HAWA KAMARA

Bowie, MD *****

301-***-**** - ad2v2q@r.postjobfree.com

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Certified Scrum Master with over 7 years of experience leading agile teams to deliver high-quality software products. Proven track record of successfully implementing Scrum and Kanban methodologies to improve team efficiency and product delivery. Adept at fostering collaboration, communication, and continuous improvement within cross-functional teams.

SKILLS

Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban)

Stakeholder collaboration

Risk Management

Continuous improvement

Project planning and execution

Release Management

Software Process Management

Requirements Gathering

CERTIFICATIONS

Project Management Professional (PMP) - Pending

Professional Scrum Master (PSM1) equivalent to Certified Scrum Master (CSM) TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY

Project Tools: Atlassian Suite (Jira, Jira Align, Confluence, Trello, Bitbucket), Rally, Azure DevOps (ADO)

Data Visualization: PowerBI, Eazy BI

Collaboration Tools: Miro, Sharepoint, AHA, Service Now Office Tools: Microsoft Office Suite ( Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, Project, Visio, Teams, Outlook)

Framework/ Methodologies: Waterfall and Agile Framework Expert ( Scrum, Kanban, XP, SAFe)

WORK HISTORY

04/2023 to Current SAFe Scrum Master/Release Manager Centene Corporation – St Louis, MO

Facilitated Agile ceremonies, including Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective, ensuring adherence to SAFe principles. Facilitated PI (Program Increment) Planning and coordination across multiple teams, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives. Led multiple cross-functional agile teams through the full software development lifecycle, ensuring timely delivery of high-quality products. Implemented Scrum and Kanban methodologies to improve team productivity and collaboration, resulting in a 20% increase in sprint velocity. Collaborated with product owners and stakeholders to prioritize and groom the product backlog, ensuring alignment with business objectives. Identified and resolved impediments to team progress, resulting in a 30% reduction in blockers.

Developed project plans, timelines, and resource allocation strategies. Conducted risk assessments and implemented mitigation plans to address project challenges.

Prepared and presented project status reports to senior management. Shaped product visions, collaborated with stakeholders, and managed product backlogs to deliver valuable features and enhancements. Coordinated release planning, deployment activities, and post-release support across multiple teams, ensuring successful product releases. Identified and resolved impediments to team progress and release timelines, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

12/2019 to 03/2023 Sr Scrum Master/Project Manager CareFirst- BlueCross BlueShield – Reston, VA

Led Agile ceremonies fostering a culture of continuous improvement and adaptability within the team.

Utilized and implemented SAFe practices to help team achieve its deliverables on time with quality.

Implemented metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure team performance and identify areas for improvement.

Coordinated with cross-functional teams, including developers, QA, and business analysts, to meet project goals.

Worked closely with the Product Owner in defining the product goal & roadmaps increasing productivity by 30%.

Conducted project estimate sessions with project stakeholders to ensure realistic and accurate estimates throughout the project life cycle. Utilized project management tools to track project progress, milestones, and deliverables, ensuring on-time and on-budget completion. Fostered a conducive environment which created a self-organizing, self-managing and cross functional team.

Prepared various dashboards in Jira which reflected risks, dependencies, and impediments.

Fostered a culture of continuous improvement, resulting in a 25% reduction in defects and improved overall product quality.

Oversaw end-to-end project delivery, from project initiation to closure, ensuring on-time and within-budget completion.

Developed project plans, timelines, and resource allocation strategies. 05/2016 to 11/2019 Scrum Master

Delta Dental Of Virginia – Ashburn, VA

Introduced and facilitated agile ceremonies, resulting in a 15% reduction in development cycle time.

Conducted training sessions on agile principles and practices for new team members, accelerating their onboarding process.

Shielded scrum team from external interference for optimal productivity and success of Agile process.

Successfully guided teams in adopting agile practices, leading to a 30% improvement in on-time delivery and customer satisfaction. Educated and coached team (s) on the usage of Jira & Confluence tools. Planned and organized demos and system testing.

Assisted team with accurate estimate on deliverables. Assisted Product Owner with effective management of backlog. Ensured the teams are adhering to the DOR (Definition of Ready) and DOD

(Definition of Done) criteria during each sprint and story creation. Closely monitored the Sprint Burndown, Burn-up and Release Burndown Chart to keep track of the team's velocity and sprint progress for forecasting, and any scope changes.

09/2014 to 04/2016 Project Coordinator

Avery Road Combined Care – Rockville, MD

Assisted in project planning, scheduling, and execution, ensuring alignment with project goals and objectives.

Collaborated with cross-functional teams to gather project requirements and ensure timely completion of tasks.

Maintained project documentation, including project plans, timelines, and resource allocation, ensuring accurate and up-to-date records. Facilitated communication between project stakeholders, ensuring clear and effective information flow.

Tracked project progress and milestones, providing regular updates to project managers and stakeholders.

AFFILIATIONS

Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc

EDUCATION

Master of Science: Biology

Chatham University - Pittsburgh, PA

Bachelor of Science: Biology

Morgan State University - Baltimore, MD

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