Scrum Master

About the position

The Program is looking for a Scrum Master to join a high performing agile team using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodology to support a large, complex, fast-paced technical program. Program execution follows DevOps best practices and employs robust development, test, and production environments. We are using Behavior Driven Development (BDD) and test automation tools alongside a full suite of team collaboration tools. The program provides system engineering, development, test, integration, and operational support, and is focused on injecting new technology and adding advanced capabilities while continuing to support an on-going mission and operational system. This role requires an experienced Agile Lead/Scrum Master to work on a large-scale software and hardware integration effort. The selected candidate will be responsible for facilitating either one large, complex agile team, or several small agile teams as part of a larger Agile Release Train (ART) delivering value to the customer using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The candidate will help educate and coach the teams in Scrum, Scrumban, or Kanban to ensure that the agile processes are being followed. They will help remove impediments/roadblocks and foster an environment for high-performing team dynamics, continuous flow, and relentless improvement. The selected candidate will work with team members, with other Agile Scrum Masters, and with support personnel to ensure that the team's commitments at the Program Increment (PI) Planning are met. The candidate will facilitate horizontal communication across team members to identify any impediments that may prevent team progress while working mitigation plans. The selected candidate will be responsible for sensing, determining, and leading discussions when issues need to be analyzed or triaged, and for making improvements in determining and implementing improvements to processes. Strong attention to detail and focus on task completion is critical.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for facilitating self-organizing team(s) to ensure the team is making progress against Program Increment commitments.
• Protect the team from scope creep during execution of the PI.
• Remove impediments for the team and coordinate with the Release Train Engineers in implementing solutions.
• Help team members communicate, coordinate, and cooperate.
• Coach, support and enforce Scrum process and other process rules.
• Ensure that the team has a clear understanding of Definition of Done and how to meet it.
• Coordinate with other teams on the Agile Release Trains (ARTs) and communicate status to management.
• Work with the Product Owner(s) to review and prioritize features.
• Lead and facilitate SAFe ceremonies to include Sprint Planning, Sprint Reviews to include demos, Sprint Retrospectives, and PI Planning.
• Work with Product Owner(s) and System Engineers to develop User Stories to meet the Feature acceptance criteria.
• Maintain and generate information radiators for the teams.
• Collect and share team metrics with the team, determine when new metrics are needed, and develop improvements in metrics.
• Coach teams on Agile and Scrum principles with the goal of continuous improvement.
• Observe team dynamics, recognize strengths and weaknesses of individual team member's contributions, and coach the team as a whole to drive improvements in productivity.
• Create a fun sharing and learning environment, experiment with various ideas to improve delivery, including pair-programming and cross-functional training.
• Promote teamwork to achieve Sprint goals.
• Lead teams towards Agile maturity.

Requirements

• Experience working as a Scrum Master for a software development or similar technical team.
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM), SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) or similar agile project management certification (PMI-ACP).
• Experience using agile project management tools (e.g. Jira, VersionOne, Rallye, IBM RTC).
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, and time management skills are a must.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, across diverse systems and groups.

Nice-to-haves

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and at least 8 (eight) years of relevant work experience. Additional relevant experience may be substituted for a degree.
• Experience working with large software systems including hardware integration and test.
• Experience working with multi-disciplinary technical development teams.
• Experience using SAFe as the agile development methodology.
• Experience-affecting change in organizations working towards agile adoption.
• Experience applying test automation, test-driven development, continuous integration, and continuous deployment to achieve built-in quality by the team.
• Experience using Kanban as a means to improve flow on support teams.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Health savings accounts
• 401(k) savings plan
• Disability coverage
• Life and accident insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Legal plan
• Discounts on home, auto, and pet insurance
• Paid time off
• Paid holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Paid military leave
• Paid bereavement leave
• Federal and state sick leave
• Company recognition program