Senior Project Manager

Ontrac Solutions LLC.; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Ontrac Solutions LLC is seeking a Senior Project Manager / Scrum Master to lead a government-facing Google Cloud Platform engagement. You will serve as a servant leader, guiding Scrum teams, facilitating ceremonies, and aligning Product Owners to ensure sprint objectives are met for cloud deployments.

You will champion Agile practices, remove impediments, and drive continuous improvement across teams and the wider organization, with a focus on steady delivery, stakeholder communication, and

Qualifications

• SAFe experience with certification and applied on multiple projects.
• Strong understanding of Agile principles and the Scrum framework.
• Proven ability to facilitate Scrum ceremonies and manage a product backlog.
• Experience identifying and removing impediments.
• Excellent coaching, mentoring, communication and conflict-resolution skills.
• Experience with cross-functional teams and agile tools like Jira, Confluence, Azure DevOps.
• Minimum of three years managing IT deployment projects; seven years in technical environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coach the Scrum team(s) on self-organization and goals.
• Facilitate all Scrum ceremonies and keep them time-boxed.
• Identify and remove impediments affecting progress.
• Coach Product Owner and stakeholders on Agile practices.
• Foster collaboration between teams and stakeholders.
• Support backlog refinement and clarity of work for the team.
• Promote Agile adoption and continuous improvement.
• Track velocity and deliverables; communicate status to stakeholders.
• Resolve conflicts within teams and with external parties.
• Participate in scaling Agile across multiple teams and PMO alignment.
• Provide training on Scrum and Agile methods to new members.
• Maintain strong written and verbal stakeholder communication.

Skills

Agile principles

Scrum framework

Scrum facilitation

Impediment removal

Coaching

Communication

Cross-functional teams

Problem-solving

Organization

Change leadership

Cloud computing

Government experience

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Azure DevOps

Smartsheet

Job description

OVERVIEW

OnTrac is seeking a Senior Project Manager / Scrum Master to join a contractor program supporting a Google Cloud Platform application development engagement for a government customer. You will act as the Scrum Master between the delivery organization, the cloud provider, and the customer: leading Scrum ceremonies, guiding the Scrum team, and working with the Product Owners to make sure sprint objectives are met for Google Cloud deployments.

You will also be a servant-leader and coach for one or more Scrum teams, helping them deliver high-value products efficiently and effectively. You will champion Agile principles and practices, foster a collaborative, self-organizing environment, remove impediments, facilitate ceremonies, and drive continuous improvement across the teams and the wider organization. The role calls for strong facilitation, coaching, and communication skills and a deep understanding of Scrum and other Agile frameworks.

The right person is communicative, energetic, creative, analytical, and eager to take on responsibility and learn new skills. This is a fast-paced, teamwork-oriented environment inside a growing, service-oriented technical practice, and we are looking for people who want to build a long-term career here.

ENGAGEMENT

• Location: United States, fully remote

PRIMARY DUTIES

These duties are representative rather than exhaustive.

• Servant Leadership: Lead and coach the Scrum team(s) on self-organization, cross-functionality, and achieving their goals.
• Facilitation: Facilitate all Scrum ceremonies (sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, sprint retrospective), keeping them time-boxed, focused on clear objectives, and valuable.
• Impediment Removal: Identify impediments early and work actively to remove anything that hinders the team's progress.
• Coaching and Mentoring: Coach the development team, the Product Owner, and stakeholders on Agile principles and practices, helping each understand and carry out their role.
• Collaboration and Communication: Foster strong communication and collaboration within and between Scrum teams and with stakeholders.
• Product Owner Support: Support the Product Owner in managing the product backlog, refining user stories, and making sure the development team has clarity on the work.
• Agile Advocacy: Promote and support Agile adoption across the organization as a change agent and champion for continuous improvement.
• Metrics and Reporting: Track and communicate team progress, velocity, and other relevant metrics to stakeholders, identifying trends and areas for improvement.
• Conflict Resolution: Mediate and resolve conflicts within the Scrum team(s) and with external stakeholders.
• Scaling Agile: Contribute to scaling Agile practices across multiple teams, working alongside other Scrum Masters and Agile coaches.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive improvement through effective retrospectives and by seeing agreed actions through.
• Training and Guidance: Provide training and guidance on Scrum and Agile methods to new team members and stakeholders.
• Stakeholder Communication: Communicate in writing and verbally with stakeholders on both the delivery and customer sides, at every organizational level from executives through to working teams.
• PMO Collaboration: Work with peers and leadership in the PMO on status updates, issues, risks, decisions, and change requests.
• Team Leadership: Lead and motivate project teams and oversee engineers and architects across disciplines such as infrastructure modernization, data engineering, and application development.
• Change Leadership: Help the PMO Center of Excellence evolve and make lasting, effective change across the delivery organization.

REQUIRED CREDENTIALS

• Bachelor's degree in a related field.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• SAFe experience, including certification and application across at least two or three projects.
• A thorough understanding of Agile principles and values and of the Scrum framework.
• Proven ability to facilitate effective Scrum ceremonies and to manage a product backlog.
• Experience identifying and removing impediments.
• Strong coaching and mentoring skills.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams.
• Familiarity with Agile tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Azure DevOps, and adept with work-management tools such as Jira and Smartsheet.
• At least three years of experience managing IT deployment projects.
• At least seven years of related experience in a technical, engineering, or software development environment.
• Experience managing a team of engineers.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical reasoning skills.
• Iron-clad organizational skills.
• A positive attitude toward change and the ability to adapt.
• A love for cloud computing.

USEFUL QUALIFICATIONS

• IT consulting experience.
• Project management certification, such as PMP.
• Experience delivering and managing projects on Google Cloud or another public cloud.
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and/or Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO).
• Business systems analysis certification or experience.
• Experience with other Agile frameworks, such as Kanban or Lean.
• Experience scaling Agile with frameworks such as SAFe, LeSS, or Nexus.
• Experience working in the government sector.
• Experience working with distributed teams.
• Experience training and facilitating workshops.

PATHWAY TO SUCCESS

Be prepared, work with intentional effort, and offer no surprises for our clients and teammates. Your success starts with the direction you set for a fast-growing delivery practice. You will be measured each quarter on the breadth, magnitude, and quality of your contributions, the accuracy of your estimates, customer feedback at the close of engagements, how well you work with your peers, and the consultative polish you bring to customer interactions. As you build a track record, we will put together a development plan with you that follows either the individual contributor or the management track.

EXPECTATIONS

Customer Facing: You will work with customers regularly, sometimes daily and other times weekly or bi-weekly. The common touch points are qualifying opportunities, project kickoff, progress updates through the engagement, and project close. Expect to work with a range of customer stakeholders, from engineers and technical project managers through to executives.