Location Address: WFH (Toronto once covid restrictions lifted)
Contract Duration: 6 months (Possibility for extension and conversion)
Story Behind the Need:
The Candidate hired on will be working on one of two projects listed below – the candidates will be considered by both, and addressed specifically during the interview.
1st Project: Seeking a Scrum master for Commercialization Lab. Purpose is to identify opportunities and use cases to increase revenue streams by leveraging the existing real time payments product
2nd Project – Real Time Rail Lab – The RTR Lab will be part of an industry-wide modernization initiative to enable real time clearing & settlement for Canada’s payment ecosystem. The candidate will lead and facilitate a cross-functional team across retail payments, business payments and digital channel ecosystems.
Candidate Value Proposition:
The successful candidate will not only have the opportunity to gain valuable experience at a top 5 Canadian bank, but also get exposure to one of the most sought after areas within the bank in payments modernization.
Typical Day:
– As a ScrumMaster you will ensure the team enacts the agile principles, values and framework:
– Provide support to teams using a servant leadership style
– Coach the development team and help lead and insure the agile mindset is fully adopted and understood
– Inculcate core agile values of focus, commitment, respect, openness and courage into the teams ground rules through leading by example
– Assess and coach the team to higher levels of performance, tracking acceleration metrics
– Guide the development team on how to integrate agile ceremonies and values into daily work.
– Encourage an environment where open communication and collaborative problem solving can pave the way for faster removal of any impediments and where the impact of mistakes can be minimized through early detection, making them into learning opportunities
– Engage with the team and technical SMEs to identify technical debt risks and develop approaches to remediate
2) Implement and promote use of agile methodology within the team:
– Facilitate agile ceremonies including iteration planning, iteration review, retrospectives, and daily standups
– Create a forum for discussing vision, goals, and Product Backlog items amongst the team
– Apply techniques for effective workflow visualization and management (e.g. Kanban or Scrum Boards)
– Identify, manage, and help mitigate issues and risks, with particular emphasis on timely removal of impediments for the team and/or directing obstacles to appropriate owners for quick resolution
– Facilitate identifying and enacting improvement strategies to increase the productivity of the team and quality of deliverables
– Ensure team execution and delivery to committed sprint work- maintaining the momentum of the initiative and upholding a sustainable pace of delivery; track agile metrics to provide statistical proof of momentum and sustainability
– Understand long-term product planning/ roadmap and help inform development teams to create quicker gains for the benefit of the end user
– Ensure that proper lightweight documentation (captured in artifacts such as program vision statement, program backlog, program roadmap, release plan, sprint backlog, and increments) is prioritized and added to the team's backlog of work
– Compliance with bank policies and procedures for project delivery
3. Develop and nurture strong partnering relationships with Product Owner/Business Sponsor and stakeholders:
– Develop strong partnership with the Product Owner to gain strong understanding of objectives, sustain open dialogue to manage product backlog efficiently
– Influence a wide range of stakeholders (business, compliance, Legal, IT, etc.) to remove impediments and maximize team output
– Support and educate the Product Owner on agile principles and practices to preserve the team from external pressures which may inhibit its productivity
4. Contribute to building organizational capability and expertise on agile adoption:
– Lead and coach the organization in its agile adoption, sharing successes, artifacts, and experience to accelerate transition to new delivery models
– Communicate effectively across diverse audiences within and outside of the development team (Stakeholders, Executives), acting as a champion of the agile methodology
– Partner with Agile Coach and other agile teams to share findings, best practices, and resources to help mature the organization's agility
Candidate Requirements/Must Have Skills:
1) 5-7 years of IT experience in some capacity – preferably within or working with a large global enterprise
2) 2+ years of Project Management experience or leading large cross-functional teams on major organizational projects, preferably in an agile work environment
3) 1-2 years of Scrum Master experience with a strong understanding of agile project management principles and practices coupled with working experience as a ScrumMaster in a recent project/initiative
Soft Skills:
– Excellent communication skills both written and verbal to confidently lead Scrum
– Negotiation skills to work with the business partners and product owners to properly convey priorities
– Fast, adaptable learner – ability to think quickly on their feet and pivot
– Effective collaboration to work with other teams involved
– Individual must be a self start
– Candidate must have great problem solving skills and take initiative
Degrees or certifications:
– Bachelor's degree in a technical field such as computer science, computer engineering or related field required
– ScrumMaster Certification (CSM) is preferred but not required