Manager Scrum

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Over twenty years of experience managing large enterprise software development projects that meet demanding time restraints and exceed all expectations.

Implemented Agile deployments leveraging the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe).

Demonstrated ability to motivate, organize, lead and coach Scrum teams across multiple locations, with a verifiable record of accomplishment of managing complex projects while delivering on time, under budget and above expectations.

Skilled in providing effective leadership in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments, with outstanding oral and written presentation and communication skills which includes a strong technical and functional background and exceptional servant-leadership skills; able to effectively build high functioning teams that consistently deliver high quality solutions within prescribed timeframes and budgets.

Coached teams to apply Agile methods and trained them to be self-organizing and self-managing through meaningful use of Agile concepts like backlog refinement, user story value mapping, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).

Drove adoption of Agile and Lean software development methodologies (Scrum, XP, and Kanban practices) across teams.

Coached and mentored teams on Scrum methodologies and XP engineering practices like ATDD, TDD, Continuous Integration.

Provided guidance for the organization's smooth transition from Waterfall to Agile Scrum development; extensive experience with Agile transformations.

Experience includes Scrum based iterative incremental development by CI/CD increasing business value every Sprint.

Equipped with strong experience in overcoming organizational challenges of transitioning to Agile methodology from traditional project management and development.

Far-reaching expertise in Agile/Scrum and traditional software product development, systems integration implementations, IT infrastructures and services across multiple platforms, industries, technologies and applications.

Competent in the areas of application development and project/program management.

Involved in sprint planning, estimation, product backlog grooming, story point evaluation, sprint backlog prioritizing, daily scrum calls, retrospective sprint reviews and client demo.

Identified and resolved impediments, tracked progress, worked with Product Owner to groom the product backlog, facilitated release planning, coached teams on XP practices, delivered high quality tested software with Agile teams.

U.S. citizen with Public Trust clearance.

KEY STRENGTHS & EXPERTISE

Agile/Scrum Methodologies

Product/Project Management

Process Documentation

Strategic Planning

Process Improvement

Training

Quality Assurance

Prioritization

Testing

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Operating Systems

Windows 7/10

Methodologies/Frameworks

SDLC, CMMI, Project Management, Six Sigma, Data Flow Diagrams/Process Modeling, Use Cases, Agile/Scrum, Waterfall, Information Mapping

Databases

Oracle, SQLBase, SQL Server, Access

Analysis/Modeling Tools

Rational Requisite Pro, JIRA, Confluence, Version One, HP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)

Incident Management

PeopleSoft, Remedy

EDUCATION/TRAINING

Master’s degree, Public Administration / Envr. Mgt, Kean University, NJ, 2010

Bachelor’s degree, Political Science / Public Administration, Kean University, NJ, 2007

CERTIFICATIONS

SAFe4 Consultant (SPC4)

SAFe Agilist 4.5

SAFe Scrum Master

SAFe Advance Scrum Master

SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

08/2017 to Present

Department of Human Services

Agile Project Manager /Scum Master

Work directly with business partners, all levels of management, enterprise product management and development teams to execute the adoption of Agile across the organizational enterprise.

Stood up and coached new Agile teams transforming to Lean Agile at scale (Lean, Scrum, Kanban and SAFe) for Client Wealth Management Systems.

Assess team maturity and coached teams to higher levels of maturity, at a pace that was sustainable and appropriate for the team and the organization.

Provide coaching, mentoring and training at the team level on Agile/Lean core principles and best practices.

Facilitate discussions, decision-making and conflict resolution.

Support Agile thinking as the norm and helped foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Track and report team metrics and sprint/release progress to all teams and management.

Member of front office Agile Adoption and Transformation team defining consistent/best practices and metrics across the teams/enterprise to foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Facilitate Scrum Master Community of Practice Forum.

Assessing the Scrum maturity of the team and organization and coaching the team to higher levels of maturity, at a pace that is sustainable and comfortable for the team and organization.

Building a trusting and safe environment where problems can be raised without fear of blame, retribution, or being judged, with an emphasis of healing and problem solving.

Facilitating getting the work done without coercion, assigning, or dictating the work.

Assisting with internal and external communication, improving transparency, and radiating information.

Supporting and educating the product owner, especially with respect to refining (aka grooming) and managing the product backlog.

Facilitate daily stand-ups, sprint planning, refinement, sprint review, retrospectives, and other related team and intra-team meetings.

Participate in sprint demonstrations and scrum of scrums.

Maintain and generate information radars for the teams.

Collect and share team metrics with the team, suggest new metrics, and drive improvement using metrics.

Planning - ensure that goals, scope, and product domain are understood by everyone on the team.

Ensure that the technical team has a clear understanding of definition of done.

Drive stories to ready state in preparation for the next quarter and upcoming sprint.

Prepare for and facilitate bi-monthly releases, and sprint planning with the product owner and the team.

Work with the teams and product owner/manager to maintain a healthy backlog and plan upcoming releases and assist with drafting acceptance criteria.

