Senior Scrum Master

The Senior Scrum Master is a servant-leader and accountable owner of delivery health for one or more Agile teams. Reporting directly to the CIO, this role is responsible for ensuring disciplined Scrum execution, owning sprint predictability and flow health, and driving continuous improvement through data-driven insights and proactive intervention.
In addition to team-level ownership, the Senior Scrum Master operates with elevated influence and autonomy, serving as a trusted delivery partner to leadership and an informal mentor to other Scrum Masters. This role partners closely with Product Owners, Project Managers, Engineering Leads, and cross-functional stakeholders to enable high-performing teams, remove systemic impediments, and ensure delivery commitments are met with consistency and transparency.
JOB QUALIFICATIONS: KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES
The Senior Scrum Master’s responsibilities include but are not limited to:
 

• Facilitate all Scrum ceremonies with discipline, purpose, and clear outcomes
• Actively manage sprint execution throughout the sprint—not just ceremonies—to ensure work progresses as planned
• Ensure sprint goals are clearly defined, achievable, and aligned with product and business objectives
• Identify delivery risks early and drive timely corrective actions to protect sprint commitments
• Ensure retrospectives result in concrete, actionable improvements that influence future execution
• Enforce Definition of Ready and Definition of Done standards to protect sprint integrity
• Track sprint progress using delivery metrics (velocity, throughput, burndown, blockers) to maintain predictability and forecast accuracy

• Own sprint delivery health and predictability for assigned teams, including commitment reliability and flow efficiency
• Own the tracking and follow-through of improvement actions across sprints until measurable progress is achieved
• Champion team accountability for sprint and improvement commitments—reinforcing the principle of “finish what we start”
• Proactively intervene when delivery metrics degrade using coaching, facilitation, and structured escalation
• Track, analyze, and escalate recurring delivery risks including rollover, aging work, dependencies, and capacity constraints
• Facilitate root-cause analysis with relevant teams when patterned issues are observed, identifying remedies or mitigating approaches
• Escalate impediments using established governance and escalation paths, engaging leadership when issues are systemic or unresolved

• Coach teams on Agile principles, Scrum best practices, and self-organization
• Foster psychological safety while maintaining high standards for delivery discipline and accountability
• Drive a culture of constructive feedback, ownership, and continuous improvement
• Provide informal mentorship and guidance to other Scrum Masters to reinforce consistent delivery practices and standards
• Serve as a sounding board for complex delivery challenges, cross-team dependencies, and stakeholder tensions

• Own and maintain delivery dashboards reflecting sprint health, flow efficiency, backlog readiness, and delivery trends
• Ensure metrics are accurate, transparent, and actively used to drive behavior and improvement—not just reporting
• Partner with Project Managers to align team execution with project milestones and dependencies
• Partner with Product Owners to ensure backlog readiness, clear acceptance criteria, and realistic sprint commitments
• Collaborate with Engineering Leads to surface technical risks, capacity constraints, and dependencies early
• Protect sprint goals by challenging unplanned work and mid-sprint scope changes
• Promote transparency of work and delivery health across teams and stakeholders

• Sprint commitment vs. completion rate within agreed tolerance
• Reduction in rollover and aging work over time
• Stability and improvement of team velocity and flow metrics
• Follow-through and measurable impact of retrospective actions
• Improved stakeholder confidence in delivery predictability and transparency
• Improved consistency and maturity of Scrum execution across teams

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
EXPERIENCE:

• 8+ years of experience in software delivery, product development, or technology environments
• 5+ years of hands-on experience as a Scrum Master, owning delivery outcomes for Agile teams
• Proven experience operating with executive visibility and partnering directly with senior leadership
• Strong command of Agile frameworks, Scrum practices, and flow-based delivery metrics
• Comfortable owning delivery outcomes and challenging behaviors that undermine predictability
• Highly data-driven with a relentless focus on outcomes, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Excellent facilitation, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills
• Respected peer capable of mentoring other Scrum Masters without formal authority