Scrum Master

PLS®: People. Location. Service:

Why PLS? Because You Deserve Better!® PLS - which stands for People Location Service - is a leading retail provider of financial services. The “P” comes first, because our customers are at the center of everything we do, and we recognize that it’s our exceptional team members who go above and beyond every day. The PLS Group, headquartered in Chicago, is comprised of over 200 financial service centers in 12 states. Through our check cashing, lending, and our PLS Auto store, we provide consumers with convenient financial products and services to help them manage their day-to-day financial needs. Although many of our customers have banking relationships, we believe that our customers use our financial services because they are more convenient, transparent, and frequently more affordable than available traditional alternatives.

Position Overview:

Our Agile Development teams are hard at work designing and implementing technical solutions that will help us maintain and improve our functionality at PLS, and we are excited to add a Scrum Master to help our squads! Our Scrum Master will teach Scrum and support our Agile Development Teams as they adopt and apply Lean and Agile Principles, implement the Scrum Framework, self-organize, and deliver working solutions.

Responsibilities:

Coach and support the team to self-organize, use agile and the Scrum framework, limit work in process and continuously improve

Create and maintain an atmosphere of continuous learning and improvement by teams

Help teams craft and maintain team agreements and self-organization

Facilitate all scrum events, keeping all events within the time box. Coach the team to facilitate their Scrum events.

Coach and support the Product Owner to manage the product Backlog.

Shield the team from outside interference

Identify, resolve, or escalate impediments that slow development or prevent the team from delivering

Work to identify and address organizational impediments

Foster and encourage team transparency through information radiators / big visible charts

Support conflict resolution

Help teams reach maturity in Agile principles and Scrum practices so that they operate autonomously and independent of the scrum master

Create and facilitate trust between development teams, product owners, and other stakeholders

Requirements:

3-5 years’ experience as a Scrum Master/Coach or in a related field

5+ years of experience working in technology or a technology-focused bachelor’s degree

2+ years Advanced Agile (PMI-CAP, IC Agile) or Scrum Certifications (PSM II, PSPO, CSP-SM, etc.) (preferred)

Requires Scrum Master Certification (CSM or PSM)

Experienced supporting 3-5 teams as a Scrum Master

Understand and apply scaling techniques such as SAFe or LeSS

Understand and teach root cause analysis techniques

Experienced serving as a coach to more Junior Scrum Masters (preferred)

Understand and can apply Organizational Change Frameworks (preferred)

Experienced planning and leading new teams through transition to Scrum (preferred)

Physical Requirements:

Must be able to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time

Ability to lift 15 lbs.

Ability to travel on occasion

Benefits:

Benefits for eligible employees include medical/dental/vision, 401k, vacation, opportunities for advancement, on-going training available.

We strive to demonstrate our Core Values in all positions at PLS:

Communication ● Customer Focus ● Integrity and Trust ● Teamwork ● Results

PLS Financial Services is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, marital status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. PLS Financial Services is a drug-free workplace. PLS provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify your Recruiter or a member of our Human Resources team to make arrangements. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.