Scrum Master

NPL is grasping exciting opportunities to maximise its impact for the UK across Science Innovation and Technology. Making big changes that touch our Culture, Talent, External Value Proposition and our organisational shape, we plan to introduce Agile ways of working. Collaborative working across the organisation, deep customer focus and moving at pace, iteratively, rather than having all the answers up front will be somewhat different to the approaches we’ve taken before and we need experienced and passionate change agents to join us in leading from the front.

We are looking for a highly motivated and experienced Scrum Master to lead Agile teams to help us deliver our desired business outcomes. We are not just embracing Agile—we are shaping the future of how we work. As a Scrum Master, you will play a pivotal role in embedding agility throughout the organisation and influencing how teams collaborate and deliver value early and often. This is a unique opportunity to be part of an organisation-wide strategic change, where your insights and leadership will directly impact our culture, processes, and ways of working.

Main responsibilities of the role: 

Embed Agile practices and mindset within the teams and advocate for Agile principles at leadership level

• Facilitate ceremonies, including Sprint Planning, Daily Standups, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives
• Act as a servant leader, empowering teams to become collaborative, self-organising and high-performing
• Remove barriers and obstacles that may affect the team’s ability to deliver value
• Coach product owners, scrum team members and stakeholders to foster Agile adoption and support the broader organisational shift to agile mindset
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement through regular feedback loops
• Track team performance metrics (e.g. velocity, burndown), supporting the team to work effectively and efficiently
• Collaborate with Product Owners to refine and maintain product backlogs, ensuring alignment with business goals
• Build trust within the team and with stakeholders, ensuring they understand the benefits of working with Agile. Help manage expectations on deliverables and timelines

To ensure you are able to deliver at right level, these are the skills and experience we are looking for

• Previous experience as a Scrum Master or relevant Agile experience
• Knowledge of Agile methodologies and frameworks
• Expert facilitation, influencing, coaching, and leadership skills
• Experience in conflict resolution, problem-solving, stakeholder management and change management
• Ability to drive team engagement and ensure continuous delivery of value
• Experience in using agile tools (preferably Azure DevOps)

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that provides cutting-edge measurement science, engineering and technology to underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK. Find out more about what it is like working here -The measure of us - Overview

NPL and DSIT have strong commitments to diversity and equality of opportunity, and welcome applications from candidates irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or age, providing they meet the required criteria. Applications from women, disabled and black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates in particular are encouraged. All disabled candidates (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) who satisfy the minimum criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme.

At NPL, we believe our success is a result of the diversity and talent of our people. We strive to nurture and respect individuals to ensure everyone feels valued by treating everyone on the basis of their own individual merits and abilities regardless of their own or perceived identity, as part of our commitment to diversity & inclusion, we ensure we’re creating an environment where all our colleagues feel supported and welcome. More about this on our Diversity & Inclusion page.

We are committed to the health and well-being of our employees. Flexible working and social activities are embedded in our culture to create a positive work-life balance, along with a broad range of rewards, benefits and recognition. Our values are at the heart of what we do, and they shape the way we interact, develop our people and celebrate success. To ensure everyone has an equal chance, we’re always willing to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss, please contact us.