Scrum Master Sr

Description

SAFe-experienced Scrum Master to support two agile delivery teams focused on platforms, tools, and Data & Analytics application development. The ideal candidate is a servant leader who excels at facilitating agile ceremonies, driving team accountability, removing impediments, and enabling high-performing teams in a global, remote environment. This role requires solid experience working with distributed teams across multiple geographic regions, excellent English communication skills, and hands-on experience with Azure DevOps (ADO), Microsoft collaboration tools, and agile delivery practices within a SAFe environment. The Scrum Master will work closely with the Release Train Engineer (RTE), Product Management, Product Owners, Architects, and Delivery Teams to ensure successful planning, execution, and delivery of Program Increment (PI) objectives. ________________________________________________________________ Key Responsibilities: SAFe and Agile Delivery Leadership * Serve as Scrum Master for two agile delivery teams. * Facilitate Scrum and SAFe ceremonies, ensuring adherence to agile principles and best practices. * Promote a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, transparency, and collaboration. * Coach team members, Product Owners, and stakeholders on Agile and SAFe practices. * Drive effective Agile execution with a focus on predictable delivery and team maturity. Program Increment (PI) Planning and Execution * Support and coordinate PI Planning preparation in partnership with the Release Train Engineer (RTE). * Ensure readiness for PI Planning, including: o Team capacity planning o Azure DevOps (ADO) board preparation o Feature and story refinement o Dependency identification o Risk management activities * Facilitate and coordinate: o Confidence Vote activities o ROAM (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated) management o Alignment and tracking of Program Increment objectives Sprint Management * Facilitate Sprint Planning sessions to enable realistic work input and team commitments. * Manage sprint execution and delivery metrics. * Facilitate Daily Stand-ups and Sprint Retrospectives. * Monitor team velocity, predictability, and flow metrics. * Ensure commitments are achievable and aligned with capacity. Impediment and Issue Management * Proactively drive identification and resolution of blockers. * Focus on effective removal of impediments and management of interruptions. * Escalate risks, dependencies, and impediments as appropriate. * Coordinate cross-team collaboration to minimize delivery disruptions. Incident and Operational Support * Support Incident Management activities, including: o Coordination of system monitoring o Management of outage communications o Problem ticket management in ServiceNow (SN) o Tracking and follow-up of operational issues * Collaborate with technical teams to drive timely problem resolution. Agile Quality and Governance * Encourage agile best practices with emphasis on: o Clear, concise, and consistent User Story writing o Well-defined Acceptance Criteria o Backlog health and readiness o Continuous improvement initiatives * Ensure consistent application of Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD). Documentation and Data Governance * Responsible for maintaining appropriate team documentation. * Support documentation standards and knowledge management practices. * Ensure the data catalog and related agile artifacts remain up-to-date and accurate. ________________________________________________________________ Required Qualifications * SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) certification or equivalent SAFe certification. * Minimum 2 years of experience supporting global, remote agile teams. * Minimum 3–5 years of experience as a Scrum Master in agile environments. * English fluency (verbal and written). * Proven experience facilitating agile teams in large-scale settings. * Hands-on experience with: o Azure DevOps (ADO) o Microsoft Teams o Microsoft Office Suite o SharePoint o ServiceNow (preferred) * Solid knowledge of: o Scrum framework o SAFe framework o Agile metrics and reporting o Capacity planning o Risk and dependency management ________________________________________________________________ Desired Qualifications * Experience supporting Data & Analytics product teams, Business Intelligence, Data Engineering, Data Platforms, Data Warehousing, Reporting, or Analytics. * Experience working on large-scale agile transformations in enterprises. * Familiarity with cloud-based data platforms and modern data ecosystems. * Experience working closely with Release Train Engineers (RTEs) in SAFe environments. ________________________________________________________________ Interpersonal Skills and Leadership Expectations The ideal Scrum Master demonstrates a strong servant leadership mindset—balancing facilitation, coaching, and influence rather than directive management. Key leadership attributes include: * Servant leader who empowers teams to self-organize and succeed. * Effective facilitator capable of aligning diverse stakeholders. * Excellent coaching and mentoring skills. * Effective conflict resolution and negotiation skills. * Influential communicator with strong stakeholder management capabilities. * Ability to maintain balance between: o Being overly permissive ("too flexible") o Being overly directive ("too rigid") * Focus on creating an environment where teams can continuously improve and deliver value. The Scrum Master is expected to act like a successful sports coach—adding value through preparation, observation, facilitation, measurement, and continuous improvement, rather than performing the work directly. Success will be measured by the team’s ability to improve delivery predictability, quality, collaboration, and overall agile maturity. ________________________________________________________________ Success Metrics The selected candidate is expected to: * Improve readiness and quality of Program Increment (PI) Planning execution. * Increase delivery predictability and sprint commitment reliability. * Reduce time to resolve blockers. * Improve agile maturity across both teams. * Enhance backlog quality and compliance with acceptance criteria. * Drive continuous improvement through actionable retrospective outcomes. * Maintain strong team engagement and stakeholder satisfaction. * Support successful implementation of Data & Analytics initiatives aligned with business objectives.