Senior Associate- Scrum Master

We are seeking a Scrum Master to drive Agile execution and continuous improvement within Scaled Agile (SAFe) environments.

The Scrum Master will serve as a servant leader, facilitating Agile ceremonies, coaching teams, and enabling Agile Release Trains (ARTs) to deliver high-value solutions efficiently. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in SAFe, Agile coaching, cross-team collaboration, and enterprise Agile transformation, ensuring alignment between teams, business objectives, and Lean-Agile principles.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Act as a Scrum Master within a Scaled Agile (SAFe) environment, facilitating Agile ceremonies such as PI Planning, Scrum of Scrums, Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, and Inspect & Adapt sessions.
• Guide and support Agile teams, Product Owners, and stakeholders, fostering self-organization, cross-team collaboration, and high-performance delivery.
• Coach Agile Release Train (ART) teams on SAFe best practices, Lean-Agile principles, and Agile mindset adoption.
• Facilitate Program Increment (PI) Planning and ART synchronization, ensuring clear dependencies, objectives, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Remove organizational and technical impediments, enabling teams to deliver value faster and with higher quality.
• Promote continuous improvement and relentless execution, guiding teams in identifying and implementing retrospective action items.
• Assist Product Owners and Business Owners in effective backlog management, prioritization, and value-driven decision-making.
• Foster an environment of transparency, psychological safety, and accountability, enabling trust and continuous learning.
• Drive SAFe Lean Portfolio Management practices, ensuring alignment between strategic initiatives and Agile execution.
• Enable Agile metrics tracking and reporting, leveraging KPIs such as Velocity, Flow Efficiency, Lead Time, and Predictability to measure team progress.
• Collaborate with Release Train Engineers (RTEs), Solution Architects, and DevOps teams to optimize delivery pipelines and Agile execution.
• Promote DevOps and CI/CD adoption, fostering a culture of Lean-Agile technical excellence and innovation.
• Stay updated with SAFe and Agile industry trends, continuously improving Agile methodologies, frameworks, and tools.

Must-Have Skills:

• SAFe Certified Scrum Master (SSM), SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM), or SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE) certification.
• Hands-on experience with Agile Portfolio Management and Agile Governance.
• Experience as a Scrum Master in Agile and SAFe environments.
• Deep understanding of SAFe principles, Agile Release Trains (ARTs), Lean-Agile frameworks, and Agile coaching.
• Hands-on experience with SAFe Agile ceremonies, PI Planning, Scrum of Scrums, Inspect & Adapt, and Iteration execution.
• Strong knowledge of Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, XP, SAFe) and enterprise Agile transformations.
• Proficiency in Agile project management tools (JIRA, Rally, Azure DevOps, Confluence, Miro).
• Experience with Lean Portfolio Management (LPM), Lean-Agile metrics, and flow-based work management.
• Ability to coach, mentor, and empower Agile teams, fostering collaboration, servant leadership, and high performance.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, ensuring alignment across business and technical teams.
• Understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, Test Automation, and Agile Quality Assurance.
• Proven ability to resolve conflicts, remove blockers, and optimize team performance.

Good-to-Have Skills:

• Domain experience with Biotech/Pharma industry is a plus
• Additional certifications in Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), or SAFe Agilist (SA).
• Experience in leading SAFe implementations, Agile transformations, and enterprise Agile coaching.
• Knowledge of Value Stream Mapping, Lean Thinking, and OKR-based goal setting.

Education and Professional Certifications

• Doctorate Degree with 3-5 + years of experience in Computer Science, IT or related field
• OR
• Masters degree with years of experience in Computer Science, IT or related field
• OR
• Bachelors degree with years of experience in Computer Science, IT or related field

Soft Skills:

• Excellent analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work effectively with global, virtual teams
• High degree of initiative and self-motivation.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities successfully.
• Team-oriented, with a focus on achieving team goals.
• Ability to learn quickly, be organized and detail oriented.
• Strong presentation and public speaking skills.