Lighthouse Technology Services is partnering with our client to fill their Senior Scrum Master position! This is a 6-18 months contract and will be hybrid in Buffalo, NY. This role will be a W2 employee of Lighthouse Technology Services. No C2C or subcontracting arrangements will be considered.
What You'll Be Doing:
Lead and support two agile teams (5-8 members each) through complete sprint cycles, facilitating daily stand-ups, refinement sessions, sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives within a 2-week sprint cadence
Drive strategic planning and coordination by preparing for and supporting PI Planning activities, including compiling historical data, new work details, and cross-team dependencies
Facilitate critical ART-level ceremonies including bi-weekly Triad meetings with Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Tech Leads to align on upcoming work, risks, dependencies, and impediments across 11 coordinated teams
Develop and maintain risk mitigation plans, proactively identifying and resolving blocking issues that extend beyond team authority or require cross-team support
Build transparency and continuous improvement culture by establishing effective information radiators, tracking look-back metrics, and translating retrospective insights into actionable improvements
Mentor and coach less experienced Scrum Masters, curating team-level content and facilitating learning opportunities such as communities of practice and training sessions
Collaborate with other Agile Leaders to enhance organizational agile effectiveness and maturity, leveraging broad knowledge of SAFe practices across the enterprise
Guide teams through complex interdependencies while maintaining focus on incremental delivery goals and ensuring alignment from sprint to sprint within the broader PI perspective
What You'll Need to Have:
Previous hands-on experience as a Project Manager, Developer, QA Engineer, or in a technical delivery role not just Scrum Master experience to effectively understand complex technical work and ask the right questions
Proven experience leading agile teams in complex technology environments with multiple interdependencies, demonstrating ability to navigate technical challenges and remove impediments effectively
Strong knowledge of SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) practices and experience working within large agile release trains coordinating across multiple teams
Advanced facilitation skills with the maturity to work with high-performing teams that don't need agile coaching but require strategic guidance and dependency management
Demonstrated expertise in risk management, including identifying risks, creating mitigation plans, and proactively addressing issues before they impact delivery
Big-picture thinking ability to understand how each sprint incrementally delivers toward PI objectives and can connect team-level work to organizational goals
Experience tracking and analyzing agile metrics to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities for team improvement
SAFe certification (CSM, PSM, or SAFe Scrum Master) strongly preferred