Scrum Master

Isaac Ajao

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Phone: 347-***-****

Email: *********@*****.***

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/exploring-agility-with-isaac-ajao

Summary

A seasoned Project Manager and Scrum Master with over 7 years of experience, I have a proven track record of developing and improving software project management, web applications, feature improvements, and delivering optimizations for online and digital products. I have successfully led API integration projects to leverage mainframe resources and deliver business solutions for wealth management firms, business banking, healthcare, and other IT groups. I excel at taking on new challenges in both business and technical roles, creating self-organized, high-performing teams, and leveraging my Agile project management experience to increase revenue and customer satisfaction through innovative Information Technology solutions.

EXPERIENCE

KnopmanMarks Financial Training Services, New York, NY — Project Manager/SM May 2021 - Feb 2023

Project: Successfully built an intuitive, data-centric E-Learning Web Application Platform for financial industry professionals.

Highlights:

Followed established project/software development life cycle (SDLC) policies to develop project documentation and project plans that specify goals, strategy, staffing, scheduling, risks, contingency plans, and allocation of resources.

Saved over $120K by redesigning and repurposing existing resources to build an intuitive, data-centric

E-Learning Web Application Platform for financial industry professionals. This resulted in improved

customer satisfaction and reduced latency during studies.

Ensured timely and effective communication with stakeholders by maintaining a biweekly cadence to present easily digestible updates on project status, risk analysis, and mitigation plans.

Implemented CI/CD project delivery to increase project agility, reducing defect escape rate to the

deployment environment by 78%. Automated testing and peer code reviews to reduce errors, improving

collaboration and transparency while enhancing the project's overall quality.

Followed established project/software development life cycle (SDLC) policies to develop

comprehensive project documentation and plans that specify goals, strategy, staffing, scheduling, risks,

contingency plans, and resource allocation.

Promote innovation, instill a passion for delivering, and empower teams to achieve high performance.

Prepared and led project plans, documentation, risk mitigation, and resource management for cross-team initiatives and large projects/programs, ensuring successful completion and delivery.

Introduced peer code review to reduce defects escape rate to 8% during iterations. This enhanced the

team's problem-solving skills improved the project's agility and Quality Assurance turnaround time.

Additional other duties and responsibilities, as assigned.

Satori Mortgage, Minneapolis, MN - Project Manager/Scrum Master June 2019 - April 2021

Project: Managed four Agile teams to build a robust web application for a loan origination process to optimize client experience, satisfaction, and accessibility to financial facilities.

Highlights:

We created a dashboard in the project to display all stages of all existing loans for loan officers to maintain visibility on outstanding documentation and requirements to move loan applications along.

Achieved a continuous increase in loan approvals and a 98% reduction in paper works, resulting in significant operational cost savings by reducing customer loan processing time.

Streamlined loan processing by shifting the burden of entering all required information for Loan applications to customers, resulting in improved application processing time.

Reduced paperwork and physical documentation burden by improving loan processing, resulting in more efficient and effective operations.

Provisioned a PaaS platform that supported SQL, Java, JavaScript, and Microsoft SQL Server database integration and deployment, ensuring process improvement, data migration integrity, data proofing, and data transfer optimization were given keen attention.

Established clear and consistent channels for verbal and written communication between stakeholders to improve feedback loops for each increment and ultimately streamline the product build process. This will involve creating a comprehensive communication plan and setting expectations for all parties involved.

Optimized logic for data processing, paving the way for open-ended automation opportunities that could further improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Utilize a Kanban board integrated into Jira to optimize the prioritization of service requests based on Service Level Agreements (SLAs). This involved setting up transparent workflows and criteria for ticket prioritization, establishing a system for tracking SLA adherence, and ensuring prompt resolution of high-priority issues by leveraging the power of Kanban and Jira; we streamlined the service request process and improved overall efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Additional other duties and responsibilities, as assigned.

