Scrum Master - Guidewire (Claims Center)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan•Lansing, MI

About The Position

The Scrum Master serves a vital role and is in the unique position to help coach, guide and facilitate an energetic and knowledgeable team. As the Scrum Master you will serve as a critical liaison between the product delivery team, product manager and senior management providing critical direction, communication and assuring the quality delivery of products and services to our customers. Leads one or more agile teams as the scrum master and team member. Employs best practices for agile/scrum methodology, while operating within the department’s overall SDLC Framework. Works collaboratively with the product managers and team members to give input and support to the strategic direction of the initiative. Motivates and supports team members and ensures they have the tools and knowledge to do their jobs and that all blocking issues are resolved quickly. Creates self-organizing agile teams and facilitates the delegation of tasks and responsibilities to appropriate team members. Acts as moderator for sprint planning, daily standups, sprint demos, and refactoring/reflection sessions. In partnership with the Product manager & Product Owner ensure a robust, prioritized backlog is available. Supports Product Manager in understanding and communicating team effectiveness and performance. Communicates team status to all internal stakeholders and continuously refines/improves metrics by working with the team. Coordinates cross team dependencies with other Scrum master’s and participate in Agile Community of Practice (CoP). Escalates issues that require executive attention. Discovers opportunities to support organizational initiatives and develops strategies and programs to promote initiatives. Participates in the development of programs as a strategic partner that supports the company plan as directed by leadership. Provides planning, project coordination, and management for the development of organizational initiatives, while concurrently facilitating efficient operations to meet current and future business needs within the organization. Responsible for balancing workload to optimize the effectiveness of project development and management. Performs analysis to determine root cause of challenges and provides solutions for improved operational and process performance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business or a technical discipline (Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering) required.
Continuous learning as defined by the Company’s learning philosophy is required.
Seven years of progressive responsibility as a scrum master/agile project manager in an insurance environment.
Clear understanding of one of the agile frameworks and key best practices (Disciplined Agile, SAFe, Scrum, Kanban etc.).
Strong analytical, problem solving and planning skills.
Demonstrate leadership ability to effectively interact with all levels of management.
Stakeholder Management, Negotiation and Communication skills.
Understanding of the fundamentals of iterative and incremental development.
Ability to help manage scrum team backlog and priorities using agile based tools (ServiceNow, Jira, Rally/Central Agile, Version1, etc.).
Excellent communication, facilitation, and mentoring skills.
Ability to effectively present budgetary and/or cost information and respond to questions as appropriate.
Demonstrable conflict resolution skills.
Demonstrable risk management and mitigation skills.
Knowledge of tools used to assist with scrum team planning (ServiceNow, Jira, Agile Manager, Version1, etc.).
Ability to be flexible as projects are often non-routine and require re-prioritizing of workload.
Ability to maintain confidentiality.
Ability to perform other assignments as required by senior management.

Nice To Haves

Certification or progress toward certification (CSM, SSM) is highly preferred and encouraged.
Proven experience as a scrum master on several successful software development projects involving multiple developers is preferred.
Knowledge of workers compensations industry preferred.

Responsibilities

Serve as a critical liaison between the product delivery team, product manager, and senior management.
Provide critical direction, communication, and assure quality delivery of products and services.
Lead one or more agile teams as a scrum master and team member.
Employ best practices for agile/scrum methodology within the department’s overall SDLC Framework.
Collaborate with product managers and team members on the strategic direction of initiatives.
Motivate and support team members, ensuring they have the necessary tools and knowledge.
Resolve blocking issues quickly.
Create self-organizing agile teams and facilitate task delegation.
Moderate sprint planning, daily standups, sprint demos, and reflection sessions.
Ensure a robust, prioritized backlog in partnership with the Product Manager & Product Owner.
Support the Product Manager in understanding and communicating team effectiveness and performance.
Communicate team status to internal stakeholders.
Continuously refine and improve metrics by working with the team.
Coordinate cross-team dependencies with other Scrum Masters.
Participate in the Agile Community of Practice (CoP).
Escalate issues requiring executive attention.
Discover opportunities to support organizational initiatives and develop strategies/programs.
Participate in the development of programs as a strategic partner supporting the company plan.
Provide planning, project coordination, and management for organizational initiatives.
Facilitate efficient operations to meet current and future business needs.
Balance workload to optimize project development and management effectiveness.
Perform analysis to determine root causes of challenges and provide solutions for improved operational and process performance.