Scrum Master
Reports To: Senior Scrum Master
Line Management Responsibility: No
Role overview:
As a Scrum Master within Group Transformation, you will work with multiple teams to deliver our products and, in doing so, help the business implement our strategy and further enhance our market-leading customer offering.
You will be responsible for scrumming at least one product team. Your responsibilities will include ensuring cohesive delivery across teams, coaching them in Agile best practices, and removing impediments that affect multiple teams. Additionally, you'll work alongside a team of Senior Scrum Masters and Scrum Masters as a community, providing them with the support that they need to excel in their roles. You will contribute to your community of practice in order to ensure high quality and high engagement across your community.
The role will require exceptional organisation and problem-solving skills. Collaborative and communicative, you'll support the team to engage, coordinate, and cooperate in resolving issues effectively in an evolving environment, coaching the team as you help to implement an effective delivery framework. You'll promote Agile technical practices, removing barriers to your team's progress, and support them in finding the best ways to deliver on change initiatives.
Quality and agility will be at the heart of everything you do, driving improvements that help us deliver quicker to market whilst giving our customers the best possible experience. Scrum Masters will be highly performing, highly engaged colleagues passionate about Agile ways of working and delivering change, delivering great results with a focus on their own personal development.
Responsibilities:
Responsible for orchestrating and facilitating key Scrum events within programmes of work/product squads. Scrum events include but are not limited to Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives. Ensuring that these events run smoothly and remain focused on the objectives.
Empower teams to self-organise and facilitate decision-making during sprint planning sessions, ensuring the commitments made are appropriate and uphold scrum principles.
Lead, coach and mentor the team on Agile principles and practices, fostering a deep understanding of the Scrum framework. Encourage continuous learning and improvement within the team. Ensure team members learn and understand the Scrum theory and adhere to the Scrum values, principles, and practices.
Coach, mentor, and oversee the team delivering stories such that they meet the definition of done.
Maintain an in-depth knowledge of product lifecycles, standards, and supporting processes and practices.
Collaborate with the Product Manager to understand the business priorities in upcoming sprints and understand how this is going to impact workload and resources in the future.
Update agile tracking systems to provide transparency on Product & Backlogs.
Keep the team focused on the tasks that need to be completed in each iteration. Eliminating and avoiding any distractions and challenges that can impede progress.
Ensure that the team maintains a focus on quality and continuous delivery of business value.
Leverage data to measure & monitor progress against commitments and ensure reporting is data-driven, accurate and timely.
Ensure clear and transparent communication between the team and our most senior and influential stakeholders, providing insights into the team's performance and progress.
Ensure that information regarding progress, challenges, and changes are transparently shared with all stakeholders. This includes maintaining and updating Scrum artifacts like the Sprint Backlog, Burndown charts, time and spend tracking.
Take responsibility for your personal development, including working with your manager to set objectives and milestones and identify your training needs.
Identify new ways of working and supporting technologies that will assist the team to become more efficient and deliver a higher quality of delivery to the business.
Support the coaching, mentoring and upskilling of your fellow Scrum Masters and contribute to your Scrum Master community of practice. Continually look for ways to improve working practices and the overall service.
Skills and Experience
The following skills and qualifications are typical to the role of a Scrum Master. The list is non-exhaustive, and it is not compulsory for every Scrum Master to have those skills and qualifications listed below.
Professional Experience
2–5+ years of experience in Agile environments.
Prior experience, at least 2 years, as a Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or in a similar role.
Experience working with cross-functional teams in software development or product delivery.
Skills
Deep understanding of Scrum and Agile frameworks (Kanban, SAFe, LeSS).
Familiarity with Agile tools: JIRA, Azure DevOps, Rally, Trello, Miro.
Knowledge of Agile metrics: velocity, burn-down charts, and sprint reports.
Understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC) and DevOps practices.
Facilitation: Leading daily stand-ups, sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
Servant leadership: Supporting and empowering the team.
Conflict resolution: Navigating team dynamics and removing impediments.
Coaching: Guiding teams and stakeholders in Agile best practices.
Communication: Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills.
Key Services of the Scrum Function
Group Transformation Scrum Professionals are expected to be able to deliver the following services to a high standard to ensure cohesive delivery across teams, coaching them in agile best practices, and removing impediments that affect multiple teams.
Orchestration and Facilitation of Agile practices – including key Scrum events on our most complex programmes of work. Scrum events include Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives. Ensuring that these events run smoothly and remain focused on the objectives. Empower teams to self-organise and facilitate decision-making during sprint planning sessions, ensuring the commitments made are appropriate and uphold scrum principles.
Coaching and Mentoring - on Agile principles and practices, fostering a deep understanding of the Scrum framework. Encourage continuous learning and improvement within the team. Ensure team members learn and understand the Scrum theory and adhere to the Scrum values, principles, and practices.
Collaboration and Prioritisation - Collaborate with the Product team to understand the business priorities in upcoming sprints and demonstrate the ability to take a long-term and holistic view of work across the Group Transformation portfolio and understand how this is going to impact workload and resources in the future.
Planning - Demonstrate the ability to lead on senior meetings related to Agile work. Organise and facilitate Scrum events. Ensure that all team members can attend and participate, track team progress, note any obstacles, keep the meetings focused, and ensure Scrum deliverables are maintained.
Reporting through Monitoring and Tracking - Update agile tracking systems to provide transparency on Product & Backlogs.
Quality Management - Focus on quality management and set the benchmark for standards across our Scrum professionals. Ensure that documented outputs across the team are fit for the audience and of a high standard and quality.
Result-oriented service and Benefits Realisation – Ensure that sprint retrospectives measure the results against the set of deliverables and ensure that results are meeting the customers’ expectations. Be commercially aware and consider the impact of change when delivering business outcomes, ensure that resources are optimised to generate the highest return on investment.
Agile Tooling and Techniques - Be an expert in knowledge and application of Agile frameworks or methodologies ( Scrum, Kanban), and have in-depth knowledge of project and programme management principles and practices.
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