ACS Systems Associates, New York, NY — Scrum Master/Project Manager Feb’ 2017 - May 2019

Project Summary/Responsibilities: Built a proprietary inventory and project cost estimation management system for large enterprise construction projects. This system is tailored to the construction industry's unique needs and considers material costs, labor costs, and project timelines.

Highlights:

Explored business analysis skills to direct, coordinate and monitor internal and external project resources activities to ensure projects progress within set parameters, schedule, budget, and goals.

Implementing the system improved accuracy in estimating completion times for construction projects. By leveraging data analytics and other advanced techniques, the system can generate more accurate estimates than traditional methods, leading to more efficient project planning and execution.

Explored business analysis skills to direct, coordinate and monitor internal and external project resources activities to ensure projects progress within set parameters, schedule, budget, and goals.

Independently work with clients to understand the end user’s needs and pain points to define the requirements in agile stories for development.

Support the agile team to capture and analyze acceptance criteria clearly and to define and sequence the work (e.g., MVP - minimum viable product and beyond, go-to-market strategy, release schedules)

Determine and define project scope and objectives. Predict resources needed to reach objectives and manage resources effectively and efficiently.

Provide project updates consistently to various stakeholders about adjustments and progress.

Ensured the team was focused on commitments in each iteration by shielding them from distractions and scope creep, and through adequate requirement analysis, we managed stakeholders' expectations proactively.

Maintained transparency by grooming backlogs and creating dashboards for management to view progress toward product goals.

Ensured minimum changes in commitment during iterations and collaborated with Leadership Teams to ensure team success.

Troubleshoot company pain points by applying agile methodologies to project issues to determine resolutions that lead to new fixes for projects

Additional other duties and responsibilities, as assigned.

Fairway Independent Mortgage, Madison, WI — Scrum Master II May 2015 – Jan 2017

Led and facilitated Agile ceremonies and groomed features, mapped stories, and tasks in Azure DevOps to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality products.

Ensured iterative solution lifecycle from executable architecture to maintenance, including concept development, iterative design, production, delivery, and deployment

Craft a clear vision and strategy that aligns with customer and stakeholder input and communicates it effectively to all levels of the organization to promote program management success.

Identify and troubleshoot company pain points and issues, and drive resolutions that lead to new fixes or projects.

Define project scope and objectives and accurately predict resources needed to achieve objectives while managing resources effectively and efficiently.

Collected and analyzed related metrics for trends and indicators, facilitated iteration/increment planning, and provided Agile coaching and mentoring at all organizational levels

Provide regular project updates to various stakeholders, highlighting any adjustments and progress made.

Coach cross-functional teams on Scrum techniques and artifacts, such as the definition of done, user stories, automated testing, and backlog refinement.

Ensure the effectiveness of all ceremonies by preparing and engaging cross-functional teams and the Product Leadership Team.

Facilitate team retrospectives to identify Agile working improvements and drive their implementation for continuous improvement.

SKILLS

Project Manager/Scrum Master with the following exceptional experience.

Proficient in PMO, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Project, ADO, MS PowerPoint, Visio, JIRA, Jira Align, Rally, Miro, Mural, Figma, and TFS.

Customer-driven and a team player with strong interpersonal and customer interface skills.

Excellent organizational and analytical skills, process and detailed oriented, a self-starter who is highly motivated to obtain goals/results.

Excellent communication/presentation skills, both oral and written and tailor communication to various levels of the organization.

Ability to interact professionally with a diverse group of executives, managers, and subject matter experts

Ability to work in a fast-paced, changing environment while coordinating multiple complex projects simultaneously.

Expert in producing clear and concise project documentation

Effectively manages client expectations and escalations

Ability to work independently or as part of a larger team with minimal supervision, think logically, proactively solve assigned or anticipated problems, and present clear recommendations in written and graphic form.

Experience in leading and managing technical professionals with strong interpersonal skills, including team building, coaching, and mentoring

EDUCATION

Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria

BSc; Industrial Relations and Personnel Management - January 2015

CERTIFICATIONS

. Certified (AGILE) Scrum Master

· Certified (AWS) Cloud Practitioner

· Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

· Certified SAFe 5.1 Agilist

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