Scrum Master & Agile Business Analyst

ECS is seeking a Scrum Master & Agile Business Analyst to work in a hybrid capacity, for the US Postal Service's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in Arlington, VA.

This role is responsible for facilitating and guiding the scrum team in adopting and implementing the Scrum framework – which includes organizing and leading Scrum ceremonies, removing impediments, promoting collaboration and ensuring adherence to Scrum principles and values. The Scrum Master is a crucial member of the Agile development team responsible for implementing and maintaining the Scrum framework. Their primary role is to facilitate the Scrum process, remove obstacles and ensure that the team follows the Agile principles and practices. They work closely with the product owner and development team to plan and execute sprints, daily stand-ups and sprint reviews.

The Scrum Master will serve a dual function: facilitating Agile practices for our O&M applications team while serving as an Agile business analyst. Because our end-users and agency customers do not write technical requirements, this role is directly responsible for liaising with stakeholders, translating operational needs into actionable user stories, and maintaining a healthy, prioritized product backlog.

Note: Candidates must be able to pass a USPIS Moderate Background Investigation (MBI) and obtain a USPS Public Trust (elevated) clearance. This requires US Citizenship and the ability to pass an in-depth background check.

Responsibilities include

• Guides and coaches the Scrum Team on how to use Agile practices and principles to deliver high quality products and services to our customers.
• Gets team to a high performing level by recognizing areas of strength and improvement and employing appropriate coaching and development techniques.
• Responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and the team adheres to Scrum theory, practice, and guidelines.
• Coaches the Scrum team in self-organization, cross-functional skillset, domain knowledge and communicates effectively, both internally and externally working within the Scrum team.
• Works with Scrum Team, as well as internal and external stakeholders, to influence and drive decision making and support organizational project or product teams.
• Resolves team impediments with other Scrum Masters to increase the effectiveness of the application of Scrum in the organization.
• Works with Agile coaches and other Scrum Masters to grow within the role.
• Contributes to the advancement and improvement of Agile practices within the organization.
• Facilitates and supports all scrum events: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.
• Acts as a leader who coaches and supports Agile teams.
• Exemplifies and promotes Agile values and principles
• Outstanding communication, facilitation, negotiation, and coaching skills
• Knowledge of an agile framework or method (i.e. Scrum, Kanban), or understanding of software development life cycle models as well as in-depth knowledge of traditional project management principles and practices
• Adept at refinement, story splitting, estimation, velocity, retrospection, and other Scrum techniques
• Planning and problem solving with product management and delivery teams

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 4 years of product or project development experience, or 3 years of project development experience on an Agile Team or 4 years of additional experience is required in lieu of a Bachelor’s degree
• Demonstrated experience facilitating meetings at multiple levels of an organization and an understanding of facilitation techniques
• Intermediate working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, including but not limited to Outlook, Word, and Excel
• Certified Scrum Master
• Knowledge of Agile facilitation software such as Jira and Confluence