Scrum Master

Department: Information Technology

Classification: Info Technology Spec 2

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Pay Band: 05

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The mission of the Enterprise Applications (EA) department is to plan, implement, and maintain integrated central and distributed information systems and associated databases that support the business needs of the university. These systems include the Banner administrative applications (supporting student, finance, admissions, human resources, payroll, financial aid, and procurement), Data marts/Business Intelligence (supporting strategic and operational end-user reporting requirements), decentralized systems and web applications (supporting budgeting, sponsored programs activity, and other university applications), customer relationship management (CRM) and support for application and data integration.

About the Position:

The Scrum Master is a servant-leader responsible for facilitating and guiding the Scrum process for a cross-functional development team. The Scrum Master works closely with Center of Excellence (COE) leadership, product owners, and the development team to ensure Scrum practices are followed, removes any impediments to progress, and fosters a collaborative, self-organizing, and high-performing team environment. The role also includes ensuring Scrum ceremonies such as Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Planning, Sprint Demos, and Sprint Retrospectives are conducted effectively.

Responsibilities:

Facilitate Scrum Ceremonies:

• Effectively runs regularly occurring Sprint ceremonies like Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Story Refinement, Sprint Demos, and Retrospectives.

Support Development Team:

• On a daily basis, identifies and removes blockers and other obstacles preventing the team from progressing. Ensures the team effectively collaborates and focuses on continuous improvement while adhering to Scrum values and process.

Partner with Product Owners:

• Works closely with Product Owners and Business Analysts to ensure the product backlog is organized and prioritized. This will be done by co-facilitating story refinement sessions and other offline efforts focused on getting user stories sprint-ready.

Agile Coach:

• Guides the team and overall COE in the adoption and understanding of Agile methodologies and principles. This includes providing guidance and strategies for increasing our level of Agile maturity. It is crucial the Scrum Master has the ability to push Agile standards while managing external teams and other factors which may not be operating under the same process.

Foster Continuous Improvement:

• Through Retrospectives and overall daily interactions, provides the team opportunities to present ideas meant to improve various aspects of the team. When ideas presented are determined to be actionable, helps mobilize the team to incrementally act on these ideas.

Metrics and Reporting:

• Provides regular reporting, displaying key Scrum metrics like team velocity, sprint progress, and overall team performance. This also includes regular reporting on Retrospective outcomes and self-improvement items which may not necessarily be captured on the sprint board.

Governance:

• Partners with Information Technology Services and Business leadership to further enhance the way we govern our platforms via a COE model.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Certified Scrum Master or equivalent certification;
• Considerable experience as a Scrum Master in an Agile environment;
• Experience with leading cross-functional teams to deliver software or products;
• Experience leading projects as a project manager or working closely with project managers;
• General project management experience;
• Considerable understanding of Agile principles and Scrum framework;
• Familiarity with Agile management tools like Agile Accelerator, JIRA, Trello, Rally, VersionOne, or similar tools;
• Understanding of the software development lifecycle;
• Ability to effectively communicate with team members and stakeholders;
• Ability to guide the team on the journey of continuous improvement; and
• Strong ability to quantify sprint outcomes to increase predictability of team velocity, and ability to achieve sprint commitments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Considerable meeting facilitation skills for Scrum ceremonies and team discussions;
• Ability to coach and mentor teams and individuals; and
• Ability to foster a culture of trust, collaboration, and accountability; and
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and conflict resolution skills.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Scrum Master at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume for review.

Posting Open Date:  May 14, 2025

Posting Close Date:  June 4, 2025