10/2013 to 07/2017

Capital One (contract)

Agile Project Manager / Scrum Master

Protected the team and minimized disruptions. Removed impediments for teams and escalated as appropriate.

Coordinated with the configuration management analyst on environment setups & maintenance, code deployments, and production releases.

Built high-performing teams by helping the team manage interpersonal conflicts, challenges, and opportunities for growth. Built trust among team members.

Partnered with business stakeholders in leading the Agile transformation at the team level.

Served as Agile coach mentoring teams on scrum practices to ensure that benefit from and adherence to core Agile principles was achieved.

Provided leadership, direction, and coaching to teams to encourage and facilitate cross-team coordination and collaboration; fostered an environment of trust.

Defined and implemented an Agile Governance and Compliance process to ensure adherence to Agile/Scrum core principles and process consistency, with 85% adoption and compliance rate.

Created self-management and assessment tools for Scrum teams (i.e. maturity assessment, Quality Operating Scorecard (QOS), etc.).

Acted as a servant leader and change agent in establishing team level cadence, facilitating scrum ceremonies, empowering teams to become self-directed and self-managed while supporting the delivery of strategic technology products.

Fostered a culture of continuous improvement.

Developed and implanted a Foundational Agile curriculum for teams struggling to make the full transition to Agile.

Ensured Agile concepts and principles were adhered to, served as the voice of reason and made the tough calls in demanding situations.

Maintained metrics that provided visibility to stakeholders on team-level progress and quality.

Launched and maintained a thriving Agile Community of Practice with a sustained membership of 1200+ for six years and counting; achieving the distinguished PAX (Practice Area Expert) award for 6 years. Used this communication vehicle to share success stories, best practices, pain points, etc.).

Developed Agile Essentials and Scrum Master internal certification programs and exams designed to measure the effectiveness of the organization's goal to achieve 100% agility.

02/2012 to 09/2013

US Library of Congress (contract)

Team Lead / Scrum Master

Supported the product owner with grooming and maintaining product backlog and working with the team.

Advocated for quality and the customer experience to ensure customer satisfaction and gain referrals.

Collaborated with QA peers on test case reviews and continuously improved test approach and design.

Proactively communicated any risks, design and quality issues, or increases in scope/time required to ensure projects remained on track.

Researched and proposed changes to processes and tools to drive innovation in the quality discipline.

Defined and rolled out an Agile/Scrum and Lean Core Operating Model as an alternative development methodology to Waterfall. Benefits included: reduced cycle time, process simplification, artifact elimination, increased customer satisfaction and speed to market.

Designed curriculum and course structure for individuals and software development teams in support of Agile Transformation initiatives. Courses: self-service, Web-based training and live instructor-led facilitation.

Trained 500+ IT and Business partners and executive leadership on Agile/Scrum, Product Owner, Scrum Master, Scrum Team, Kanban, Lean, XP principles, Agile mindset and Release Train Engineer role.

Facilitated Agile/Scrum forums, workshops, coaching corner sessions and roundtable discussions for all software development methodologies.

04/2010 to 01/2012

US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) (contract)

Scrum Master

Contributed to product roadmap planning, project scheduling and release management.

Identified and remove organization and team impediments to enhance productivity and efficiency.

Trained new team members and transition teams to Agile framework with Scrum to enhance team skill levels.

Monitored and managed dependencies on other teams and external projects to ensure issues are resolved.

Participated in iteration planning to create acceptance criteria and tests that define “done” for features.

01/2007 to 03/2010

Computer Sciences Corporation

Quality Assurance Manager

Expertly promoted continuous improvement and help teams increase productivity and fostered innovation.

Responsible for managing a team of 25+ in 3 work group locations, whose primary responsibilities included complete life cycle testing (system, integration, regression, user acceptance, enterprise and business partner certification), testing environment maintenance and support, pre- and post-deployment activities and tools/automation in support.

12/2005 to 01/2007

US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (contractor)

Team Lead (Project Manager)

Assisted program manager by leading a team that provided multi-faceted support to US Traders by augmenting deployed task force units.

Led a team responsible for consulting, researching, developing, presenting and publishing products at the operational level related to field level activities.

Employed cutting-edge technology while serving as a trainer for analysts, facilitating the creation and dissemination of 500+ products distributed to task force units and partnering other agencies.

Used Waterfall to manage projects and personnel, aligning customer requirements and stakeholder needs to ensure mission effectiveness.

03/2003 to 11/2005

1 source consulting

Team Lead Business Analysis

Led a team of 5 Business Analysts responsible for gathering requirements from customers and translating them into technology and process solutions.

Fostered team collaboration and timely communication.

Encouraged team to be proactive during all phases of the sprint. Worked with the team to adapt to changes that yield better results.

Encouraged an experimental and fail-fast mindset.

Communicated the status of progress and impediments to internal and external stakeholders.

Facilitated cross-team coordination, tracked and followed up with external dependencies

Acted as a buffer between external distractions and helped the team to keep focus.

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