Agile Scrum Master / Project Manager

vantagescore; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 165,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(K) matched up to 7%

Flexible Time Off

12 Paid Holi

Job summary

VantageScore, based in South San Francisco, seeks an experienced Agile Scrum Master / Project Manager to drive Scrum ceremonies, planning, and delivery across multiple fintech-focused teams. You will remove blockers, coach teams on Agile practices, and partner with Product and Engineering to ensure predictable, high-quality outcomes.

The role emphasizes structure in ambiguity, improvement mindset, and delivering projects on time and on budget within a hybrid, onsite-friendly setting.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience as a Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Project Manager, ideally within a software/technology/fintech environment.
• Demonstrated expertise facilitating Agile ceremonies and applying Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid Agile frameworks.
• Strong experience with project and Agile management tooling (e.g., Jira, Confluence or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience managing project scope, schedule, budget, and risk for cross-functional initiatives.
• Proficiency developing and tracking key Agile metrics (velocity, burndown, cycle time) and translating them into actionable insights.
• Experience partnering with Product Owners on backlog refinement, story writing, and prioritization.
• Solid understanding of software development lifecycles and how Agile practices intersect with release and deployment planning.
• Familiarity with change management and stakeholder communication practices for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong facilitation, conflict-resolution, and coaching skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to translate project risk and status for leadership stakeholders.
• Build reporting and dashboarding practices (status reports, burndown charts , Gant t charts , roadmaps ) to keep stakeholders informed and drive accountability.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate all core Scrum ceremonies - sprint planning, stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives - ensuring they are focused, timely, and productive.
• Own end-to-end project planning and execution, including scope definition, timeline management, team member allocation, and risk tracking across one or more concurrent initiatives.
• Serve as a facilitator and agile advocate to product teams, promoting Agile/Scrum principles, self-organization, and continuous improvement.
• Identify , track, and proactively remove impediments and blockers that affect team velocity or delivery timelines.
• Maintain and refine the product backlog in partnership with Product Owners, and cross-department representatives, ensuring user stories are well-defined, estimated, and prioritized.
• Track and report on sprint and project metrics (velocity, burndown/burnup, cycle time, throughput) to provide visibility into progress and identify trends.
• Collaborate with Product & Engineering leads to align on scope, dependencies, and delivery timelines across teams.
• Manage project communications, including status updates, executive summaries, and stakeholder briefings, tailoring communication style to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Facilitate cross-team dependency management and coordination for multi-team or multi-quarter initiatives.
• Lead post-incident and post-project retrospectives; produce clear reports on lessons learned, risks, and process improvement opportunities for leadership.
• Maintain thorough documentation of project plans, sprint artifacts, logs, and process guidelines.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement, psychological safety, and accountability within teams.

Skills

Facilitation

Agile coaching

Project management

Stakeholder communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Conflict resolution

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Business, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Gantt charts

Job description

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced Agile Scrum Master / Project Manager to join our growing Data & Tech T eam. In this role, you will facilitate Agile ceremonies, manage project timelines and deliverables, and act as a facilitator for one or more cross-functional development teams. You will remove blockers, support teams on Agile/ Scrum best practices, and partner closely with Product, Engineering, and business stakeholders to ensure work is delivered predictably, transparently, and at a high standard of quality.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives on bringing structure to ambiguity, is passionate about continuous improvement, and takes pride in helping teams work at their best while keeping projects on track, on budget, and aligned with company goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitate all core Scrum ceremonies - sprint planning, stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives - ensuring they are focused, timely , and productive.
• Own end-to-end project planning and execution, including scope definition, timeline management, team member allocation, and risk tracking across one or more concurrent initiatives.
• Serve as a facilitator and agile advocate to product teams, promoting Agile/Scrum principles, self-organization, and continuous improvement.
• Identify , track, and proactively remove impediments and blockers that affect team velocity or delivery timelines.
• Maintain and refine the product backlog in partnership with Product Owners, and cross-department representatives, ensuring user stories are well-defined, estimated, and prioritized.
• Track and report on sprint and project metrics (velocity, burndown/burnup, cycle time, throughput) to provide visibility into progress and identify trends.
• Collaborate with Product & Engineering leads to align on scope, dependencies, and delivery timelines across teams.
• Manage project communications, including status updates, executive summaries, and stakeholder briefings, tailoring communication style to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Facilitate cross-team dependency management and coordination for multi-team or multi-quarter initiatives.
• Lead post-incident and post-project retrospectives; produce clear reports on lessons learned, risks, and process improvement opportunities for leadership.
• Maintain thorough documentation of project plans, sprint artifacts, logs, and process guidelines.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement, psychological safety, and accountability within teams.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience as a Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Project Manager, ideally within a software/technology/fintech environment.
• Demonstrated expertise facilitating Agile ceremonies and applying Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid Agile frameworks.
• Strong experience with project and Agile management tooling (e.g., Jira, Confluence or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience managing project scope, schedule, budget, and risk for cross-functional initiatives.
• Proficiency developing and tracking key Agile metrics (velocity, burndown, cycle time) and translating them into actionable insights.
• Experience partnering with Product Owners on backlog refinement, story writing, and prioritization.
• Solid understanding of software development lifecycles and how Agile practices intersect with release and deployment planning.
• Familiarity with change management and stakeholder communication practices for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong facilitation, conflict-resolution, and coaching skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to translate project risk and status for leadership stakeholders.
• Build reporting and dashboarding practices (status reports, burndown charts , G ant t charts , roadmaps ) to keep stakeholders informed and drive accountability.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), or PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) certification.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Experience scaling Agile practices across multiple teams (e.g., SAFe, LeSS, or Scrum of Scrums).
• Familiarity with software engineering concepts, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud environments sufficient to engage credibly with engineering teams.
• Experience managing programs with regulatory, security, or compliance dependencies.
• Exposure to portfolio and roadmap planning tools
• Experience running distributed or hybrid teams across multiple time zones.
• Background in change management or organizational transformation initiatives.

Location Requirements

This is a hybrid role requiring three days per week onsite in South San Francisco. Candidates must live within approximately one hour of the office.

Compensation

$165k - $190k / year

Generous Benefits

• 401(K) matched up to 7%
• Flexible Time Off
• 12 Paid Holi