Delivery Manager (FTC)
Set the bar for greatness...
Our Digital Technology division is excited to be searching for a Delivery Manager to join on a fixed-term contract.
Reporting to the Senior Delivery Manager this role is responsible for the accurate and timely delivery of specific technology solutions. Working closely with the Product Management team and key business stakeholders, this role delivers technology using both internal and third-party development teams and requires experience in both Agile and Waterfall project methodologies.
This role will be aligned with our Digital Technology 'Learn‘ product line, which covers The FA‘s Education division based at Saint George's Park. The Education team have an ambitious agenda that is transformational, digital-first and insight-led, with a particular focus on personalisation and connected learning.
This product area ideates, designs, and develops software and data products to support our FA Education division at St George's Park, which is responsible for designing and delivering coaching, safeguarding, medical and Talent ID qualifications and coach development across the men, boys, women's, girls and disability game, from grassroots through to elite professional football. Any experience of managing and delivering Education domain projects, such as Learning Experience Platforms (LXPs) and their supporting data integrations and reporting solutions will be highly beneficial.
What will you be doing?
Project Delivery:
- If Agile, use Agile methodology across one or more agile development teams, including: -
- Use of FA Delivery Framework adopting key concepts of Agile PM and Scrum.
- Working with Product Managers and Product Owners to facilitate effective product planning, backlog management and creating a clear delivery plan.
- Ensuring ongoing and effective sprint management and communication.
- Support the day-to-day activities of an agile team and ensure Scrum ceremonies such as sprint planning, stand-ups, sprint reviews and sprint retrospectives take place and are effective.
- Driving the efficacy of the agile delivery team improving velocity and quality.
- If Waterfall, ensure projects are delivered on time, in scope and within budget, including:
- Collection and sign-off of all functional and non-functional requirements.
- Development and sign-off of high-level solution design.
- Creation/use of delivery with clear milestones and gates.
- Agreement and sign-off of clear user acceptance criteria.
Project Governance:
- Agile Projects:
- Use of FA Delivery Framework adopting key concepts of Agile PM and Scrum.
- Implement standard metrics to monitor development progress, g. velocity, burndown/up and quality.
- Ensure Agile PM artefacts are written, reviewed, and shared as required.
- Waterfall Projects:
- Standard FA Waterfall stages, gates and artefacts are communicated, commonly understood and respected.
- Implement best practice metrics to monitor resource & financial utilisation and progress.
- Ensure status against time and scope is measured and reported to stakeholders.
- Ensure central Business Management Project Office reporting requirements are met including RAG status, Sprint/Project Plan and RAID, Product/Project Dashboard.
- Ensure governance groups with senior stakeholders are in place for Product/Project delivery review.
- Ensure all projects follow standard FA IT change control processes and that releases are communicated in an effective and timely manner.
- Manage risk effectively and escalate issues appropriately.
Other:
- Support the development and continuous improvement of IT policies specifically the adoption of agile delivery best practice.
- Represent Digital Technology on cross-functional Product/Project teams and promote collaboration and mutual understanding of delivery methodologies.
- Executes additional tasks as required in order to meet FA Group changing priorities.
- Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing can be maintained.
- As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
What are we looking for?
Essential for the role:
- Demonstrable history of successfully delivering IT projects in both Agile and Waterfall methodologies across all stages of the software development life cycle.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, relationship building, communication, and influencing.
- Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.
- Effective communicator for all levels of the organisation – both written and verbal.
- Good judgement: identify project sensitivities, make good decisions, and know correct escalations.
- Ability to manage cross-functional teams without line-management responsibilities.
- Experience working with third-party development partners and SaaS (Software as a Service) solution providers.
- Comfortable managing data-focused projects such as data integrations and reporting.
Beneficial to have:
- Scrum Master certification.
- Agile Project Manager Practitioner.
- Other Project Methodology Certification e.g., Prince.
- Experience working in an elite sports environment.
- Experience/knowledge of football at any level.
- Experience in using some or all of Smartsheet, Teams, Miro, JIRA, and Confluence.
- Experience in Education software, processes, and platforms g. any Learning Experience Platforms (LXPs)
What's in it for you?
We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, to achieve this we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.
We pride ourselves in offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:
- Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and wellbeing.
- Free, nutritious lunches, at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
- Free private medical cover.
- A contributory pension scheme.
- An additional Thank You days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave.
- A hybrid working model offering greater flexibility.
For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers
Our Organisation
The Football Association [The FA] is the not-for-profit governing body of football in England. It is responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game, and generates significant revenue to support investment into English football each year.
The FA oversees England international teams across men's, women's, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, Barclays FA Women's Super League, FA Women's Championship, and Women's Adobe FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park, all with a purpose to Unite the Game and Inspire the Nation.
We currently work within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary.
Your contract with The FA will specify a fixed location of Wembley Stadium or St. George's Park unless the role is advertised as a home-based contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.
The FA, For All, For You
Our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.
https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/about-the-fa/2021/fa_a-game-for-all-strategy.ashx
A Game For All outlines three key strategic commitments – Lead the Change, Be the Change, and Inspire the Change – which will ensure tackling discrimination remains a core priority for English football for years to come.
We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.
We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.
As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
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