Senior Scrum Master

UFCU•Austin, TX

4h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Scrum Master enables one or more Agile teams to deliver reliable, incremental value by facilitating Scrum and Kanban practices, coaching team members and Product Owners, and improving end-to-end flow. As UFCU continues its digital transformation journey, this role plays a key part in maturing our Agile practices — bringing experience, patience, and a servant-leader mindset to a team that is actively growing its capabilities. This position removes impediments, strengthens empiricism and self-management, and collaborates with cross-functional partners to improve delivery predictability, quality, and member outcomes. Exceptional interpersonal skills, a strong coaching orientation, and the ability to build trust across business and technology teams are essential. Familiarity with financial services environments, including their regulatory landscape and stakeholder complexity, is a strong advantage. UFCU was founded in 1936 and has grown to serve members throughout Texas and beyond. At UFCU, they are more than just a financial institution, and their people are more than just employees. They are dedicated to their purpose of empowering their Members to achieve financial success and build brighter futures. In pursuit of their aspiration that UFCU is loved by millions of Members and built to thrive for generations, they are guided by their values: Purposefully Member-Obsessed, Possibilities Reimagined, and Performance Excellence Rooted in Unwavering Integrity.

Requirements

Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban) and scaled practices (SAFe 6.0 or similar).
Backlog management, refinement facilitation, and sprint planning techniques.
Software development lifecycle and DevOps concepts sufficient to bridge business and technical conversations.
Flow-based metrics (cycle time, lead time, WIP) and lightweight forecasting techniques.
Expert facilitation of Scrum events and collaborative workshops.
Coaching individuals and teams on Agile principles and empirical thinking.
Conflict resolution and constructive negotiation across business and technology groups.
Clear, audience-appropriate communication: from daily standups to executive updates.
Data-informed decision-making using team-owned metrics.
Influence without authority: coaching across teams and stakeholders in a growing Agile environment.
Build trust and psychological safety that enables self-management and honest feedback.
Navigate ambiguity and adapt coaching style to meet teams where they are.
Inspire a continuous improvement mindset and contribute to a learning culture within the Scrum Master team.
Seven (7) of Scrum Master and/or project management experience, including managing multiple teams or workstreams simultaneously.
Demonstrated experience working in an Agile environment, supporting two or more Agile teams.
Must be bondable.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with financial services operations, regulatory environment, or compliance culture is a plus.
Active Agile certification such as CSM, A-CSM, PSM, SAFe Scrum Master, or PMI-ACP. (A relevant degree or PMP may substitute; we value demonstrated capability over credentials alone.)
Experience in financial services, banking, credit unions, or similarly regulated industries.
Hands-on experience with flow-based metrics, forecasting, and visual management techniques.
Familiarity with scaling frameworks (SAFe, LeSS, or Scrum@Scale) in organizations actively building Agile maturity.

Responsibilities

Facilitate Sprint Planning, Daily Standups, Sprint Reviews, Sprint Retrospectives, and Backlog Refinement — ensuring each event is purposeful, time-boxed, and produces clear decisions and follow-ups.
Coach team members on the why behind Agile practices, not just the mechanics, fostering genuine understanding over compliance.
Onboard and integrate new Scrum team members into team norms and practices quickly and effectively.
Contribute to building consistent practices across the Scrum Master team by sharing facilitation techniques, retrospective formats, and coaching approaches.
Enable the Scrum team to meet sprint goals by fostering transparency, removing impediments, and coaching on Agile practices.
Maintain visibility into sprint commitments and team performance, tracking progress against goals.
Facilitate team-selected flow metrics — such as cycle time, lead time, WIP limits, and sprint goal success rate — to support forecasting and continuous improvement.
Surface blockers, dependencies, and risks clearly; drive cross-functional resolution without creating team dependency on the Scrum Master.
Partner with Product Owners to ensure backlog items are well-understood, prioritized, and have clear acceptance criteria.
Lead sprint demos and retrospectives; capture and share agreed improvement actions to promote accountability and learning.
Facilitate retrospectives and improvement workshops that help teams meaningfully inspect and adapt.
Coach teams, Product Owners, and stakeholders on Agile principles to support UFCU's broader transformation goals.
Help the organization move along the agile maturity curve by introducing practices, tools, and mindsets appropriate to where teams are today and where they need to go.
Promote transparency through metrics and visual management techniques that support team-driven improvement.
Partner with Product Owners and stakeholders to ensure backlog items align with roadmap and business objectives.
Facilitate conversations around risks, trade-offs, and dependencies — informing prioritization decisions without owning them.
Help teams visualize progress and forecast delivery using flow-based metrics accessible to both technical and business audiences.
Model servant leadership: support the team's autonomy, shield them from unnecessary interruptions, and create conditions for high performance.
Mentor team members and peers on Agile principles, collaborative behaviors, and effective communication.
Contribute to a psychologically safe environment where experimentation, feedback, and honest retrospectives are the norm.
Adhere to all company policies, procedures, and business ethics codes.
Complete required regulatory training as assigned.
Maintain strict adherence to and compliance with all laws, rules, regulations, and internal controls specific to the role, including but not limited to Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, USA Patriot Act, OFAC and Fair Lending regulations.