Senior Agile Delivery / Scrum Master - UK Securities & Bonds

Senior Agile Delivery / Scrum Master - Banking - UK Securities & Bonds / Fixed Income

Rate: £ 700 - 750 per day (Inside of IR35)

Contract: 12 months
Location: Hybrid - UK / Brussels
Sector: Financial Services / Capital Markets
Focus: UK Bonds, Securities Settlement, Agile Delivery & Project Management

We are looking for an experienced Senior Agile Delivery Manager to lead complex technology and change initiatives within a major financial markets environment.

This is a hybrid delivery role combining Scrum Master, Agile Delivery and traditional Project Management responsibilities.

You will lead up to two delivery teams, including offshore and distributed resources, while managing delivery across the full project lifecycle.

A key requirement is strong knowledge of UK securities markets, particularly UK bonds/fixed income and securities settlement.

Experience within CREST, CSDs, post-trade or wider securities market infrastructure would be particularly relevant.

The Role

You will take ownership of delivery across complex business and technology initiatives, working closely with Product Owners, technology teams, architects and senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities will include:

• Lead up to two Agile/Scrum delivery teams, including offshore and hybrid teams.
• Own sprint planning, stand-ups, reviews, retrospectives and wider Agile delivery ceremonies.
• Work closely with Product Owners to manage demand, prioritisation and delivery backlogs.
• Coach teams and stakeholders to improve Agile/Scrum maturity and ways of working.
• Manage delivery across the full lifecycle from requirements and design through build, testing, acceptance and implementation.
• Apply both Agile and Waterfall delivery methodologies depending on the nature and stage of the initiative.
• Establish project governance, delivery plans, timelines, resources, dependencies and reporting.
• Manage risks, issues, dependencies and delivery conflicts across multiple teams.
• Coordinate business, technology, operational and financial aspects of change initiatives.
• Work with senior stakeholders, sponsors, architects and technical teams to assess requirements and delivery feasibility.
• Manage third-party suppliers and support commercial/procurement activities where required.

Essential Experience

We are particularly interested in candidates who combine strong delivery leadership with UK capital-markets knowledge / Bonds / Securities.

You should have:

• Strong knowledge of UK bonds / fixed income markets.
• Experience within securities settlement, post-trade or market infrastructure.
• Knowledge of CREST / UK securities settlement would be highly advantageous.
• Strong experience as a Senior Scrum Master, Agile Delivery Manager or Senior IT Project Manager.
• Experience leading at least two delivery teams.
• Proven experience managing offshore and distributed teams.
• Strong Scrum/Agile delivery experience and a recognised Scrum Master certification.
• Experience delivering medium-to-large technology projects using both Agile and Waterfall.
• End-to-end delivery experience covering requirements, design, development, testing, acceptance and implementation.
• Strong stakeholder management within complex matrix organisations.
• Previous experience within wholesale financial markets, investment banking, securities or financial market infrastructure.

Desirable

• CREST
• UK gilt or corporate bond settlement knowledge.
• CSD / ICSD experience.
• PRINCE2, PMI/PMP or equivalent Project Management certification.
• Previous people-management or direct team-leadership experience.

The Profile We're Looking For

This isn't a traditional Scrum Master position.

We are looking for someone who can lead Agile teams while taking broader ownership for complex project delivery and who understands the realities of delivering technology change within UK securities and fixed-income markets.

Candidates coming from Agile Delivery, Scrum Master, IT Project Management or Programme Delivery backgrounds will all be considered where they can demonstrate the required UK bonds/securities domain expertise.

*Rates depend on experience and client requirements