Sr. Scrum Master / Project Manager

The Senior Scrum Master with Project Management experience is self-motivated, self-reliant and results driven. This role will have the ability to achieve broadly communicated objectives under a minimal amount of supervision. Senior Scrum Masters provide effective collaboration, facilitation, leadership and coaching skills to the agile development process and delivery of applications, as well as enforcing the agile tenets, removing impediments and promoting empowerment. Additionally, you will be responsible for overseeing and managing projects, working closely with cross-functional teams to deliver on time and within budget.

What will be my duties and responsibilities in this job?

Fill the role of Scrum Master for one scrum team and manage up to two projects with the responsibilities as follows:

Scrum

• A Servant Leader whose focus is on the needs of the team members and the people they provide value to (the customer) with the goal of achieving results in line with the organization’s values.

• Be creative in helping teams embrace agile principles while encouraging growth both individually and as a team

• Understand the difference between Agile and Scrum and be able to articulate it

• Provide team(s) with resources, information, communication, and practical advice to enable the team to regularly deliver high quality working software

• Facilitates: Daily scrum (stand-up), refinement and sprint planning sessions, Sprint review (demo) and Sprint retrospective.  Ensure all participants understand the ceremony's purpose and keep to the time-box.

• Track and communicate various metrics per team including velocity and sprint/release progress

• Coordinate each team’s work with other teams in the same release train (SAFe)

• Foster and encourage conversations and collaboration - both inside and outside of team – allowing them to self-organize

• Identify and remove impediments - help prevent distractions that interfere with the ability to deliver the sprint goals

• Understand and be able to articulate strategic and product planning goals in the division and team's environment including progress toward them

• Supports Product Owner(s) ensuring the product backlog is properly refined – prioritizing to maximize value and using creative techniques for elaborating user stories to be ready for the upcoming 1-2 sprints. 

• Assist team with making appropriate commitments through story definition, story selection, task definition

• Ensure team understands the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items and achieve this through techniques such as user story slicing and acceptance criteria

• Proactively manage dependencies

• Update agile tracking systems to provide transparency on Product & Sprint Backlogs

• Recommend improvements and assist in changes to best practices

• Participate in the agile community both internal to Assurant and external with other practitioners

• Enforces the values and principles of Agile by focusing on continuous learning and feedback loops

Project Management

• Develop and maintain project plans and schedules for initiatives that involve multiple scrum teams

• Coordinate with team members and other scrum master's to ensure there is ownership for tasks and project milestones are met

• Monitor project progress and make necessary adjustments to ensure successful completion

• Communicate project status updates to stakeholders and senior management

• Track dependencies across teams

• Identify and mitigate project risks

• Lead project meetings and provide guidance to team members

What are the requirements needed for this position?

• 7+ years of experience as a Scrum Master for software development teams

• 2+ years of proven experience as a Project Manager

• Experience with Azure DevOps (ADO) and the ability to query reports

• Proficiency in project management tools and software

Other Requirements

• Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) industry certification preferred

• SAFe Experience & Certification

• Agile experience within a multi-team organization

• Experience working with distributed, virtual teams

• Experience coaching and mentoring other Scrum Masters

• Excellent communication, facilitation, leadership and coaching skills

• Strong organizational and time management abilities

• Deep toolbox of Agile practices for: retrospectives, daily standups, sprint planning, burn down and related techniques

• Experience working with external teams and vendors

• Ability to collaborate and exercise influence without authority

What other skill or experience would be useful in this role? 

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher

• Experience working with co-located teams

• Familiarity with lean principles and Kanban

• Knowledge of other project management methodologies

• Insurance industry experience

• Participation in industry agile communities of practice

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Pay Range:

Any posted pay range considers a wide range of compensation factors, including candidate background, experience and work location, while also allowing for salary growth within the position.

Expected application deadline is

If date is blank then this is a pipeline requisition, and we will continue to collect applications on an ongoing basis.

Helping People Thrive in a Connected World
Connect with us. Bring us your best work and your brightest ideas. And we’ll bring you a place where you can thrive. Learn more at jobs.assurant.com.

For U.S. benefit information, visit myassurantbenefits.com. For benefit information outside the U.S., please speak with your recruiter.

What’s the culture like at Assurant?
Our unique culture is a big reason why talented people choose Assurant. Named a Best/Great Place to Work in 13 countries and awarded the Fortune America’s Most Innovative Companies recognition in 2023, we bring together top talent around the world. Although we have a wide variety of skills and experiences, we share common characteristics that are uniquely Assurant. A passion for service. An ability to innovate in practical ways. And a willingness to take chances. We call our culture The Assurant Way.

Company Overview
Assurant is a leading global business services company that supports, protects, and connects major consumer purchases. A Fortune 500 company with a presence in 21 countries, Assurant supports the advancement of the connected world by partnering with the world’s leading brands to develop innovative solutions and deliver an enhanced customer experience through mobile device solutions, extended service contracts, vehicle protection services, renters insurance, lender-placed insurance products, and other specialty products.

Equal Opportunity Statement
Assurant is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and does not use or consider race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law in employment decisions.