Scrum Master Project Manager

Akilah R. Smith, PMP, CSM

704-***-**** **********@*******.***

***** ********* **** *********, ** 28262

Professional Summary

Result -driven Senior Scrum Master with a proven track record of leading Agile transformations, fostering high-performing teams, and delivering value-driven solutions. Passionate about coaching teams, optimizing Agile frameworks, and driving continuous improvement to enhance productivity and collaboration. Seeking to leverage expertise in Agile methodologies, stakeholder engagement, and servant leadership to empower teams, streamline processes and achieve strategic business objectives.

Professional Experience

Sorenson Communications

Sr. Agile Project Manager July 2023 – March 2025

Combines Agile principles with project management ability to deliver value-driven telecommunication and business solutions. Ensure projects align with business goals, while fostering adaptability, collaboration, and efficiency.

Led cross-functional teams in the successful delivery of complex hybrid agile/waterfall projects across multiple departments, providing sign-language telecommunication for the deaf and hard of hearing community. This ensured alignment with the company's strategic business sales goals.

Managed full project lifecycle from initiation through execution and delivery, using the Kanban Agile framework to drive continuous value delivery as well as waterfall reporting, metrics, governance, and tracking.

Partnered with product managers, account managers, engineers, development team members and stakeholders to define project scope, priorities, timelines, and resource plans.

Facilitated Agile ceremonies, including Daily Stand-Up, Backlog Refinement and Retrospectives, to ensure continuous alignment and transparency.

Managed project risks, dependencies, and impediments proactively, escalating as necessary and adjusting plans to support project health and delivery timelines using Confluence, JIRA and Smartsheet applications.

Provided executive-level reporting on project progress, value delivery, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to senior leadership during executive meetings, as well as generated project status reports.

Mentored Agile teams and leadership, promoting Agile maturity and best practices across the business unit.

Leveraged tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Smartsheet for sprint tracking, backlog management, and external stakeholder communication.

Championed a culture of innovation, servant leadership, and customer focus across multiple project teams and programs.

RealPage

Sr. Project Portfolio Lead Sept 2022 – June 2023

Drove the evolution of the Transformation office to align with organizational goals, modern best practices, and strategic priorities. Led change initiatives, refined governance frameworks, and implemented Agile, hybrid and traditional project management methodologies to enhance efficiency and business value.

Developed and executed transformation strategies to modernize the PMO functions.

Standardized processes, governance, and reporting for improved decision-making by leveraging Smartsheet workspaces to create pages, templates, schedules, plans, reports, and dashboards.

Drove Agile and digital transformation within project, program, and portfolio management using Azure DevOps tool for tracking.

Ensured Alignment with business goals and enterprise-wide priorities with regularly scheduled executive and management meetings.

Coached and upskilled teams to adopt new ways of working.

Leveraged tools and technology to enhance visibility, collaboration, and performance.

Managed stakeholder engagement to ensure buy-in and sustain adoption of the PMO processes.

Enabled the organization to execute projects with greater agility, efficiency, and strategic impact.

Duke Energy

SAFE Scrum Master July 2018 – Jan 2023

Facilitated Agile team processes within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), ensuring alignment with enterprise-level goals. Unlike a traditional Scrum Master, I worked beyond a single team, collaborated with other teams, international resources, Agile Release Trains (ARTs), and leadership to drive continuous delivery at scale.

Facilitated Agile ceremony events including Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Planning, Sprint Reviews, Backlog Refinement and Retrospectives for development teams implementing mobile and enterprise asset management (EAM) applications.

Coached team members on SAFe principles, Agile practices, and Lean thinking throughout the project.

Supported Agile Release Train (ART) execution and took part in PI Planning, including Inspect & Adapt workshops.

Was a servant leader to the Agile team which enabled them to become high-performing and self-organizing.

Identified, escalated, and helped resolve impediments and dependencies affecting team delivery cross-functionally.

Ensured team alignment with PI goals, ART goals, and the Program Backlog.

Created working team agreements and used agile maturity assessments to ensure continuous improvement across the team and for transparency.

Promoted Agile best practices and drive continuous improvement through actionable feedback and metrics.

Collaborated with Product Owners to refine and prioritize the team backlog.

Tracked and reported on key team performance indicators/metrics (velocity, capacity, predictability).

Fostered collaboration and transparency across cross-functional teams, national teams, and stakeholders.

Dynasty Property Management April 2016 - July 2018

Property Scrum Master

Facilitated Agile practices within real estate and property management. Ensured smooth collaboration between stakeholders, streamlines workflows, and drove iterative improvements in property related projects.

Led all scrum ceremonies (daily stand-ups, sprint planning, reviews, refinement and retrospectives).

Identified and resolved blockers that hindered team progress in property construction and acquisitions.

Coached and guided teams on Agile best practices, fostering collaboration and continuous improvement.

Ensured property management initiatives aligned with business goals and delivered value.

Served as a bridge between stakeholders, vendors, property teams and leadership to ensure transparency.

Used Agile metrics and feedback loops to refine processes and optimize team performance.

Helped teams integrate technology and innovation in property management and real estate projects.

Assisted in maintaining regulatory and operational compliance within the property-related Agile projects.

AmerisourceBergen Feb. 2015-April 2016

Scrum Master

Servant leader who facilitated Agile practices, ensured teams worked efficiently and delivered value. Removed obstacles, promoted collaboration, and fostered a culture of continuous improvement

Facilitated core Scrum ceremonies including Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives to drive Agile delivery and continuous team improvement.

Coached cross-functional Agile teams on Scrum practices, fostering a self-organizing and high-performing team culture.

Removed impediments and resolved blockers by coordinating with stakeholders, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted delivery cycles.

Supported Product Owners in backlog refinement, sprint planning, and defining clear sprint goals aligned with business priorities.

Protected teams from external distractions and supported focus on sprint goals to maximize productivity.

Promoted Agile best practices and Lean principles across the organization to support the adoption and scaling of Agile methodologies.

Utilized tools such as Jira, Confluence, and TFS to track team progress, generate Agile metrics (velocity, burn-down charts), and report performance to stakeholders.

Fostered strong collaboration and communication across team members and departments to align on deliverables and expectations.

Encouraged a culture of continuous improvement through regular retrospectives and actionable feedback loops.

Education

MBA- Business Admnistration Southern New Hampshire University [2019]

BBA – Business Administration Catawba College [2014]

AAS – Accounting Central Piedmont Community College [2012]

Woman’s Entrepreneurship Program Cornell University [2019]

Certifications

SAFe Agilest (SA) Certified Scrum Master (CSM) Project Management Professional (PMP)

Accounting Specialization Certification NC Real Estate Broker

Technical Skills

● Agile and Scaled Agile Framework ● JIRA ● Confluence ● Smartsheet ● SharePoint ● Azure DevOps ●MS Teams ●Team Foundation Server (TFS) ● Microsoft Windows Operating Systems and applications: Office, Visio, and Project ● WebEx ● YARDI ● Peachtree ● AppFolio ● Buildium ● QuickBooks ● PeopleSoft ● JD Edwards

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