Senior Agile Delivery Manager (Contract)
Duration: 12 Months
Contract Type: Inside IR35
Day Rate: Up to £600/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)
- Act as Scrum Master / Delivery Manager within a live software engineering environment
- Lead core agile ceremonies including sprint planning, stand-ups, reviews, and retrospectives
- Actively remove blockers and manage delivery flow, scope, and prioritisation
- Maintain consistent delivery momentum across sustained build activity
Software Delivery & Technical Engagement
- Work closely with engineers across development, testing, and DevOps
- Operate effectively within modern software delivery lifecycles
- Engage confidently in technical discussions, trade-offs, and challenges
- Support delivery across complex areas such as security, resilience, and recoverability
Senior Stakeholder Engagement
- Influence and challenge senior technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Provide clear, evidence-based reporting on delivery progress
- Build trust through transparency and consistent performance
Planning, Coordination & Governance
- Collaborate with Product Managers and technical leads to maintain prioritised backlogs
- Proactively manage risks, issues, and cross-team dependencies
- Utilise Jira for detailed planning, tracking, and reporting
- Support governance and change processes where required
Essential Skills and Experience
- Recent, hands-on experience delivering software within agile engineering teams
- Proven track record operating as a Scrum Master or Delivery Manager in active build environments
- Strong understanding of modern software engineering practices, including:
- Version control (e.g. Git)
- CI/CD pipelines
- Cloud-native or platform-based architectures
- Experience working directly with developers, testers, and DevOps engineers
- Ability to manage complex delivery risks, dependencies, and backlogs
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills at a senior level
- High proficiency in Jira for team and programme-level delivery
- Demonstrable experience aligned to senior capability (e.g. SFIA Level 6 equivalent)
- CV evidence must clearly outline delivery outcomes, technical context, and problem-solving approach
Technical Environment
- Cloud platforms (e.g. AWS and/or Azure) within active software delivery environments
- Infrastructure as Code (e.g. Terraform)
- CI/CD tooling and DevOps practices
- Automated testing and quality engineering approaches
- Secure and resilient digital service delivery
Desirable Experience
- Experience working with platform or data engineering teams
- Exposure to large-scale, regulated or public sector environments
- Familiarity with service management or change tools (e.g. ServiceNow)
Location & Working Pattern
- Primary locations: Newcastle, Leeds, or Birmingham
- Minimum 60% on-site presence required
- Candidates must live within a realistic commuting distance (approximately 90 minutes) for sustained attendance
What's on Offer
- 12-month contract engagement
- Competitive day rate via umbrella
- Opportunity to work within a high-impact, delivery-focused engineering environment
- Exposure to complex, large-scale digital services
Application Process
For further information or to apply, please get in touch for a confidential discussion.
