Squad Coach - FTC; office locations

Squad Coach - 12 Month FTC (we have office locations in Cambridge, Leeds & London)

Join to apply for the Squad Coach - 12 Month FTC role at Genomics England.

Genomics England partners with the NHS to provide whole genome sequencing diagnostics. We also equip researchers to find the causes of disease and develop new treatments – with patients and participants at the heart of it all.

We are looking for an experienced Squad Coach / Scrum Master to join our thriving Agile practice. Here at Genomics England, Agility is core to achieving our company vision - to create a world where everyone benefits from personalised genomic medicine. We firmly believe Agile ways of working are key to:

• Enabling openness, transparency, retrospection and learning
• Generating a culture of iteration and adaptability
• Building a sense of family, accountability and cohesion

Our Squad Coaches are the cornerstone of Agility at Genomics England. They are essential to ensuring each squad strives towards exceptional levels of performance to deliver high‑value, high‑quality services that make a difference to the lives and treatment of patients in the UK living with cancer and rare diseases.

You’ll work closely with cross‑functional squads within the Newborns team, contributing to life‑changing genomic services for the NHS and wider research communities.

This role will suit a true collaborator and people person – someone who understands where they can add real value and is motivated by facilitating others to achieve great things.

• Partner with Product, Tech, and Design Leads to ensure cohesive and outcome‑focused squad leadership
• Set up and continuously improve systems of work that promote transparency, flow, self‑organisation, and alignment with the GEL Way and NHS/GDS standards
• Use data and metrics (e.g. flow, squad health, OKRs) to guide continuous improvement and squad effectiveness
• Apply systems thinking and root cause analysis to identify and remove systemic blockers to performance
• Coach squads through tailored strategies that support their growth into high‑performing, self‑organising teams
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies, OKR events, and workshops with purpose and engagement
• Support the Product Manager with planning, visioning, and backlog management while keeping users at the centre
• Protect squads from distractions and help remove delivery impediments
  
  Contribute to Agile capability building across GEL through training, pairing with fellow coaches, and evolving the GEL Way
• Role‑model inclusive, values‑led leadership and help others navigate change with empathy and influence

• Relevant experience in an Agile Coach / Scrum Master / Delivery Manager role
• Ability to lead and organise 1‑2 squads along with relevant stakeholders such as Product Manager, Technical Leads, Designers, Service Owners etc.
• Deep knowledge and experience with Agile ways of working frameworks like Scrum, Kanban
• Demonstrable experience of applying systems thinking, root cause analysis, etc. to identify and unpick tough and often systemic problems, proactively resolving these problems
• Outcomes‑oriented, data‑driven, adaptive mindset
• Demonstrable experience of using metrics to drive delivery excellence
• Experience of coaching multidisciplinary digital teams to deliver digital services – from discovery, design, delivery, growth, continuous improvement to retirement
• Experience supporting teams to align around outcomes using OKRs or similar goal‑setting frameworks
• Great interpersonal and communication skills; an inspiring team player, coach, and leader
• Passion for all things Agile
• Good understanding of the holistic Software Development Lifecycle and previous experience with Dev Ops practices
• Solid working experience with the Atlassian toolkit

• A recent Agile certification (just to show you love learning!)
• Knowledge of healthcare, life sciences or genomics
• Previous experience in a direct delivery role
• Knowledge of frameworks that allow Agile methods to scale
• Experience of matrix‑managed organisations
• Experience of Agile delivery in UK government, particularly…