Biography
Darren Taylor
I've been working in software development for ten years now and during that time have experienced a range of roles, approaches and environments. From a software developer and tester through to project manager through to ScrumMaster, from hardcore Prince 2 through to all things Agile, from a multinational FTSE 100 company through to smaller privately owned enterprises - I've undergone a bit of a journey.
For the past six years of this journey I've chosen to work with Agile projects and teams. The reason for that is quite simple. Of the different ways I've worked I enjoy this the most. I find it the most fulfilling and rewarding. A large part of that fulfilment and reward comes from the fact that I believe an Agile approach to be a great way in which to develop and deliver valuable business solutions.
I look forward to continuing on this path into the near future and beyond.
Work experience
Macmillan Science and Education, Lead ScrumMaster
March 2011 - Present, London, United Kingdom
I'm the Lead ScrumMaster for Digital Systems within Macmillan Science and Education. As part of this role I've been responsible for driving the adoption of Scrum across the Digital Systems department and for working with a team of ScrumMasters to facilitate and encourage the continued improvement of development processes. I've also continued to be an active ScrumMaster on my own individual projects helping a development team utilise Scrum to deliver valuable software, products and services for the business.
I'm now moved away from working with an individual project team to leading the organisational Agile capability across the whole of Macmillan Science and Education. This involves working with multiple teams and to support and facilitate the continuous improvement of our Agile capability. I work closely with a range of technical and business stakeholders to help generate an increased awareness and undertanding of Agile and support the effective application of Agile tools and practices such as Scrum.
Faculty of 1000, Technical Project Manager
August 2007 - March 2011, London, United Kingdom
In my role of Technical Project Manager I oversaw the development and implementation of a number of web based projects and the introduction and championing of an effective Agile development model. As part of this I took on the role of ScrumMaster to facilitate the realignment of an ad-hoc type development approach to one following the Scrum framework. I also championed the introduction of wider Agile supporting practices such as Kanban WIP limits and BDD. I was responsible for driving an understanding of the new development processes not just across the development team but also across the wider business, generating awareness of the benefits and the necessary support of senior stakeholders. The most recent project we delivered was the complete redesign and rebuild of two separate sites (f1000medicine.com and f1000biology.com) into one new single site (f1000.com). It was at F1000 where I became a certified ScrumMaster and Product Owner.