Agile Coach

Join us in steering a marquee Agile transformation for one of our premier banking clients. This high-profile, multi-year initiative will transition the organisation from a traditional Waterfall approach to a fully scaled Agile operating model, structured into Tribes and Squads. You will be instrumental in embedding Agile practices, coaching leadership and delivery teams, and ensuring capability uplift through a proven shadowing framework.

This role offers an initial 6-month renewable contract, with the broader programme running through to 2026. It follows a hybrid working model with the client based in Dublin, Ireland, and offers a competitive daily rate. This is an urgent requirement with a targeted start date in early June.

Key Responsibilities:

Agile Coaching & Culture Enablement

• Augment the client’s existing Agile coaching capacity at both Tribe and Squad levels.
• Champion Agile mindsets, Lean philosophies, and frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, etc.).
• Lead and facilitate critical Agile ceremonies, from daily stand-ups to Program Increment (PI) planning.
• Establish metrics and feedback loops to drive continuous improvement.
• Deliver a structured knowledge-transfer cycle: 6 weeks of direct coaching followed by 6 weeks of internal team leadership, with reciprocal shadowing.

Tribe-Level Support

• Interim Tribe Leadership: Collaborate with appointed Tribe Leads to:
• Validate strategic scope: app/platform landscape, book of work, product portfolio, and customer journeys.
• Define and document Tribe-level OKRs aligned to business priorities.
• Provide hands-on interim Tribe Leads for 6-week rotations, ensuring seamless capability handover through shadowing.
• Technical Tribe Leads: Deliver technical guidance by:
• Designing and optimising JIRA dashboards to enhance visibility, productivity, and flow.
• Proactively identifying and resolving delivery bottlenecks in conjunction with Release Train Engineers.
• Integrating DevOps best practices for reliable, repeatable releases.
• Resourcing Strategy: Scale support for three Tribes launching concurrently each quarter through 2025, continuing into 2026.

Squad-Level Support

• Squad Mobilisation & Interim Roles: Establish new Squads by:
• Deploying proven mobilisation checklists and ways-of-working frameworks.
• Assigning interim Product Owners to coach backlog creation, refinement, and prioritisation in JIRA.
• Assigning interim Scrum Masters to facilitate squad ceremonies, manage dependencies, and report on risks using Agile tooling.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

• Demonstrable track record as an Agile Coach within banking or financial services, leading end-to-end transformations.
• Hands-on expertise in the Tribe/Squad model and scaled Agile frameworks (SAFe, LeSS).
• Deep familiarity with Spotify’s Agile model—Tribes, Squads, Chapters, and Guilds.
• Experience applying McKinsey-style strategic planning to align Agile delivery with corporate objectives and OKRs.
• Outstanding facilitation, mentorship, and stakeholder engagement skills, from delivery teams to C-suite.
• Proficiency with Agile tools such as JIRA and Confluence.
• Proven ability to drive cultural change in large, complex organisations.