Scrum Master

Tender description

Summary of the work This specialist will be an experienced Scrum Master who has worked with a mixture of different team sizes and types. They must understand the underlying principles of Scrum and be able to work with different types of people and continually strive to improve their team’s efficiency and productivity. Specialist role Agile coach Expected Contract Length To 30/6/2019 with the option to extend for 6 months Latest start date Thursday 1 March 2018 Maximum Day Rate 850 Who Speclialist Work With Day to day the specialist will work with the Agile Delivery Teams and the Business, managing and running Sprint ceremonies including daily stand ups, planinng meetings, showcases and retrospectives. Working with the Business to ensure that the work has been adequately prioritised and has specific businesss benefit. The roles includes supporting the Product Owner to maintain a product delivery roadmap that identifies deliverables, dependencies and milestones. What Specialists Work On "Borders IT require Scrum Masters to help deliver multiple Agile projects within the Digital Services at the Border (DSAB) Programme , which are deployed upon a secure cloud environment running a distributed big data platform. The current projects within the programme are: Border Crossing (BX), Advance Border Control (ABC) or Advanced Freight Targeting Capability (AFTC)" Skills & Experience • At least two years experience in the use of Agile methodologies. (15%) • Run Sprint ceremonies including daily stand ups, planning meetings, showcases and retrospectives (10%) • Light-touch leadership that employs a highly collaborative approach to guide people without controlling them but employing authority when the situation requires. (5%) • Facilitating inclusive decision-making and conflict resolution. (5%) • Knowledge or experience with Agile techniques: User Stories, estimating, TDD, continuous integration, pairing, automated testing. (5%) • Guiding and mentoring skills that demonstrate the Agile values and principles. (3%) • Remove impediments that are preventing the team from delivery (5%) • Growing and facilitating highly motivated and capable teams to deliver innovative software products, as well as less experienced teams. (2%) Nice to Haves • Experience of working on digital by default service standard compliant government website (5%) • A highly developed understanding of government organisations, and how to operate and communicate at the varying levels of management (2%) • Will have a background in Technology with proven success in a complex programmes (3%) Work Location The specialist will be predominantly based at Home Office premises at Lunar House, Croydon, CR9 2BY, but may be required to attend Marsham Street, London, SW1; and MetroPoint , Croydon; Surrey; or other locations as necessary. Working Arrangments The specialist is expected to alongside existing delivery teams focussed on specific outcomes. The specialist will conform to prevailing Home Office rules & procedures. The specialist requires being physically on site Monday – Friday. Approximate hours are 08:00 – 18:00. Expenses will conform to Home Office internal policies and will not be payable within the M25. Security Clearance SC Security Clearance is required. Additional T&Cs This role is deemed to be outside the scope of IR35 of the Intermediaries legislation. Candidates may be working towards obtaining SC clearance and must possess this by the latest start date. The HO may support the candidate with this process, but this must be in place by employment commencement. Candidates with DV Clearance have already undergone SC level checks will also be considered. Work History/ CV's will be requested once the shortlisting process is complete. No. of Specialists to Evaluate 3 Cultural Fit Criteria • Ability to work under pressure and prioritise a very varied work schedule • Understanding of working across a broad geographical area and different functional departments with competing priorities • Work closely with colleagues and be transparent and collaborative in all communications • Be respectful and work with integrity and flexibility. Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Notice - more information on the Security Clearance required. To access the Home Office building at East Croydon, current Security Clearance is required. SC will also be required for access to the production system and service data. For the avoidance of doubt this means either:a) SC clearance has been approved or renewed by any government department within six months prior to the start dateb) SC clearance has been used within any government department (preferably the Home Office) within 12 months prior to the start date 2. Are you able to qualify the SC status a bit more for me. When you say the process needs to be in place by the start date do you mean the SC Clearance needs to be completed or are you happy with just the process being in place? Realistically anyone who needs to submit for SC at this stage is not going to have it completed by March 1st. My candidate needs to reapply for an expired SC but, again, even that wont be back in time. Thanks. The process being in place will be acceptable for this role 3. Is this role outside IR35? Yes this role is deemed outside of IR35. 4. As Scrum Master 1, 2 & 3 are all identical, will you be looking to “pool” all the applicants and then choose who to bring in for evaluation ? or will you select the top 3 from each separate Opportunity ? The top 3 from each separate opportunity will be shortlisted. 5. Is the contract end to 30/6/2019? Thank you Yes 6. Important Notice - To clarify SC clearance The Home Office will sponsor the succesfull supplier to obtain relevant Security clearance, if required.