Scrum Master
Summary
Scrum Master coaching two technical teams on Agile practices, removing blockers, and aligning delivery with business outcomes while scaling processes for a growing product company.
We're hiring a Scrum Master to support two Scrum teams within our Platform Delivery Team. The teams are responsible for the internal technical development and deployment of Xantura's products & Infrastructure, including backend development, Power BI dashboards, databases and more.
This is not a by-the-book, ceremony-only role. You'll own the day-to-day mechanics of Scrum, but we need someone who looks beyond their own team, understands where we're heading as a business, and helps connect delivery to those wider objectives. You'll work closely with the Lead Delivery Manager, reporting into them, helping coordinate delivery across both teams, surface and resolve conflicts, and keep work moving toward outcomes that matter.
We're a small business and we're scaling, already grown massively over the past year. That means we want someone comfortable stepping outside a narrow remit, thinking about the whole picture rather than just the sprint in front of them, and bringing some project or delivery management instinct to the role. The teams are still relatively new to Scrum and working in Sprints, with varying degrees of success, therefore we need someone confident at coaching, guiding and implementing appropriate measures, ways of working and processes that are required. A more hands on approach.
Core Scrum delivery (the foundation)
- Facilitate Scrum ceremonies (daily stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives, reviews and backlog refinement), keeping them purposeful and meaningful rather than routine checkbox exercises.
- Remove and manage impediments and blockers, working with the team and all relevant stakeholders to keep delivery flowing and understood, documenting blockers for our learning and identify reoccurrences.
- Coach the teams on Scrum practice and continuous improvement.
- Track and interpret agreed delivery metrics (velocity, burndown, blockers, completion, effort logging, capacity), using them to inform decisions rather than simply report them (some may not be necessary, we can identify appropriate metrics in the role).
- Promote communication and alignment within and across the teams, especially around interdependencies.
- Protect the teams from unnecessary interruption and support a healthy working environment, documenting disruptions for future mitigation.
Wider delivery and business awareness (what makes this role different)
- Understand our company objectives and priorities and how each team's work connects to them, keeping delivery aligned to outcomes rather than output.
- Support the Lead Delivery Manager with delivery planning, coordination and reporting across teams.
- Identify and help resolve conflicts, competing priorities and dependencies across teams, escalating with a recommendation rather than just a flag.
- Support the Lead Delivery Manager and Product Owner with backlog prioritisation, requirement clarity and forward planning.
- Contribute to how we work as we scale, refining and rolling out new ways of working alongside the Lead Delivery Manager.
- Own Platform RAID Log and other Platform documentations/reports
We'd love to hear from you if you have:
- Around 2-3 years' experience as a Scrum Master, ideally within a technical delivery environment.
- Some exposure to project or delivery management. You've done more than run ceremonies and want to keep building that breadth.
- A good understanding of the Scrum framework held pragmatically rather than dogmatically.
- Experience coaching teams through change, transformation and improvement.
- Business awareness. You can see past your own team to how the work supports wider company goals.
- Comfort with ambiguity and a willingness to step outside a fixed remit. We're small and scaling, so the role will flex.
- Hands-on experience with delivery tooling, specifically Azure DevOps (great but not mandatory, it’s easy to learn).
- Experience working with distributed or cross-functional teams.
- Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
- A proactive problem-solver's mindset, analytical, with a keen eye for inconsistencies.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain process and reasoning clearly to technical and non-technical people. Able to handle stakeholders of differing backgrounds and communication needs.
- A passion for social impact. You're excited about what we're doing and driven to help Xantura succeed.
- Scrum certification is welcome but not essential.
Key competencies
- Servant leadership, balanced with the confidence to lead delivery when needed.
- Strong facilitation and coaching skills.
- Delivery coordination and planning across teams.
- Business and commercial awareness.
- Problem-solving and analytical thinking.
- Adaptability and pragmatism over process for its own sake.
- Empathy, collaboration and stakeholder management.
- A continuous improvement orientation.
- The ability to influence without authority.
- Competitive salary reviewed annually
- Work for a passionate, mission-driven company solving society’s big problems
- Work flexible hours around life commitments with a focus on delivering company value rather than hours worked
- Ability to work remotely (excluding face-to-face Team Meetings and client meetings)
- Training and development opportunities
- 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
- Company pension
- Private medical insurance
- Generous enhanced parental leave policies
- Cycle to work scheme
- Flu Vaccinations
- Eye Test and contribution towards Glasses for VDU use
- Employee Assistance Programme:
- Mental health and wellbeing support
- Remote GP access
- Counselling/therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Medical second opinions