SKA Project Manager/Scrum Master at The University of Manchester

This post is for a Project Manager/Scrum Master who will work within the University of Manchester (UoM) team involved in the construction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Telescope. UoM are involved in several key areas of SKA construction; this particular role demands oversight of an international Agile team of around 14 developers called MCCS (Monitoring, Control and Calibration Software).

The Square Kilometre Array will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever built and will be capable of transformative and headline-making science. The telescope will feature cutting-edge technology alongside extremely fast supercomputers, allowing the Universe to be studied in exquisite detail in order to revolutionise our understanding of it. The SKA is currently being built across 2 continents and is expected to reach completion in early 2028.

When fully operational the SKA Observatory (SKAO) will have 2 telescope facilities covering different frequency ranges; SKA-Mid (located in South Africa, consisting of 197 traditional dish antennas) and SKA-Low (located in Australia, consisting of 131,072 smaller tree-like antennas). The SKAO has a Global Headquarters (HQ) which is located on the site of the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO), home to the iconic Lovell telescope.

The Project Manager will oversee software development, supporting a small team of UoM developers as a Scrum Master and co-ordinating daily with colleagues in the SKAO also working in these areas. The Project Manager will be expected to define deliverables and provide the team with a clear definition of required tasks and timeframes, delegating where necessary, reporting regularly on progress and providing clear leadership and support. They will need knowledge of the tools, equipment and software involved and be able to resolve potential conflict and deal with issues as they arise. The role demands someone who is decisive and works well under pressure with good people management skills.

In order to best manage the very large and complex software development programme the SKAO works to an industry standard project management framework, SAFe. The SKAO SAFe programme currently comprises around 20 multi-disciplined international SAFe Agile development teams, including the MCCS team.

The MCCS Scrum Master will manage all activities of the MCCS development team on a daily basis, working closely with the MCCS Product Owner and the SKAO MCCS Product Managers, as well as MCCS software developers, external SMEs and other SKA construction stakeholders. The aim is to successfully plan and deliver the MCCS software package to meet the outlined functional, non-functional and performance requirements within required timescales, budgets and quality standards.

As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:
Name: Prof Keith Grainge
Email: keith.grainge@manchester.ac.uk.

Further particulars including job description and person specification are available on the University of Manchester website – click on the ‘Apply’ button above to find out more.