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