Agile Team Lead; Defence

At Kainos, we use technology to solve real-world problems that matter — transforming d...

As a Team Lead at Kainos, you will be responsible for
leading an agile team
to deliver high quality solutions that meet client and user needs. You will get the best from our talented teams by creating a positive and creative culture and a productive working environment. You will empower and support your team to perform well, learn and grow in a manner that is consistent with Kainos company values. You will foresee and remove blockers and effectively manage risks and issues at a team level.

You will work closely with other Agile Team Leads and stakeholders to ensure your team is working on the right things at the right time under the support and guidance of a Delivery Manager. You will take on broader management responsibilities beyond the agile team as required and actively contribute to the Management capability.

• A
  ctive
  SC clearance is mandatory.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in a similar role with
  UK defence sector organizations is mandatory
  .
• Proven experience
  as a senior scrum master OR a combined role of a project manager, who is also a hands-on scrum master
  for UK defence sector organizations.
• Minimum 3 years of demonstrable success delivering
  bespoke software projects from scratch, using agile methodologies (Kanban, Scrum, SAFe, etc.) for
  external
  customers.
• Strong experience in customer-facing projects with UK defence sector organizations- syncs and reporting, presentations, board meetings, workshops, upscaling opportunities.
• Strong managerial skills, both direct and indirect.
• Strong commercial awareness- working with financial teams, understanding and basic reporting of costs, preferably working under a budget plan of £5M or more.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Highly flexible (including a willingness to work away from home base).

• Establish ways of working to enable an agile team to plan, forecast and deliver against a product backlog.
• Act as a role model for collaborative behaviours, agile values and professionalism.
• Lead retrospectives and continuous improvement initiatives
  ; applying previous knowledge, experience, and industry best practices in agile delivery.
• Put people first & develop others – You’ll
  manage, coach and develop a small number of staff
  , with a focus on managing employee performance.
• Actively manage the performance of team members, including the stewardship of improvement plans where necessary.
• Provide
  data, forecasts and progress updates
  to inform planning initiatives.
• Facilitate workshops and discussions to understand and effectively capture requirements to achieve a joint understanding of needs.
• Establish and maintain constructiveand collaborative
  relationships with the client
  , other suppliers and third-party stakeholders.
• Ensure stakeholders can access current and
  accurate data on the status of the team’s delivery
  and that technical quality standards are followed.
• Support the Delivery Manager in ensuring projects deliver the agreed outcomes within budget.
• Be highly flexible (including willingness to work away from home base).

• Persuasive and effective communicator with strong negotiating skills.
• Possess a solid understanding and strong practical experience of agile delivery in software development projects.
• Evidence of leading continuous improvement initiatives.
• We are passionate about developing people – a demonstrated ability in managing, coaching and developing members of your team and wider community.
• Experience of facilitating workshops and discussions.
• Ability to forge effective working relationships with stakeholders.
• Considerable experience in a relevant technical environment.
• Maintain effective and efficient delivery from your team during periods of remote working.
• Good understanding of technology, digital services and trends.
• Have experience of working with user research, design and data analytics expertise.
• Ability to demonstrate commercial awareness, particularly in client-supplier and multi-supplier environments, and an appreciation of project-level financials.
• Understanding of a range of planning and reporting methods common to project delivery.