Scrum Master
New York, NY

Job Description

CTS is looking to transform our development team to be Agile, both in mindset and principles. We are committed to building effective cross-functional teams that focus on delivering value to the customer while striving for continuous improvement.

The Scrum Master is a critical role in this transformation and will be responsible for coaching one or more development teams within CTS. An effective Scrum Master promotes attributes of a high functioning dedicated agile team, include perpetuating team dynamics of support and value driven delivery, protecting the teams from outside interference, removing impediments, facilitating Scrum rituals, driving continuous improvement and promoting healthy Agile practices within the teams and across the organization. As part of a larger community of agile practitioners, he/she is an advocate of Agile practices both within the team and the organization

Attributes of a Highly Successful Candidate:

* Servant Leader: Empathetic and effective leader that builds trust and focuses on the needs of the team
* Facilitative: Effective listener, relies on observation and skills tool-kit to bring team members together, stimulate collaborative behaviors and discussion, drive successful conflict resolution
* Assertive: Ensures Agile concepts and principles are followed while allowing maximum flexibility based on team needs that drive delivery of business value. Strong enough to act as objective voice of reason and authority, make the tough calls as part of a collaborative process with product management, development and leadership
* Intuitive & Insightful: Ability to recognize issues and risks within the team or with outside teams, elevate as needed, and bring to resolution
* Continuous Improvement Mindset: Challenges the team and greater organization to reflect and improve; as an individual motivated to learn new tools and techniques to accomplish this
* Knowledgeable: Able to assess the team's agile maturity and coaches to higher levels of maturity at a pace that is sustainable and comfortable for the team and organization

Responsibilities:

* Ensure Agile teams are practicing the core agile principles of collaboration, prioritization, team accountability, and visibility
* Shields team from interferences and removes impediments
* Helps the team become self-managed and cross-functional
* Fosters a team environment that encourages team members to both seek help from within the team and lean-in to help the team achieve sprint goals
* Partner with Product Owner to manage backlog
* Facilitates scrum/agile events
* Work with team to identify capacity to ensure they can meet the sprint objectives
* Participate in discussions related to trade-offs to bring in new work
* Progress reporting and sprint metrics for teams
* Active participation in the maturation process of the Agile model and methodologies within the organization

Required Skills:

* Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university
* At least 5-7 years' experience working in a software development organization, preferably in an agile environment
* Familiarity with one or more Agile methodologies such as Scrum, XP, Kanban
* Scrum Master certified or a desire to obtain
* Exceptional communication/interpersonal skills and organizational skills
* Willingness to provide direct and honest feedback to team members
* Excellent facilitation and mentoring skills
* Ability to effectively interact with all layers of the organization
* Strong desire to learn emerging data technologies
* High level of motivation
* Ability to work effectively in a team setting
* Familiarity with development tools such as Jira and GitHub preferred