Scrum Master

On behalf of our public sector client, Affinity Healthcare Solutions is looking for a Scrum Master who ensures the SAFe framework is followed. Scrum forms the foundation of SAFe and includes a clearly defined set of roles and rituals that encourage development of an Agile approach to value delivery. The Scrum Master works with members of cross-functional, self-organizing Agile teams to guide and coach them on use of SAFe supported by Azure DevOps as an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tool.

Responsibilities:

• Exhibit Lean-Agile leadership – Helps teams embrace SAFe Core Values, adopt and apply SAFe Principles, and implement SAFe practices.

• Reinforce team rules – The Scrum Master is responsible for reinforcing the Agile team’s rules—lightweight as they may be.

• Facilitate Agile team’s progress toward team goals – The Scrum Master is trained as a team facilitator and is continuously engaged in challenging the old norms of development to improve performance in the areas of quality, predictability, flow, and velocity. They help the team focus on creating increments of value each iteration and achieving daily and Iteration Goals in the context of the current Program Increment (PI) Objectives.

• Lead team efforts in relentless improvement – Helps the team improve and take responsibility for their actions; facilitates the team retrospective. Teaches problem-solving techniques and helps the team become better problem-solvers for themselves.

• Facilitate events – Facilitates team events, including (where applicable) the Daily Stand-up, Iteration Planning, Iteration Review, and Iteration Retrospective ensures they are productive and kept within the timebox.

• Support the Product Owner – The Scrum Master helps the Product Owner in their efforts to manage the backlog and guide the team while facilitating a healthy team dynamic with respect to priorities and scope.

• Facilitate the removal of impediments – Many blocking issues will be beyond the team’s authority or may require support from other teams. The Scrum Master supports the team in addressing and eliminating these issues to improve the likelihood of achieving the objectives of the Iteration.

• Build a high-performing team – Focuses on ever-improving team dynamics and performance, and coaches the team in self-management. Helps the team resolve interpersonal conflicts and challenges, and identify opportunities for growth. Escalates people problems to management where necessary, but only after internal team processes have failed to resolve the issue.

• Support the ART – The Scrum Master helps coordinate inter-team cooperation and helps the team operate well on the Agile Release Train (ART).

• Coordinate with other teams – The Scrum Master supports the team’s efforts to continuously improve communications and relationships with other Agile teams. They represent the team in the Scrum of Scrums (SoS), helping the team remain aware of opportunities to engage and improve program effectiveness.

• Support SAFe adoption – The Scrum Master supports the overall adoption of SAFe across the organization by coaching stakeholders and other non-agile teams on effective interactions with Agile teams.

• Facilitate preparation and readiness for ART events – Assists the team in preparation for ART activities, including PI Planning, System Demos, and the Inspect and Adapt.

• Support estimating – Guides the team in establishing normalized estimates and helps the team understand how to estimate Features and Capabilities.

Qualifications:

• Written and spoken competence in English is required.

• Minimum 3 years of experience with teams that leveraged Agile delivery approaches.

• Recent experience (in the last five years) in a Senior Scrum Master role.

• Recent experience supporting information systems specific to government service delivery agencies, such as SNB.

• Experience performing Senior Scrum Master activities, such as daily standups, program increment (PI) planning, iteration/sprint planning, conducting retrospectives, administration of team backlogs, collaboration with product owners, and removal of impediments to success for the team.

• Recent experience supporting transformation of organizations from traditional project-centric (i.e., waterfall) approaches to product-centric Agile and/or DevOps approaches.

• A current Scrum Master certification from one or more of the recognized leaders in Scrum and Agile education:

o Certified Scrum Master (CSM) via Scrum Alliance

o Professional Scrum Master (PSM) via Scrum.org

o Registered Scrum Master (RSM) via Scrum Inc., or

o SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) 6 via Scaled Agile.

Affinity Earn:

Know someone who’s great for this, or any of our open roles? Earn up to $4,000/year for each successful referral through Affinity Earn. You can also earn up to $50,000 for helping us find new clients. Learn about our referral program at https://affinity-group.ca/earn/ or browse our jobs & follow us at https://www.linkedin.com/company/affinity-staffing/jobs/

About Affinity:

Affinity Group is a technology and business consulting and services company. We believe in creating long term relationships between clients and consultants that foster a mutually beneficial partnership. Affinity is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.

For more information on Affinity, please visit www.affinity-group.ca

Job Number: 12590