Scrum Master Apprentice (Perm)

Job description

Job Title: Scrum Master Apprentice Reports to: Practice Head – Scrum Mastership The successful individual, comfortable in engaging with stakeholders at all levels of the organization recognizes the art of facilitation as one of the key skills of becoming a successful Scrum Master. You passionately live the belief that efficient teams are healthy teams. Prioritization of requirements, the Scrum master will be the facilitator for a product development team that uses scrum/agile as the development methodology. The scrum master will lead a team that ensures self-organisation and the ability to make changes quickly. The role will ensure that agile principles and concept are adhered to ensure effective preparation of the product backlog, sprint backlog and burn down charts. Significant experience in iterative methodologies could well be the deal clincher. ESSENTIAL DUTIES: Guiding the teams on how to use Agile/Scrum practices and values to delivery efficiently Work closely with the Product Owner to understand the priorities of business Guiding the team on how to get the most of out of being self-organising Facilitating and guiding the team to fill in the intentional gaps left in the Agile/Scrum frameworks 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, especially with respect to grooming and maintaining the product backlog. Providing all support to the team using a servant leadership style whenever possible, and leading by example Doing everything possible to ensure delighting customers PREFERRED SKILLS/ EXPERIENCE (ANY OF THESE IS A PLUS): 1+2 years+ experience for an Intermediate Scrum Master Advantage but not compulsory: BSc, BCom or BTech in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or related technology discipline. Experience in SDLC methodologies such AGILE (SCRUM, Kanban, SAFe etc.) Compulsory: o ICAgile Fundamentals o Certified Scrum Master OR Professional Scrum Master II Knowledge of other Agile approaches: XP, Kanban, Crystal, FDD, etc. Knowledge and/or experience with widely successful Agile techniques: User Stories, ATDD, TDD, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing, Pairing, Automated Testing, Agile Games 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 experience as a team lead Excellent communication and mentoring skills FUNDAMENTAL PERSONAL SKILLS: Servant Leader – Must be able to garner respect from his/her team and be willing to get their hands dirty to get the job done High EQ - Ability to put personal opinions/feelings aside, making decisions based on facts for best business practice Communicative and social – Must be able to communicate well with teams Facilitative – Must be able to lead and demonstrate value-add principles to a team Assertive – Must be able to ensure Agile/Scrum concepts and principles are adhered to, must be able to be a voice of reason and authority, make the tough calls. Situationally Aware – Must be the first to notice differences and issues as they arise and elevate them to management Enthusiastic – Must be high-energy Continual improvement – Must continually be growing one’s craft learning new tools and techniques to manage oneself and a team Conflict resolution – Must be able to facilitate discussion and facilitate alternatives or different approaches Attitude of empowerment – Must be able to lead a team to self-organization Attitude of transparency – Must desire to bring disclosure and transparency to the business about development and grow business trust TECHNICAL SKILLS: Understand basic fundamentals of iterative development Understand other processes and methodologies and can speak intelligently about them and leverage other techniques to provide value to a team/enterprise Understand basic fundamentals of software development processes and procedures Understand the value of commitments to delivery made by a development team Understand incremental delivery and the value of metrics Understand backlog tracking, burndown metrics, velocity, and task definition Familiarity with common Agile practices, service-oriented environments, and better development practices