Scrum Master

This job has now expired please search on the home page to find live IT Jobs.

Looking for a new job can be difficult for a number of reasons.

Whether its looking for that pay rise that you've been yearning for, finding a better work/life balance, trying to escape your boss or just simply looking for something different, taking that step and deciding to navigate the online job boards is a bold and difficult move.

Why?

Because of how bad job ads tend to be.

Whether its poorly written copy, regurgitated job descriptions of wishlists asking for a unicorn for a fraction of the market rate, job ads tend to ignore their main function - actually engaging with the reader!

So with that in mind, I wanted to swoop in (I just watched the Avengers for the 3rd time so I am still in that 'I am a superhero' state of mind) and save the day so to speak. Well not really... but I thought i'd try and craft an interesting job ad that might just tick the boxes for you...

I have partnered up with a Global Enterprise in the heart of Manchester who are looking to hire expeirenced Scrum Masters for their brand spanking new offices.

They have recently expanded to the Manchester area in an effort to attract new talent to the organisation and these roles form a huge part of that as they are currently in the midst of a company-wide Agile transformation.

However, unlike your typical Scrum Master roles that focus more on delivery/project management, the focus of these roles is technical so they are ideally looking for applicants who come from either a Software Testing or Software Engineering background.

The roles will involve working alongside their Technical Delivery Managers, focusing heavily on guiding the Software Engineering teams through the full software development lifecycle, getting involved in Agile processes and driving home the use of Agile methodologies.

You will spend your time engaging with technical stakeholders (Architects, Engineers, Testers) on a regular basis and should be confident talking about all things technology.

In terms of some of the core specifics, rather than just creating a shopping list (come on guys, this isn't Amazon), I thought I would highlight a couple of the key areas that applicants need to focus on:

Stakeholder Management - These roles will be hugely stakeholder-facing and strong communication skills are an absolute must. You will be working in a fast-paced and highly pressurised environment so will need to be able to demosntrate strong influecing/stakeholder management skills.

Technical Input - Whilst you won't be fixing bugs or writing code, you will be expected to engage with Software Engineers and Testers on a daily basis. Therefore, a background actually building software or working across the full software lifecycle is crucial to be considered for this role. Their current tech stack is diverse (Java, Spring, Hibernate, C#, Selenium, Scala, JavaScript, React, Node, Docker, Jenkins) so exposure to a wide array of tools and technologies would also be preferable.

Agile Methodologies - Extensive commercial experience working with Agile methodologies (Scrum, XP, Kanban etc.) is crucial, as is previous commercial experience working as a Scrum Master. You will be expected to act as an Agile evangelist, helping move the organisation away from Waterfall/PRINCE2 as part of their ongoing Agile journey. This will be challenging for a number of reasons (governance, red tape, stakeholder buy in etc.) so hopefully a challenge is exactly what you are looking for!

Leadership Skills - Whilst not directly line managing anyone, your role will involve acting in a 'leadership capacity' with their engineering function so a background previously coaching/mentoring others would be hugely beneficial. As stated above, communication in general is crucial for this and a proven track record inspiring and motivating others would only strengthen your application.

So there you have it, a job ad that hopefully speaks to you as the reader (if you haven't already left due to my awful superhero-themed analogy at the beginning of the ad). If this is something that you'd like to formally follow up, then give me a call on either 0191 338 7540 or 07943721308. Alternatively, send me a LinkedIn connection request (search for Liam Haghighat) or send me an email to [email protected].

Anything we discuss will remain completely confidential.