Scrum Master

JOB SUMMARY

This position is a Scrum Master within our Continuous Improvement Department reporting to the Sr. Manager. As a Scrum Master you will play a crucial role in our software development process by following the principles of the scaled agile framework to coach cross functional teams in the execution of portfolio initiatives within an Agile release train. The individual in this role takes a coach/mentor as a servant leader to help the team self-organize and adopt an attitude of continuous improvement. Actively identifies and removes impediments to ensure that assigned sprints and strategic initiatives are completed on time. Tracks and reports daily output of the team against schedule commitments. May lead up to two scrum teams.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Guides and coaches, the Scrum Team on how to use Agile practices and principles to deliver high quality products and services to our customers.

• Function in a servant-leader role to the scrum team(s) helping them understand and embrace our scrum concepts.

• Facilitates and supports all scrum events: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.

• Resolves/solves impediments inter-team and intra-team and/or proactively escalate issues as needed.

• Identifies risk to delivery and reports risks/issues to the Sr Mgr, Continuous Improvement or program leadership team as needed to develop broader risk mitigation action plans.

• Ensures the team is prepared for sprint demos, reviews and retrospectives, ensuring the team follows these key ceremonies with appropriate content/quality.

• Partners with the Product Owner to help the team create and execute sprints.

• Ensures required data elements and documentation are in the work products as required in the DoR.

• Identifies resources needed and ensures the team has enough velocity to commit to planned work.

• Analyzes burn rate of the sprint and holds team accountable for burning down task hours.

• Tracks adherence to assigning hours and story points at the sprint level and that team updates reporting data elements daily.

• Holds regular interactions with other Scrum Masters or Product Owners as appropriate to deliver features, epics and stories as requested by stakeholders.

• Monitors and confirms adherence to the DoD.

• Align sprint output with Release Management for production delivery.

• Create and manage communication on cadence driven report cycle by delivering accurate, informative, well-organized status reporting.

• Effectively convey our strategic vision in both written and verbal business development discussions.

• Facilitates Program Increment Planning for their respective team(s). Help the team prepare for planning and understand their capacity.

• Ensures understanding of scope required for delivery in the Program Increment and in each sprint.

• Communicates business value of work products to the team. Links strategic initiatives to sprint outcomes.

• Coordinate collaboration with other teams and/or individual contributors and stakeholders during Program Increment Planning.

• Assists team in developing and articulating Program Increment goals/objectives and business value.

QUALIFICATIONS (Educational Background, Professional Experience, Skills, Knowledge, Competencies)

Equivalent Education Level Required: Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or a relevant field preferred.

Experience Required: Scrum Master Certification (CSM) required. Experience working with Data centric scrum teams or Data focused projects required. An understanding of cloud deployment pipelines, IaC workflows, and common cloud service dependencies, release management processes desired. An awareness of migration timelines, Infrastructure setups, data refresh cycles, and performance testing requirements also useful. Work is independent with frequent mentoring and collaborative in nature. Requires 3-7 years of Scrum Master experience. Experience with SAFe methodology a plus. Should have strong potential to learn and retain technical terminology and in translating basic technical terms to non-technical people. Demonstration of strong analytical skills preferred. Experience in the Financial Industry preferred.

Knowledge Required: Excellent written and verbal communications skills to communicate in person, by phone, and through email; adaptability and flexibility to changing environment; and comfortable working in a dynamic, high volume, challenging environment. Ability to read, write, evaluate, and apply information. Ability to interact professionally and exhibit appropriate social skills. The ability to use standard collaborations tools such as Rally, MS Teams, Zoom is required. Ability to develop and maintain business relationships. MS Office – intermediate user (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint). Any prior experience with Agile PPM tools like Agile Central (Rally), Rally, SharePoint is highly desired. Familiarity and any associated certifications using the SAFe 2.5/4.0 methodology is highly attractive.