Scrum Master

Pty; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 600 000 - 800 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading software development firm in Gauteng is looking for a Scrum Master to support Agile teams in their projects. The ideal candidate will have at least two years of experience in the Scrum Master role and a strong understanding of Agile methodologies. Responsibilities include facilitating Scrum events, coaching teams, and managing project deliverables. A deep understanding of South African investment platforms and relevant regulations is essential for this role.

Qualifications

• At least two years of experience as a Scrum Master for a software development team.
• Knowledge of techniques like User Stories, TDD, Continuous Integration.
• Ability to coach multiple teams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Support and educate teams on Agile practices.
• Facilitate Scrum events and decision-making processes.
• Track team progress and manage impediments.

Skills

Scrum Master certification

Agile techniques

Communication skills

Mentoring skills

Presentation skills

Coaching skills

Education

Experience in software development team applying Scrum

Project Management or Development Team Lead experience

Tools

Project management tools

Job description

• Strongly serving and supporting the Product Owner and Development Team
• Providing all support to the team using a servant leadership style and leading by example.
• Guiding and Coaching the Scrum Team and organization on how to use Agile/Scrum practices and values
• Guiding and Coaching both the Scrum Team and the Development team on how to get the most out of self-organization
• Assessing the Scrum Maturity of the team and organization and coaching the team to higher levels of maturity, at a pace that is sustainable and comfortable for the team and organization
• Removing impediments or guiding the team to remove impediments by finding the right personnel to remove the impediment.
• Building a trusting and safe environment where problems can be raised without fear of blame, retribution, or being judged, with an emphasis of healing and problem solving.
• Facilitating getting the work done without coercion, assigning, or dictating the work.
• Facilitating discussion, decision making, and conflict resolution
• Assisting with internal and external communication, improving transparency, and radiating information
• Supporting and educating the Product Owner(s), especially with respect to refining (aka grooming) and managing the product backlog.
• Organise and facilitate sprint planning, reviews, retrospectives, daily stand-ups, release planning, product showcases and other scrum related meetings.
• Facilitate sprint retrospective meetings, creating an environment where problems can be raised without fear of blame, retribution or judgement, with an emphasis on problem solving and improvement.
• Facilitating discussions, decision making, and conflict resolution and ensuring clear communication between all members of the Scrum team.
• Identify and manage risks early identification and management of issues and delays.
• Recommend improvements and assist in changes to best practice.
• Track and communicate team velocity and sprint/release progress.
• Manage multiple scrum teams.
• Facilitating SCRUM events for the team. This includes:
• Helping the team to make decisions.
• Continuing learning regarding everything Agile (e.g. visit user groups, attend conferences, read books, write blogs, etc.).
• Encouraging the use of Agile Engineering Practices within the development team (this is hugefield to spend a Scrum Master’s time in, including e.g. one click releases, continuous delivery, feature flags, and many more).
• Challenge team withAgile management innovations(e.g.FedEx-Days).
• Exchanging constantly with other Scrum masters in the organisation (e.g. through community of practice).
• Helping the team toget rid of impediments.
• Suggestingnew metricsfor the team as catalysts for change.
• Reflecting Agile and Scrum values to the team.

Requirements

• Scrum Master certification
• Experience playing the Scrum Master role for at least two years for a software development team that was diligently applying Scrum principles, practices, and theory.
• Knowledge and/or experience with widely successful Agile techniques: User Stories, ATDD, TDD, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing, Pairing, Automated Testing, Agile Games
• Familiarity with modern software engineering techniques such as Continuous integration, build, deliver, test-driven development and other automated acceptance testing techniques
• Applicable knowledge of the technologies used by the team
• Experience applying a wide variety of well documented patterns and techniques for filling in the intentional gaps left in the Scrum approach(example: numerous Burndown techniques, numerous Retrospective formats, handling bugs,etc)
• Previous Project Management or Development Team Lead experience
• Excellent communication and mentoring skills
• Excellent presentation and facilitation, coaching and mentorship skills
• Ability to effectively coach multiple teams with varying degree of complexity and time lines
• Organise and facilitate sprint planning, daily scrum meetings, retrospectives, release planning, demos, and other related meetings
• Oversee project estimations, the development and tracking of integrated project plans and the development of project deliverables in order to meet project objectives
• Champion and embody the Scrum way-of-life across the development teams
• A proven track record in software project delivery at an enterprise level in an agile environment.
• Understand and know how to use standard project management tools and techniques to schedule, plan and track project and team performance.
• A deep understanding of investment and life products
• A deep understanding of South African Investment Platforms and platform operations.
• An understanding of financial sector regulation as it relates to investment platforms