Senior Scrum Master: Agile Delivery & Coaching Leader

Old Mutual; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Old Mutual invites you to join in Johannesburg as a Scrum Master, enabling Agile teams to deliver high-value outcomes in a large enterprise IT environment. You will lead ceremonies, remove impediments, coach teams in Scrum/SAFe, and strengthen cross-team coordination to ensure predictable, sustainable delivery of value.

You will plan releases, manage backlogs with Product Owners, and drive continuous improvement through metrics and coaching to improve delivery performance and customer outcomes.

Qualifications

• Matric certificate.
• Minimum of six years’ experience working as a Scrum Master, including practical experience leading Agile teams and facilitating delivery across complex technology or software initiatives.
• Strong practical knowledge of Agile methods and frameworks, including Scrum, Kanban and SAFe, with the ability to explain and apply alternative approaches when they better support the team.
• Professional facilitation and coaching skills that empower teams, encourage self-management and strengthen accountability.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate backlog refinement, sprint planning, story writing, sizing, prioritisation, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, sprint retrospectives, PI planning and Scrum forums.
• Strong stakeholder management, negotiation, communication, collaboration and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to use team, flow and delivery metrics responsibly to identify trends, improve predictability and drive team performance.
• Practical experience with Jira and Confluence, or comparable Agile delivery tools, including maintaining sprint boards and making work, risks, dependencies and progress visible.
• Experience leading Agile teams delivering complex enterprise technology or software initiatives across Product, Engineering, Architecture, Business Analysis, Quality Engineering and business stakeholders.
• Good understanding of the software delivery lifecycle from inception through testing, user acceptance testing, release and value realisation.
• Knowledge and experience in using tracking and collaboration tools such as ADO, Miro or TFS.

Responsibilities

• Lead Scrum ceremonies and enable effective delivery across small projects. Remove obstacles and facilitate problem-solving, collaboration, and constructive conflict resolution.
• Plan and replan software releases for medium-sized projects as delivery evolves, supporting timely updates and the earliest practical realisation of planned benefits.
• Review and help reprioritise the backlog for small projects to optimise the use of project resources, reduce avoidable cost and increase business value.
• Promote a culture of innovation, creativity and collaboration through practical mechanisms such as idea-generation platforms, jam sessions and structured continuous improvement activities.
• Execute and deliver assigned elements of the digital roadmap, applying Agile and design-thinking principles to support sustainable implementation and measurable business outcomes.
• Identify and evaluate project risks, issues, dependencies and constraints. Escalate matters appropriately and, where necessary, facilitate agreement and implementation of practical solutions.
• Collate and analyse delivery data using agreed tools, methods and formats, working independently where required. Track meaningful team and flow metrics, make work visible and use evidence to improve predictability, quality and team performance.
• Assign short-term work schedules to team members or subordinates, where applicable, to achieve agreed expectations within established timelines. Monitor progress, rebalance work when necessary and protect sustainable delivery.
• Carry out delegated activities that support the deployment and effective utilisation of project resources across workstreams and teams.
• Support the production and maintenance of workstream and project plans that identify and organise the activities required to deliver project objectives in line with the organisation’s project management framework.
• Respond to personal objectives and use performance management systems to improve individual performance. Where team oversight forms part of the role, monitor delivery, allocate work, review completion and take appropriate corrective action to ensure timeliness and quality, while contributing to formal performance management and appraisal processes.
• Develop own capability through assessment, development planning, formal and informal learning, coaching and relevant professional accreditation. Maintain current knowledge of technology, external regulation and industry best practice through ongoing education, conferences and specialist media.

Skills

Adaptive Thinking

Agile Project Management

Backlog Management

Budget Management

Change Management

Executing Plans

Oral Communications

Project Communications Management

Project Estimations

Project Performance Management

Project Quality Assurance

Project Resource Management

Project Schedule Management

Project Scope Management

Education

NQF Level 7 - Degree, Advance Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate or equivalent (Required)

Relevant IT / Business related diploma or degree

Tools

Jira

Confluence

ADO

Miro

TFS

Job description

Old Mutual invites you to join in Johannesburg as a Scrum Master, enabling Agile teams to deliver high-value outcomes in a large enterprise IT environment. You will lead ceremonies, remove impediments, coach teams in Scrum/SAFe, and strengthen cross-team coordination to ensure predictable, sustainable delivery of value.

You will plan releases, manage backlogs with Product Owners, and drive continuous improvement through metrics and coaching to improve delivery performance and customer outcomes.