Job Description

We are looking for an experienced Scrum Master II to help lead two squads that support our Safeco domain and applications, including Safeco Q&I. These squads are currently undertaking large, high-priority modernization initiatives for PL Property. They are a key part of our PL Product Tech Enablement portfolio, driving modernization efforts not only in our legacy systems, but working across the whole PL Product Tech organization towards our future One Product Enablement architecture roadmap. Both squads have recently met or outperformed their plans.

The ideal candidate is passionate about Agile and continuous improvement, invigorated by challenges and relentlessly focused on our customers. We need a servant leader to help our teams navigate through these challenges. Someone who enjoys enabling a highly collaborative environment that values speed and quality, with a strong desire to lead change as we continue our agile transformational journey. This role will also contribute to department-wide Agile maturity efforts and goals.

About the job

* Servant leader focused on maximizing the throughput of teams and helping them become more effective by ensuring adherence to an agile scrum framework and the application of appropriate principles and practices.
* Facilitate agile ceremonies and coach the teams and organization; foster transparency, inspection, and adaption.
* Lead daily scrum, sprint review, retrospectives and planning meetings to ensure full team engagement.
* Partner with the Product Owner to enable short and long-term sprint and release planning, and to keep work backlog healthy and prepared for execution.
* Manage interdependencies between agile teams.
* Shield the teams from external interference to enable optimal functionality and productivity.
* Anticipate and address potential or actual impediments to team delivery (cultural barriers, logistic challenges).
* Foster close cooperation across all team members; encourages cross-training and team support.
* Build a trusting and safe environment where problems may be raised without fear of reprisal.
* Actively coach other leaders, peer roles and individual contributors on continual improvement, growth mindset and maturing current Agile adoption.
* Cultivate a team culture/environment of continuous learning and improvement.
* Administer metrics tracking and other means in order to aid team in overall planning and team throughput.
* Leverage advanced understanding of Lean-Agile metrics (health, value, flow and quality) to help teams continually improve.
* Assesses the Agile maturity of the team and coaches the team to higher levels of maturity. Coaches team and managers on the Agile mindset/behavior.
* Use deep understanding of the mechanics of the Agile framework or method to teach the specific roles, work products, and activities to team members and stakeholders.
* Increase team knowledge of Agile/Lean topics helping them understand why practices work not just how.
* Observes & provides consistent, impactful feedback for team Agile development.
* Actively seek coaching and mentoring from more experienced SMs and coaches on Lean-Agile techniques and mindset and guides them on their personal change and growth journey.
* Act as a catalyst to the SM community & in the organization by sharing ideas, contributing to department and corporate Agile efforts.
Qualifications:
* Bachelors degree
* 4+ years experience as a Scrum Master, Product Owner or Agile Coach spanning multiple team environments
* Excellent interpersonal, organizational, team building and consensus building skills
* Experience driving agile maturity in environments responsible for software engineering, solutions engineering, and/or systems/infrastructure administration and operations
* Ability to leverage expertise and enthusiasm for agile methodologies and continuous improvement to energize those around you
* Ability to coach team and stakeholders on agile practices and ensure adherence to agile methodology
* Experience driving the use of KPIs and metrics across varied implementations required
* Track record of continued and recent education in Lean-Agile including training, conferences, user groups, cohorts, self-study, etc
* Knowledge/training equivalent to advanced/second-level certifications from a reputable Lean-Agile organization a plus but not required (PSM II, ICAgile Professional Agile Team Facilitation (ICP-ATF), ICAgile Professional Agile Coaching (ICP-ACC))
* Scrum certification strongly preferred
* Experience working in a scaled agile framework preferred, but not required
* Knowledge of software development and relevant domains/products