Job Summary

Under minimal direction, the Agile Scrum Master Consultant provides consulting and project support for self-organized teams using the Agile Scrum methodology to deliver IT and business solutions for CNA.  The Scrum master consultant will also be responsible for organizing and facilitating project planning, daily scrum, sprint reviews, retrospectives, sprint and release planning as needed by the scrum teams. They are a recognized subject matter expert on Agile processes, tools, best practices, existing standards with hands-on exposure to multiple versions of Agile (Scrum, Kanban, XP). 

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Performs a combination of duties in accordance with departmental guidelines:

1.      Serves on and supports multiple Scrum teams on initiatives of various complexities, consisting of internal & external (onshore and offshore) as well as business and technical resources in the delivery of IT and business products and solutions. Responsible for product delivery. 

2.      Facilitates Scrum events and agile practices (such as daily standups, sprint review meetings, retrospective meetings, cross-team coordination, and etc.), alongside the product owner, ensuring that Scrum Teams adhere to the Scrum values of courage, focus, commitment, respect and openness in delivering IT solutions. 

3.      Identifies and guides the team to resolve delivery impediments. Appropriately resolves complex impediments. Escalates impediments that cannot be resolved to senior leadership. 

4.      Creates an environment of continuous improvement / learning; guides team members in achieving maturity in Agile principles and Scrum practices, driving consistent velocity and velocity increases on mature teams. 

5.      Supports the Product Owner in managing backlog and guides the Product Owner / Scrum Team in prioritization. 

6.      Coordinates interactions within and outside the Scrum Team and removes impediments that prevent the team from completing work. Builds a trusting and safe environment within the team and addresses day-to-day conflicts; escalates more serious conflicts to leadership. 

7.      Contributes to Agile at CNA through engagement with COE / COPs, providing guidance to more junior SMs on Agile, recommending deployment of new Agile tools / processes and being a leading champion for adopting new practices. 

8.      Develop an understanding of the team’s dynamics, process maturity and their work to help optimize their delivery. 

May perform additional duties as assigned.

Reporting Relationship

Typically, Director or above

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

1.      Prior experience with Agile Scrum methodology in a Scrum Master role.

2.      Solid experience acting as a servant -leader with strong coaching and mentoring skills.

3.      Solid experience on teams delivering modern software for enterprises using Agile methodologies.

4.      Strong communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with peers and team members.

5.      Solid personal organizational skills and prior experience using Agile management tools such as Jira.

6.      Exposure to DevSecOps, public cloud, Scrum, and eXtreme Programming (XP) concepts.

Education & Experience

1.      Scrum Master Certification (CSM) preferred.

2.      Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related discipline; or equivalent work experience.

3.      Typically, a minimum of seven years of related work experience such as a project delivery background in an enterprise IT environment with experience using Agile delivery methods.

4.      Previous project leadership experience preferred.

5.      Applicable certifications preferred.