Senior Scrum Master

About the position

Kemper is one of the nation’s leading specialized insurers. Our success is a direct reflection of the talented and diverse people who make a positive difference in the lives of our customers every day. We believe a high-performing culture, valuable opportunities for personal development and professional challenge, and a healthy work-life balance can be highly motivating and productive. Kemper’s products and services are making a real difference to our customers, who have unique and evolving needs. By joining our team, you are helping to provide an experience to our stakeholders that delivers on our promises. As a Senior Scrum Master, you will play a key leadership role in driving Agile adoption and execution across teams. You will coach, mentor, and empower Scrum teams to achieve high performance, ensure Agile best practices are followed, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. This role involves working closely with Product Owners, Project Managers, and stakeholders to optimize delivery, remove impediments, and enhance transparency across Agile teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead Agile execution and delivery by applying Kemper Agility values, principles, and best practices to manage complex, high-impact sprints.
• Coach and mentor Scrum teams, fostering Agile adoption, guiding teams through estimation and planning techniques, and ensuring alignment on sprint goals and priorities.
• Facilitate Scrum events, release planning workshops, and cross-team collaboration, driving transparency, adaptability, and continuous improvement across teams.
• Support sprint and product delivery, assisting Project Managers with risk and issue management, and partnering with Product Owners to refine and prioritize backlogs.
• Identify and remove impediments, ensuring seamless collaboration across internal and external (onshore/offshore) teams while promoting test automation and quality execution.
• Play a key role in stakeholder communication and Agile reporting, maintaining visibility into sprint progress, project financials, and release vision while ensuring alignment across leadership and delivery teams.

Requirements

• Education equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, business, or a related field preferred.
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) required.
• Additional Agile certifications preferred (e.g., PSM, PMI-ACP, CSP, SPC, CSPO).
• PMP, ITIL, or SA certifications are a plus.
• 5+ years of experience as a Scrum Master, with a track record of successfully leading Agile teams.
• 3+ years of hands-on Scrum Master experience in complex Agile environments, demonstrating deep Agile mindset adoption.
• Proven ability to manage dependencies across multiple teams and balance budget, capacity, quality, prioritization, and deadlines.
• Experience working in highly technical environments with state-of-the-art technologies.
• Deep understanding of Scrum principles, Agile methodologies, and Lean-Agile practices.
• Strong knowledge of Scrum techniques and artifacts, including Definition of Done, backlog refinement, user stories, automated testing, and Agile planning.
• Familiarity with multiple Agile frameworks such as Kanban, XP, SAFe, LeSS, and Crystal.
• Ability to coach and mentor teams to adopt and improve Agile practices, promoting a data-driven culture and continuous improvement mindset.
• Capable of overseeing multi-functional Agile project teams on integrated and complex platforms.
• Experience leading and managing Agile teams, fostering high performance, and removing impediments.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams and leadership.
• Skilled in Agile metrics, reporting, and transparency to drive data-informed decision-making.

Nice-to-haves

• Preferred experience with insurance industry and managing IT security and infrastructure projects.

Benefits

• Qualify for your choice of health and dental plans within your first month.
• Save for your future with robust 401(k) match, Health Spending Accounts and various retirement plans.
• Learn and Grow with our Tuition Assistance Program, paid certifications and continuing education programs.
• Contribute to your community through United Way and volunteer programs.
• Balance your life with generous paid time off and business casual dress.
• Get employee discounts for shopping, dining and travel through Kemper Perks.