Mark Stringer

Agile Coach, Scrum Master and Trainer

SUMMARY

  • Agile Coach: coaching teams and organisations through Agile transformations to high-performing Agile maturity
  • Scrum Master: facilitating the Agile development process, initiating and sustaining a high-functioning Agile team
  • Trainer: authoring and delivering compelling and memborable Agile training courses.

SKILLS

  • Agile, Scrum and Lean
  • Implementation of TDD - Test Driven Development
  • Implementation of CI - Continuous Integration (GitHub, Git, Gherkin, Cucumber, JUnit, Selenium, Jenkins)
  • Authoring and delivering Agile training to a syllabus for certification
  • Agile at scale methodologies - SAFE, LeSS, DAD

EMPLOYMENT

Sopra Steria Ltd (January ‘14 - Present)

Agile Coach/Scrum Master -UK Government Department

  • Required to deliver a complex Geographical Information Systems project in the public spotlight against aggressive timelines.
  • Initiated scrum ceremonies, working with Sopra and Government team members to write stories, create and maintain a product backlog,
  • Working with consultants from the Government Digital Service (GDS) to ensure and Agile approach to governance which also satisfies organisational requirements for reporting.

Agile Trainer/Author - Agile Foundation Certificate Course - Accredited by BCS

  • Developed a course in accordance with the British Computer Society’s Agile Foundation Certificate curriculum.
  • Developed the course iteratively over the course of 6 months, modifying the course in response to delegate feedback.
  • Course is almost entirely activity and discussion-based, using a “Training from the Back of the Room” approach.

Agile Trainer - Toyota UK Ltd

  • Provided training in Agile methods to employees of Toyota and Sopra UK at their head offices in Epsom, Uk.

Tata Consulting Services (February ‘12 - December ‘13) Permanent Role

Senior Agile Consultant (July ‘12 -December ‘13) - Lloyds Bank, London:

  • Ensuring delivery of software to a key banking industry forum within a timescale mandated by banking regulatory authorities - the project won an internal project management innovation award.
  • Using Agile methodologies to turn around a failing project which had become massively late and over-budget using traditional project management approaches.

Agile Coach (February’12 - June’12) - JP Morgan Chase:

  • Lead a programme of Agile transformation in Kansas City, USA.
  • Responsible for the coaching of four teams in the application of Agile, from project kick-off to final delivery.
  • Coaching on the introduction and implementation of a TDD and CI strategy for development teams.
  • Restructuring PMO function to work with Agile development teams.

Fry-IT Ltd (November ‘11 - February ‘12) Contract Role

Scrum Master:

  • Responsible for running all Agile aspects of software development for a team distributed across Europe.

Project Management Consultant

  • Worked with the directors of Fry-IT to produce a scalable structure for software development.
  • Managed Relationships with 3rd Party Stakeholders, including Oxford University Medical School.

John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Online Library (December ‘09 - October ‘11) Contract Role - renewed 3 times

Scrum Master and Project Manager:

  • Delivered a $30m project which represented a possible $500m annual turnover for the company.
  • Delivered against an aggressive timescale within a rigid 1 month window of opportunity for release in September 2010.
  • Responsible for running 6 agile development teams, running Agile process meetings, daily stand-ups, scrum of scrums, sprint planning, showcases and retrospectives.
  • Day-to-day management of software development by 30 developers; reporting on project progress to senior management and planning releases of future work.
  • Development was in a Java environment using pair programming, TDD and CI all project management was done using JIRA the suite of tools, including Greenhopper.

Agile Lab (June ‘07 - December ‘09) Own Company

Agile Project Management Consultant: Developed training materials for Agile Project Management courses and coached new Agile teams.

University of Sussex (February ‘05 - June ‘07)

Applications Researcher and Software Development Project Manager: Managed the delivery of working software on a strict timescale that was fit for purpose and ready to be deployed in private homes as part of a research study.

Soda Creative (July ‘04 - February ‘05)

Project Manager: First encounter with Agile. Lead the project for an internet bank through the full development life cycle. Met challenging deadlines with deliveries of working software against a backdrop of frequently changing regulatory requirements.

University of Cambridge (October ‘02 - July ‘04) - UI Researcher

Xerox Research Centre Europe (March ‘98 - October ‘02) - Applications Researcher / Project Manager

Project Manager: Managed development of third-party software for handsets used in a field trial of a mobile document access application.

IBM (October ‘94 - March ‘98) - Software Developer

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS

  • Diploma in German - Open University (‘98-‘00)
  • MSc in Cognitive Science - Birmingham University (‘92-‘93)
  • MA Hons Philosophy (2:1) - St Andrews (‘87-‘91)
  • CSM (Certified Scrum Master)
  • SCJP (Sun Certified Java Programmer)
  • UK Driving Licence

INTERESTS

  • Writing a book called “Delivering the Impossible”
  • Open Mic Stand-up Comedy