Senior Project Manager

Ontrac Solutions • Chicago, IL

8d • Remote

About The Position

OnTrac is seeking a Senior Project Manager / Scrum Master to join a contractor program supporting a Google Cloud Platform application development engagement for a government customer. You will act as the Scrum Master between the delivery organization, the cloud provider, and the customer: leading Scrum ceremonies, guiding the Scrum team, and working with the Product Owners to make sure sprint objectives are met for Google Cloud deployments. You will also be a servant-leader and coach for one or more Scrum teams, helping them deliver high-value products efficiently and effectively. You will champion Agile principles and practices, foster a collaborative, self-organizing environment, remove impediments, facilitate ceremonies, and drive continuous improvement across the teams and the wider organization. The role calls for strong facilitation, coaching, and communication skills and a deep understanding of Scrum and other Agile frameworks. The right person is communicative, energetic, creative, analytical, and eager to take on responsibility and learn new skills. This is a fast-paced, teamwork-oriented environment inside a growing, service-oriented technical practice, and we are looking for people who want to build a long-term career here.

Requirements

• SAFe experience, including certification and application across at least two or three projects.
• A thorough understanding of Agile principles and values and of the Scrum framework.
• Proven ability to facilitate effective Scrum ceremonies and to manage a product backlog.
• Experience identifying and removing impediments.
• Strong coaching and mentoring skills.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams.
• Familiarity with Agile tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Azure DevOps, and adept with work-management tools such as Jira and Smartsheet.
• At least three years of experience managing IT deployment projects.
• At least seven years of related experience in a technical, engineering, or software development environment.
• Experience managing a team of engineers.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical reasoning skills.
• Iron-clad organizational skills.
• A positive attitude toward change and the ability to adapt.
• A love for cloud computing.

Nice To Haves

• IT consulting experience.
• Project management certification, such as PMP.
• Experience delivering and managing projects on Google Cloud or another public cloud.
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and/or Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO).
• Business systems analysis certification or experience.
• Experience with other Agile frameworks, such as Kanban or Lean.
• Experience scaling Agile with frameworks such as SAFe, LeSS, or Nexus.
• Experience working in the government sector.
• Experience working with distributed teams.
• Experience training and facilitating workshops.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coach the Scrum team(s) on self-organization, cross-functionality, and achieving their goals.
• Facilitate all Scrum ceremonies (sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, sprint retrospective), keeping them time-boxed, focused on clear objectives, and valuable.
• Identify impediments early and work actively to remove anything that hinders the team's progress.
• Coach the development team, the Product Owner, and stakeholders on Agile principles and practices, helping each understand and carry out their role.
• Foster strong communication and collaboration within and between Scrum teams and with stakeholders.
• Support the Product Owner in managing the product backlog, refining user stories, and making sure the development team has clarity on the work.
• Promote and support Agile adoption across the organization as a change agent and champion for continuous improvement.
• Track and communicate team progress, velocity, and other relevant metrics to stakeholders, identifying trends and areas for improvement.
• Mediate and resolve conflicts within the Scrum team(s) and with external stakeholders.
• Contribute to scaling Agile practices across multiple teams, working alongside other Scrum Masters and Agile coaches.
• Drive improvement through effective retrospectives and by seeing agreed actions through.
• Provide training and guidance on Scrum and Agile methods to new team members and stakeholders.
• Communicate in writing and verbally with stakeholders on both the delivery and customer sides, at every organizational level from executives through to working teams.
• Work with peers and leadership in the PMO on status updates, issues, risks, decisions, and change requests.
• Lead and motivate project teams and oversee engineers and architects across disciplines such as infrastructure modernization, data engineering, and application development.
• Help the PMO Center of Excellence evolve and make lasting, effective change across the delivery organization.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior