Senior Agile Delivery Manager (Contract)
Duration: 12 Months
Contract Type: Inside IR35
Day Rate: Up to £/day via Umbrella + Expenses
Location: Leeds, Newcastle or Birmingham (60% Onsite Requirement)
Opportunity Overview
A large, complex organisation is seeking a Senior Agile Delivery Manager to support the delivery of a newly formed software engineering team. This team will focus on a defined backlog of critical improvements across service security, resilience, testability, and recoverability.
This is a hands-on delivery role, not a coordination position. You will operate as an embedded Scrum Master within an active engineering team, working closely with developers, testers, and DevOps engineers to drive high-quality software delivery.
The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring backlogs are technically ready, prioritised, and executable, working in close partnership with architecture and business analysis functions.
Key Responsibilities
Agile Delivery (Hands-on)
1. Act as Scrum Master / Delivery Manager within a live software engineering environment
2. Lead core agile ceremonies including sprint planning, stand-ups, reviews, and retrospectives
3. Actively remove blockers and manage delivery flow, scope, and prioritisation
4. Maintain consistent delivery momentum across sustained build activity
Software Delivery & Technical Engagement
5. Work closely with engineers across development, testing, and DevOps
6. Operate effectively within modern software delivery lifecycles
7. Engage confidently in technical discussions, trade-offs, and challenges
8. Support delivery across complex areas such as security, resilience, and recoverability
Senior Stakeholder Engagement
9. Influence and challenge senior technical and non-technical stakeholders
10. Provide clear, evidence-based reporting on delivery progress
11. Build trust through transparency and consistent performance
Planning, Coordination & Governance
12. Collaborate with Product Managers and technical leads to maintain prioritised backlogs
13. Proactively manage risks, issues, and cross-team dependencies
14. Utilise Jira for detailed planning, tracking, and reporting
15. Support governance and change processes where required
Essential Skills and Experience
16. Recent, hands-on experience delivering software within agile engineering teams
17. Proven track record operating as a Scrum Master or Delivery Manager in active build environments
18. Strong understanding of modern software engineering practices, including:Version control (e.g. Git)CI/CD pipelinesCloud-native or platform-based architectures
19. Experience working directly with developers, testers, and DevOps engineers
20. Ability to manage complex delivery risks, dependencies, and backlogs
21. Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills at a senior level
22. High proficiency in Jira for team and programme-level delivery
23. Demonstrable experience aligned to senior capability (e.g. SFIA Level 6 equivalent)
24. CV evidence must clearly outline delivery outcomes, technical context, and problem-solving approach
Technical Environment
25. Cloud platforms (e.g. AWS and/or Azure) within active software delivery environments
26. Infrastructure as Code (e.g. Terraform)
27. CI/CD tooling and DevOps practices
28. Automated testing and quality engineering approaches
29. Secure and resilient digital service delivery
Desirable Experience
30. Experience working with platform or data engineering teams
31. Exposure to large-scale, regulated or public sector environments
32. Familiarity with service management or change tools (e.g. ServiceNow)
Location & Working Pattern
33. Primary locations: Newcastle, Leeds, or Birmingham
34. Minimum 60% on-site presence required
35. Candidates must live within a realistic commuting distance (approximately 90 minutes) for sustained attendance
What's on Offer
36. 12-month contract engagement
37. Competitive day rate via umbrella
38. Opportunity to work within a high-impact, delivery-focused engineering environment
39. Exposure to complex, large-scale digital services
Application Process
For further information or to apply, please get in touch for a confidential discussion.