This is not a ceremony-only Scrum Master brief. You make agility real at the keyboard — coaching one or more cross-functional teams to combine Scrum discipline with Extreme Programming. You protect flow, raise craft, and refuse the false choice between speed and quality.
If you can run a tight sprint and sit with developers until TDD, pairing, refactoring and CI are the default, this role was written for you.
- You coach process and engineering. Stand-ups without TDD is half a job.
- You close the gap between the Product Owner’s intent and the quality of the code that ships.
- You measure what matters: velocity, defect leakage, build health, pairing cadence, sustainable pace.
- You are a servant-leader with teeth. Impediments get removed, not logged and forgotten.
RequirementsWhat you must bring
- 5+ years as Scrum Master or Agile Coach in software teams
- Mandatory: practical Extreme Programming (XP) alongside Scrum
- Hands-on coaching of TDD, pairing and CI/CD with real teams
- Design patterns, refactoring and unit testing
- Short-cycle iterative delivery
- Elite facilitation, conflict resolution and communication
- Expert-level Jira
CSM / PSM I or II · Certified Scrum Developer (highly valued) · Kanban / SAFe / Scrumban used with judgement · a development background (useful, not required)
Calm under pressure. Direct without theatre. More interested in working software than perfect boards. Comfortable saying “we are not pairing enough” — then sitting down to pair.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Systems Engineering, IT, or related field
- 6-10 years of experience working in software development teams
- Minimum 6+ years as a Scrum Master with solid project management experience
- Minimum 4+ years hands-on Agile methodology experience in software delivery
- Relevant Agile / Scrum Master certification (CSM, PSM, or equivalent)
- Strong hands-on experience with tools such as Jira, Confluence, Figma
- Exceptional analytical and conceptual thinking skills
- Banking or financial services experience
- Natural coaching and mentoring ability
- Proven talent for driving meaningful change
- Strong negotiation and conflict-resolution skills
- Passion for process optimisation and continuous improvement
- Excellent facilitation skills
- Ability to work independently and as a collaborative team player
- Outstanding written and verbal communication
- Exceptional organisational, multi-tasking, and time-management skills
What We Do
Sabenza IT is a niche recruitment company specializing in Information Technology, SAP, Finance, and Engineering roles, with over 23 years of experience.
