Senior Scrum Master - Washington, DC
Role and Responsibilities The Senior Scrum Master serves as a servant leader for the Agile team, facilitating Scrum ceremonies, removing impediments, and coaching the team toward self-organization and high performance. This role is responsible for navigating resistance to Agile practices within the team, addressing team conflicts and dysfunctions, building psychological safety, and increasing cross-team collaboration. The Senior Scrum Master works closely with the Agile Coach and Product Owner to ensure the team operates effectively within Agile principles while delivering predictable value. This role operates independently with the team on day-to-day execution but adheres to the organization's Agile playbook, standards, and guidance from the Agile Program Manager. This role requires the ability to navigate organizational complexity, shield the team from external disruptions, and drive a culture of continuous improvement and accountability
The candidate shall also demonstrate the below knowledge and experience:
- Intermediate level qualifications and capabilities with a minimum of 10 years of experience.
- At least seven (7) years of hands-on experience as a Scrum Master serving multiple teams in complex, matrixed organizations. Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or Professional Scrum Master (PSM II or higher) required; advanced certifications (e.g., Certified Scrum Professional, SAFe Scrum Master) preferred.
- Proven track record building self-organizing teams, navigating resistance to Agile adoption, and driving measurable improvements in team velocity and predictability.
- Demonstrated ability to address team conflicts, build psychological safety, and guide teams through cultural and mindset shifts.
- Strong facilitation, conflict resolution, change management, and stakeholder management skills.
- Experience working within established organizational playbooks while coaching teams to Agile maturity.
- Government or highly regulated industry experience preferred.
The Contractor shall deliver, but not limited to, the following:
- Team Self-Organization & Accountability: Build self-organizing, empowered teams that take ownership of commitments, foster accountability for sprint goals and delivery.
- Impediment Removal & Escalation: Identify and remove team-level impediments quickly, escalate organizational/systemic blockers to appropriate leadership, and maintain transparent impediment tracking and resolution.
- Continuous Improvement Culture: Facilitate meaningful retrospectives that drive action, implement improvements based on team feedback, and foster experimentation and learning mindset.
