Senior Scrum Master

Summary:

• Location: New York, NY
• Duration: 6-month contract with potential extension based on performance, attendance, and business needs
• Work Mode: Hybrid – 3 days per week onsite in New York City
• Hours: 7.5 hours/day, 37.5 hours/week

Responsibilities:

• Lead project facilitation across the Technology portfolio using Agile methodologies and tools.
• Serve as a hands-on mentor and coach to Scrum teams.
• Partner closely with Product Owners, value stream delivery leads, technology teams, and business partners.
• Provide training, coaching, and facilitation to help teams reach a high-performance state.
• Guide and mentor teams in Scrum and Agile principles to maximize delivery effectiveness.
• Help teams meet sprint and Program Increment (PI) goals.
• Support Product Owners in developing, refining, and maintaining product backlogs.
• Represent teams in Scrum of Scrums and other cross-team planning and coordination forums.
• Support adoption and proficiency of Agile tools such as JIRA and Confluence.
• Mentor teams in the use of AI tools to streamline documentation, planning, and execution.
• Ensure transparency and accuracy of progress reporting to stakeholders.
• Monitor and optimize team velocity and delivery metrics.
• Identify and remove impediments to team progress.
• Proactively resolve conflicts and delivery issues.
• Coach teams toward stronger collaboration, self-management, and accountability.
• Foster healthy interactions within teams and with external stakeholders.
• Bring energy, focus, and resilience to drive sustainable Agile transformation.
• Ensure continuous improvement through retrospectives and process inspection.
• Contribute to Agile maturity through participation in the Community of Practice.
• Track and report Agile performance metrics such as velocity, burndown, and predictability.
• Facilitate all Scrum events: Daily stand-ups, Sprint planning, Sprint reviews, Retrospectives.
• Monitor Scrum team compliance with Agile frameworks within JIRA.
• Help build and sustain self-organizing, high-performing teams.

Requirements:

• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience as a Scrum Master, preferably within the insurance or financial services industry.
• Strong technical background with hands-on experience in Scrum team competencies (e.g., programming, testing, requirements gathering) prior to assuming Scrum Master or Project Management roles.
• Technical expertise to mentor Scrum teams across all competencies, including Development, Testing, Business Analysis (BA), DevOps, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and Integrations.
• Sufficient technical depth to analyze risks and process gaps, propose solutions, and actively assist with remediation activities.
• Proficiency with Agile and work management tools, including JIRA, Confluence, and Ativo.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field (required).
• Demonstrated capability to mentor teams on AI usage to improve productivity and delivery outcomes.

Preferred Skills:

• Scrum Master certification preferred.
• Proficiency with AI-enabled tools, particularly in JIRA, Confluence, Ativo, and Microsoft Copilot.
• Proven technical mentoring experience across software development and delivery disciplines.
• Experience managing projects that leverage service-oriented architecture (SOA).
• Strong understanding of Agile methodologies and a proven delivery track record.
• Deep understanding of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Strong familiarity with life insurance or financial services environments.
• Experience facilitating or moderating large-scale workshops or cross-functional sessions.
• Ability to manage multiple complex system projects simultaneously.
• Excellent analytical skills, independent thinking, and sound judgment.