Senior Scrum Master

The National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation are proud to be part of a highly respected industry, providing hospitality, opportunity, and quality of life. Much like the industry we represent, we have a dynamic, diverse, and inclusive culture, grounded in trust, hospitality, collaboration, and innovation. These are the core values that inspire our work, and what we're looking for in a Senior Scrum Master to support the transformation of our development practices.

Working as part of our PMO team, you will be the embedded facilitator of the Agile/Scrum methodology supporting the Development and Quality Assurance team that delivers business value for all departments. As Senior Scrum Master, you will serve as task manager for organizing and tracking development work to meet timeline and sprint commitments in alignment with organization priorities and resolve or escalate work blockages. Collaborating closely with Product Owners, you will manage the "definition of done", ensuring artifacts such as Epics and Stories are well-defined, refined, and executable to meet the goals of each sprint.

Ideal candidates bring a minimum of three to five years of proven experience as a Scrum Master or Agile coach in support of development projects. Position requires a pragmatic and servant driven leadership mindset, with the ability to inspire collaboration, accountability, and partnership.

This role operates from our Chicago office, following our hybrid work structure with a required three days onsite, Monday - Wednesday and remote days Thursday and Friday.

The work you will do as Sr. Scrum Master, will allow us to deliver maximum value in support of our digital transformation efforts and business goals.

We are proud to offer our team members comprehensive benefits, designed to support their financial, professional, and personal well-being. In addition to outstanding healthcare coverage (medical, dental and vision), competitive salaries, generous vacation and leave time, we offer a matching 401(k) plan, a unique collection of corporate discounts and memberships, as well as programs to support career and skills development, including coaching, learning and tuition assistance, and so much more.

Responsibilities

• Lead and facilitate Scrum ceremonies, including Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, and Sprint Retrospectives.
• Coach the team in Agile principles and practices, ensuring adherence to Scrum framework guidelines and promoting self-organization and cross-functionality.
• Identify and remove impediments or obstacles that hinder the team's progress, escalating issues when necessary to ensure timely resolution.
• Protect the team from external distractions and influences, enabling focus on Sprint goals and commitments.
• Work closely with Product Owners to ensure product backlog refinement, prioritize user stories, and maintain a healthy backlog for upcoming Sprints.
• Foster effective communication within the team and with stakeholders, ensuring transparency, openness, and collaboration.
• Monitor and track Sprint progress, burndown charts, velocity, and other relevant metrics, providing visibility into the team's performance.
• Encourage a culture of continuous improvement within the team, facilitating retrospectives to identify and implement process improvements.
• Lead by example, embodying Agile values and principles, and demonstrating servant leadership qualities.
• Assess the Scrum maturity of the team and organization, and coach them to higher levels of maturity, at a pace that is sustainable and comfortable for the team and organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum three to five years of proven experience as a Scrum Master or Agile Coach in software development projects.
• Strong understanding of Agile principles and Scrum framework.
• Previous experience working as part of a Scrum Team (Dev, QA, PO, SM) highly desirable.
• Excellent facilitation, communication, diplomacy and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to motivate and inspire teams towards a common goal.
• Sound problem-solving and conflict resolution skills.
• Certification such as Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or Professional Scrum Master (PSM) is preferred.
• Understanding of software development lifecycles
• Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Highly effective time management, organizational, and priority setting skills.
• Experience effectively managing competing priorities.
• Computer proficiency across MS Office; ability to learn other computer software programs as needed.
• Flexible and resilient; able to thrive in fast-paced environment.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, age, disability status, genetic information and testing, family, and medical leave, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We strongly encourage women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans to apply for our job openings. This commitment supports our policy of developing and capitalizing on the abilities of all our team members, as well as selecting, developing and promoting those who are best qualified.