Agile Servant Leader

My client is actively seeking an Agile Servant Leader to support their growing teams based out of Chicago.

This opportunity will be 3 days onsite in downtown Chicago, IL

Summary

We are seeking an experienced Agile Servant Leader to collaborate on multiple software delivery teams. This role requires expertise in Agile methodologies, Azure DevOps, and the ability to foster collaboration between cross-functional teams to ensure the successful delivery of secure, high-quality solutions.

What you’ll do:

We are seeking a certified and highly skilled Agile Servant Leader to join our dynamic team to lead IT delivery teams focused on the development and delivery of digital solutions within IT Software Engineering and Delivery department. This role requires a strong understanding of Agile methodologies, particularly Scrum, and a solid background in traditional project management practices.

Day to day

• Agile Servant Leader supporting 2 two teams, leading all Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, retrospectives, and reviews, cross team plannings.
• Collaborate with developers, administrators, and stakeholders to prioritize and deliver enhancements, customizations, and integrations.
• Manage the IT delivery team’s efforts to ensure digital solutions are safe, secure, right sized, and of high quality.
• Manage and optimize workflows using Azure DevOps, including work item tracking and backlog management.
• Identify and resolve impediments to team progress, ensuring continuous delivery of value.
• Act as a servant leader, fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and collaboration.
• Monitor sprint metrics (e.g., velocity, burndown) to track progress and identify opportunities for optimization.
• Work with the Product Owner and Business System analyst to ensure the product backlog is well-defined, prioritized, and aligned with business goals.
• Communicate project status, risks, and dependencies to stakeholders and leadership in a clear and timely manner.
• Conduct cross-functional planning efforts to identify and plan project work efforts.
• Ensure key Agile scrum artifacts are properly documented and of high quality.
• Track delivery team work efforts, ensuring alignment with commitments.
• Proactively identify, track and mitigate key risks that could hamper work delivery.
• Identify, monitor and resolve Agile team impediments to ensure successful delivery.
• Lead teams in documenting and understanding data, and their related flows, across systems to support the Bank
• Cultivate, disseminate, and enforce functional policies, procedures, and best practices.
• Leverage metrics to measure progress and promote a culture of continuous improvement.
• Assist in incident and problem resolution for the delivery team’s supported applications.

What you’ll bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or similar Agile certification required

Requirements

• Minimum of 7+ years of experience leading Agile teams developing custom software, preferably within the financial services industry
• Strong understanding of Agile principles and traditional project management practices coupled with an excellent understanding of all facets of the software development life-cycle (SDLC)
• Experience working in a formal, well structured, regulated environment
• Experience with application life-cycle management (ALM) tools such as Microsoft Azure DevOps
• Experience leading IT delivery teams developing web based, digital solutions leveraging DevSecOps, microservices, API’s on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform
• High degree of personal accountability and integrity
• Solid understanding of Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, Scaled Agile, LeSS) and the ability to adapt them to team needs.
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills to guide teams in Agile best practices.
• Effective communication, facilitation, and conflict-resolution skills.