Ref ZR_200_JOB
Embedded coaching role helping software and product teams in Lyon's regulated manufacturing digital environment deliver smaller, more frequent outcomes, three days onsite weekly on a freelance basis
Lyon, France | Freelance assignment | Three days onsite per week
Our client is a major international organisation seeking an experienced, hands-on Performance & Agility Coach to work alongside multidisciplinary software product and engineering teams in its Lyon-based manufacturing and supply digital environment. Teams develop bespoke digital products that support complex operational needs, including modelling and simulation solutions.
This is an embedded coaching assignment focused on helping teams deliver meaningful outcomes in smaller, more frequent increments. It is not a framework rollout, a training-only role or a detached enterprise transformation advisory position.
Spend time directly with software engineering and product teams to observe how work really happens, understand their constraints and build credibility through practical help.
Coach teams and their leaders to improve focus, prioritisation, collaboration, flow and the delivery of valuable outcomes to users.
Identify root causes of delays, unclear decisions, handoffs, dependencies and competing priorities; help teams test manageable improvements rather than prescribe a standard model.
Help teams break large initiatives into smaller, testable increments and create more frequent feedback from users and stakeholders.
Improve delivery forecasting by using appropriate evidence, explaining uncertainty and supporting realistic commitments without false precision.
Use a balanced set of quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess progress, including delivery reliability, user outcomes, team confidence, stakeholder trust and growing independence.
Work constructively with Product Owners, engineering leaders and senior stakeholders to remove systemic barriers while maintaining strong team-level engagement.
Support delivery within the quality, security, validation and governance constraints of a regulated environment, building sustainable internal capability.
Substantial recent experience coaching software engineering or digital product teams directly, with the ability to gain trust quickly in sceptical or previously over-coached environments.
Concrete examples of personally improving delivery and user or business outcomes—not just ownership of transformation programmes, workshops or operating models.
Practical understanding of modern software delivery, engineering dependencies, testing, release processes, technical quality and product discovery.
Confidence applying flow measures, forecasting, Lean thinking and improvement experiments, with the ability to explain how these approaches were used and what changed.
Ability to assess success over three to six months using meaningful qualitative evidence alongside sensible numerical measures.
Strong facilitation, listening, coaching and influencing skills across engineers, product specialists and leadership, without relying on formal authority.
Fluent professional English and reliable availability for three days onsite each week in Lyon.
Experience in pharmaceutical, manufacturing, GxP or similarly regulated settings.
French language capability.
Lean portfolio practices, probabilistic forecasting, continuous delivery and organisational systems thinking, where backed by genuine hands-on application.
After the first three to six months, teams should be able to point to visible improvements: clearer priorities; smaller and more frequent delivery of useful outcomes; more credible forecasting; fewer avoidable blockers; healthier collaboration; greater confidence to challenge assumptions; and less reliance on the coach to solve recurring problems. The right measures will be agreed in context, with evidence from teams, stakeholders and users.
You are curious, pragmatic and comfortable getting close to the work. You listen and observe before recommending changes, can explain your reasoning in straightforward language, and know when to coach, challenge or facilitate. You are motivated by what teams and users achieve—not by the adoption of a particular framework.
Lyon, France. Freelance engagement requiring three days onsite per week; the specific onsite days and contracting arrangements will be confirmed during the process. Engagement: Freelance contract.
Language: Professional English essential; French advantageous.
ALL CANDIDATES MUST HAVE CURRENT AUTHORISATION TO WORK IN FRANCE