Scrum Master

Job title: Scrum Master

Location: Smithfield, RI

Pay rate: $56.00/hr. 

Duration: 12 Months

As a Scrum Master you blend deep Scrum expertise with a passion for mentoring, coaching, and continuous improvement. As part of highly collaborative Agile team(s), you will advise on performance against Agile values, practices, metrics, and processes to accelerate value delivery. In partnership with the Product Owner, you will maintain a backlog, help to remove impediments, and ensure effective Agile events. 

You will support the team by engaging with team members and product area leadership to reinforce and embed an Agile approach into the day-to-day work. This role often requires coordinating the efforts and releases of multiple systems teams to deliver a seamlessly integrated solution to our customers.

Responsibilities

Coach and guide teams toward higher maturity and self-organization.

Apply expert knowledge of Scrum techniques and artifacts, including user story refinement, backlog refinement, and PI Planning.

Support team members in resolving conflicts, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Facilitate all Iteration events, including planning, syncs, reviews, and retrospectives.

Work within the ART cadence to ensure alignment, manage dependencies, and support continuous learning cycles.

Collaborate with the Product Owner to maximize the value of the solution.

Establish and manage the team's Kanban board to visualize and improve work flow.

Measure and optimize flow, competency, and outcomes (OKR) metrics to assess and improve performance.

Coach Built-in Quality practices and foster high-performing team dynamics.

Participate in Communities of Practice (CoPs) and support SAFe Practice Consultants (SPCs).

Facilitate cross-team collaboration to deliver whole product solutions.

Ensure the team uses the IP Iteration for innovation, continuing education, and PI Planning preparation.

Here are the key skills and areas of expertise that are critical for success in this role:

Bachelor’s Degree/undergraduate degree/equivalent preferred

Introductory Scrum Master certification required; advanced certification preferred

Strong influencing, negotiation, and coaching experience with development teams in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment.

Substantial experience working with or in Agile teams with good understanding of Agile practices and tools (Jira, Kanban, Lean), technology, and value delivery for customers

Working closely with the Product Owner to plan and complete the highest priority work as per the product roadmap through well-executed sprints

Accelerating overall team performance, efficiency, and value delivered by engaging within and across teams to find opportunities to improve Agile maturity and metrics, and providing coaching, training, and resources

Ensuring Agile events are planned for and effective (e.g. sprint planning, daily meetings, retrospectives and as appropriate, Scrum of Scrums)

Maintaining and updating team performance metrics (e.g., burn-down charts) and artifacts to ensure accurate and clear feedback to the team members and transparency to other partners

Organizing and presenting ideas and information logically and concisely to a variety of audiences

Handling multiple, competing priorities simultaneously

Coaching and mentoring complex teams

Participating in a community of practice, providing Scrum knowledge to members of your product area and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement within the product area.