events across all levels and promoting accurate sizing of work.
* Demonstrate a clear understanding of Scrum Master and Product Owner roles, supporting individuals to operate effectively in these roles.
* The Agile Coach will build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, communicating ideas clearly and concisely to drive agile adoption and improvement.
Qualifications and Experience
* Preferably holds a SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) training qualification.
* Hands-on experience working in a SAFe environment is highly desirable; considered a must-have for initial recruitment tranche.
* Proven experience coaching agile teams at the feature team level, with additional experience supporting ARTs being advantageous.
* Strong knowledge of agile frameworks, particularly Scrum and SAFe, including practical application in real-world settings.
* Excellent facilitation skills for agile ceremonies and events at both team and ART levels.
* Ability to influence and guide teams and leadership towards agile best practices and continuous improvement.
Skills and Competencies
* Exceptional communication skills, capable of articulating complex agile concepts in a clear and concise manner.
* Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at multiple organizational levels.
* Analytical mindset with the ability to assess team dynamics and workflow to recommend improvements.
* Proactive and adaptable, able to work effectively in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
* Demonstrated ability to model and instill best practices in agile event facilitation and work sizing.
Reporting and Collaboration
The Agile Coach will report to the Agile Delivery Lead or equivalent and will collaborate closely with Scrum Masters, Product Owners, ART leadership, and Customer Journey Lab leads to drive agile transformation and maturity